Just Festival: On the Edge
General News – Thursday, April 30th, 2015
Just Festival On the Edge started life as a conversation over coffee between Dawn Savidge from Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church and me. As community workers on the same patch we thought, why not put on a series of events celebrating our mission and the people and communities who engage with us; brighten up the place with some great art; talk about some social justice issues; and get people talking and meeting and dreaming. And importantly, why not do this together? As well as our own churches (Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church and the Swiss Church in London), the idea grew to include other local churches: St Giles in the Fields and St George’s Bloomsbury. Now this mustard seed of an idea started to grow.
It was at this stage that we were introduced to Katherine Newbigging who has worked with us in producing the festival. Katherine was until January the director of the Just Festival in Edinburgh. The Just Festival is a well-established part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Its ethos is to celebrate diversity, promote awareness of social justice issues, and encourage dialogue. All of this is done through a programme of conversations, performances, talks, and workshops. In other words, the Just Festival was a perfect place to plant our mustard seed.
But why “On the Edge”? Our location is on the edge of the of so many places: the West End, Covent Garden, Bloomsbury. But it is also to do with the people we meet and work with. Many of them are on the edge of society, many people do not feel a part of the whole, are not connected or valued.
Part of the vision for this festival is to make art, entertainment, and social justice issues accessible for all people, not just those who can afford it or who are in the know.
We hope that you will join us in celebrating what we do and what we are – on the edge.
Just Fest team
more info here http://www.justfestivalontheedge.org.uk/