Be part of Didsbury Arts Festival 2023

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED... but please feel free to still apply if you would like to be added to our Standby List (e.g. to fill any vacant positions or withdrawn applications).

Saturday 24 June – Sunday 02 July

We’re launching our #DAF2023 festival OPEN CALL - where we seek out Artists, Performers, Exhibits, Events and Creative Activities from the public to become part of our official festival line-up.

Selected from the online entries, Didsbury Arts Festival (DAF) encourage individuals, groups and organisations to apply, whether amateur enthusiasts or professionals.

Our festival aims to reflect the diversity of residents from the whole of Greater Manchester and beyond, showcasing emerging talent alongside established names.

Where possible, we would encourage applications that represent or connect with the following theme:

VOICES: In the age of the Selfie, Insta, Popularist Politics, Post-Lockdown, Social Anxiety, Black Lives Matter Injustices, #MeToo, Fake News, Big Data Gathering and more – It feels like the world has changed a lot lately. Through your artwork and creativity, can you voice your joy or concern about this new world that surrounds us? Is it positive or negative? What do you have to say? What needs to be said? Can you inspire? What difference can we make? Can your art, performance, exhibit, event or activity be a vehicle for you or your audience to engage and express about this new world in a creative way?

To help you, there is an “Example of a Completed Form” at the bottom of the page.

To be considered, we advise early application.

The final deadline for submissions is 9.00am on Monday 20th February 2023

Section 1: Contact Details

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Section 2: Submission Category

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Section 3: Your Proposal

Please describe your performance, exhibit, event or activity and give us the detail that will help us to understand your proposal.

For each section, we have provided some questions and headings to guide you. There is also a completed example of how to complete this form at the bottom of the page.

Description/Outline:

  • Please tell us about it… What art do you want to present? How will it be delivered? And what will audiences experience?
  • If it is Visual Art (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc)… What size is it? How will it be prepared? e.g. plinth-mounted or framed by you? etc
  • If it is a Performance… How many performers and how long is the event?
  • Is it aimed at a specific audience?... E.g. Is it primarily for Children, Families, Adults, Men, Women, etc?
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Links:

  • Please provide any links to websites/examples if you have them (maximum of three links).
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Resources:

  • What Staffing will be required?
  • What Technical Requirements, Equipment and Resources will be needed? (e.g. Stage, Lighting, PA System, Microphones, Projector and Screen, Other, etc)
  • Can you provide all of these?... If not, which things would you need help with to organise/obtain?
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Venue:

  • Do you have any Didsbury venues in mind that would be suitable for your proposal?
  • What size and type of space would you need for your proposal?
  • Indoors or Outdoors?
  • Could your event be live-streamed online if required?
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Promotion:

  • All chosen activities will be included in the Festival Programme and promoted across all of our platforms and via our teams, partners and connections. However, if selected, would you also create and circulate your own publicity?
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We need to plan events around each other. Please indicate which dates, times, and frequency you are available for

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  • All accepted proposals will have to adhere to the festival and local authority policies and guidance around any social distancing measures, health & safety, safeguarding, equality and working conditions.
  • While the country continues its recovery from the recent pandemic, there is always the possibility that social distancing measures could be re-introduced, which may impact any ticket sales and admissions.
  • If selected, you will be required to provide some basic publicity material including a relevant photograph/s and short synopsis for DAF to use without any restrictions.
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Please help us to gain an insight as to who we are working with. This will not be part of our selection criteria but helps us to see whom we are reaching:

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Thank you for your submission and your time, and good luck!

To help you here is a fictional example of a CALL OUT proposal;

DESCRIPTION/OUTLINE:

- Please tell us about it… What art do you want to present? How will it be delivered? And what will audiences experience?

- If it is Visual Art (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc)… What size is it? How will it be prepared? e.g. plinth-mounted or framed by you? etc

- If it is a Performance… How many performers and how long is the event?

- Is it aimed at a specific audience?... E.g. Is it primarily for Children, Families, Adults, Men, Women, etc?

Our show is entitled  ‘Desk time’ and explores how excluded from school children grow up from the classroom and into adulthood. A modern tale of tragedy loosely based on real life stories gathered from our extended circle of friends.

We are two poet/writers performing a sketch together. One of us is a 2009 graduate from the University of Salford drama course, and the other a self-made talent. Our website link shows some of the productions we have been involved in.
We first performed this show in 2019 as part of a new talent showcase at Islington Mill Studios in Salford. We had a good audience response and have been asked to perform again as part of “Mcr Writes Festival’. 

Approximately a 30-minute performance, with a 2 minute break in the middle for a quick costume change. We will need somewhere to do that costume change.

Probably for an adult audience as there is some swearing in the performance – limited. It is used in the context of a young adult being frustrated as they become isolated by friends and authority.

 

LINKS:

Please provide any links to websites/examples if you have them (maximum of three links).

 

Here are some short videos taken on our mobile phone of the event and my website

> www.desktime.org

> www.artistwebsite.org

 

RESOURCES:

- What Staffing will be required?

- What Technical Requirements, Equipment and Resources will be needed? (e.g. Stage, Lighting, PA System, Microphones, Projector and Screen, Other, etc)

- Can you provide all of these?... If not, which things would you need help with to organise/obtain?

We can provide all staffing

We will be providing two chairs and a small desk on stage as part of our act. We will bring these with us on the day together with our costumes.

We need two microphones and basic stage lights if possible

 

VENUE:

Do you have any Didsbury venues in mind that would be suitable for your proposal?

What size and type of space would you need for your proposal?

Indoors or Outdoors?

Could your event be live-streamed online if required?

We think our submission would work well in the Metropolitan pub in West Didsbury and we only require a small area – maybe one of the function rooms.

We will only need a small venue with a small stage area and plenty of seating for the audience

Live streaming would be great if possible.

 

PROMOTION:

All chosen activities will be included in the Festival Programme and promoted across all of our platforms and via our teams, partners and connections. However, if selected, would you also create and circulate your own publicity?

Yes – we would also produce and circulate some of our own publicity materials