Sunday, July 05, 2009

Your Chance To Join The RAF

Having perfected my clothes peg routine down at the excellent Ramsgate Rocks shindig yesterday, I'm just about ready to roll it out as performance art, perhaps with the added frisson of a crocodile clip on each earlobe. And as luck would have it, I've received a communication from the lovely ladies at the RAF (Ramsgate Arts Festival), who are looking for chaps of my calibre to join their steering committee for the inaugural festival, which is due to take place next year. They write:

A group of Ramsgate residents has formed itself into a charitable organisation with a view to organising an annual event/festival located in Ramsgate and surrounds. The steering committee have thus far:

• constituted the organisation
• secured seed funding
• worked with a creative consultant in order to work towards a creative vision
• explored some preliminary funding avenues
• planned a trailer event to happen in the town this summer

The plan for the event/festival so far is:

• A three-day event, initially – Friday, Saturday, Sunday
• Centrepiece – a big event on the Saturday, probably stretching into the evening – centred on the Harbour
• Multiple events over the three days linked to the vision

We feel it should be:

• Focussed on the elements that are central to the area – sea, wind, sand, sun, with connotations of speed, energy, change etc in nature and the environment. Elements that shape the town’s geography, history, culture, economy and which will contribute to shaping its future.
• Authentic in drawing on the people of the town, their traditions, history, culture and aspirations.
A festival that creates ritual and ceremony out of that authenticity and that creates stories and allows stories to be told.
A festival that allows the widest participation and engages with the widest interpretations of art and culture.

What do we need now?

We are very conscious that we need to build a Management Committee/Board that is diverse and that properly reflects the different individuals, communities, experience and expertise in Ramsgate. We would particularly welcome expressions of interest from the following:

• Young people
• Men of any age
• People with community/voluntary experience in the area
• People with business/financial/legal experience/expertise
• People with experience of local government
• People who have lived in Ramsgate all their life
• People from under-represented communities e.g. disabled people, people from ethnic minority groups, older people
• Artists – from any discipline within the field of arts
• Anybody with a passion for Ramsgate, with a desire to make a difference and with a can-do attitude!

You will need to be able to commit time and energy to the project. We are currently meeting once a week and there are a variety of tasks that need to be undertaken outside of meeting times.

If you would like to join the Board, please contact us at ramsgateartsfestival@gmail.com

16 comments:

Stop the loonies said...

Smeggers is an artist: he can blow smoke out of his arse !

Richard Eastcliff said...

Hmm. Maybe the airport could prove its good neighbour credentials and sponsor it?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Richard Eastcliff said...

Er, language!

What you meant to say was: '....unlike Stop the Loonies, who is obviously a count without the 'O'!

Head, SMEG said...

Dickie dear boy, I do hope the RAF don't take the tainted kiwi from infratil, unless it's to erect a massive finger pointing at approaching 747's/ African registered
museum pieces over ramsgate main sands. I will let you imagine which digit.

However, as stop the loonies (who is rumoured to be in infratil employee) has already stated that ramsgate is a dump, I doubt they would contribute.

Plus, they don't have a brass farthing. The coffers are almost empty.

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit f*cked off with you twats slagging off African airlines. I'm from Africa, are you all bigoted racists? I see it was an Air France plane that crashed recently......

Anonymous said...

We have to be careful. The festival is a very good idea but the language used to describe what it should be sounds very loose. It could be a real opportunity to get Ramsgate on the map so let's do something outstanding that is attractive to people not second rate 'creative consultant' waffle.

Anonymous said...

10:15pm - African airlines, esp African cargo airlines, have a bad safety record, fact. That's nothing to do with race, colour or creed, merely statistics. MK, for example, have crashed in Nigeria and Canada.

It's like saying people in Thanet are more likely to be fat, alcoholic smokers. Statistically proven.

So if anyone has got a chip on their shoulder it's you I'm afraid.

Anonymous said...

Any pictures of you in the pegs?? Sounds kinky!

Anonymous said...

I just looked at the list of criteria and it put me off straight away. It says they want to hear from people who've been living in Ramsgate all their lives. Not those who have lived here for 20 or 30 years; not those who have experience of life elsewhere; not those who went away and came back later (Gerry). No, they just want to hear from the inbred petrolheads who remember the airport when it was Victorian.

Take a wild guess at what sort of event they are going to end up with. Ramsgate carnival springs to mind. No thanks. If you want the support of the people of Ramsgate you need to welcome input from anyone who lives here now.

Anonymous said...

What a shame to hear such a negative response. that wasn't the idea at all. I am part of the group and we are all people who have moved down here and love it. Ramsgate is great and we want to celebrate it. We asked if anybody who had lived here would like to join us because we didn't want it to be DFL heavy. (it does say 'particularly welcome...')

we definitely want to do something outstanding. we are applying for funding to get some really great events going and allowing everyone to get involved and be proud of where they live. We are putting a lot of hard work into this, not for the glory but because we want to share something and to give back into the community. Please join us, or if not just sit back, enjoy and be reassured that we do listen to advice and ideas.

I'm not sure where the airport comes into this and we don't want it to be like the carnival either. Not that I am knocking the carnival but we have that, let's add to it.
thanks

Anonymous said...

What's 'DFL' mean?

Anonymous said...

DFL = Down From London.

And the carnival's been axed trhough lack of support. It was in the paper.

Anonymous said...

Why does it have to be an Arts festival? That puts it in competition with Margate. Is that the idea perhaps? Bit green are we? (not in the eco sense)
I would have thought a festival celebrating the sea and all things marine would be much more appropriate for Rammers.

Anonymous said...

As TDC have shoved all the arts funding up the Margate artshole in their mad scheme to regenerate the place it might well be better to concentrate on the sea, environment etc

Ramsgate used to have more arts going on even recently hopefully the new Ramsgate town council can reverse this Margatecentric approach and this festival may be one way of doing it. Even Broadstairs have Folk Week so Ramsgate deserves a high profile annual event.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh we are a little limited with our understanding of arts aren't we! From what I hear, cos I bothered to ask the people running it first, there are going to be Performing arts, music etc. and ...wait for it things to do with the sea, maritime and environment.

There seems to be a fair amount on here who whinge...amd others that do. Email them and find out, it sounds good actually.