WHAT HAPPENED?

We were delighted to collaborate with The School of Art and Wellbeing, who let us use their stunning country site just above the picturesque fishing village and beach at Beer on the Devon/Dorset border. 3 hours by train or car from London, and an hour from Bristol.

IN A NUTTY SHELL:

• Safe Family Camping - for ten families

• Inspiring Talks - a chat with Nike Rodgers in New York

• Uplifting Performances, - a Rhyme and Poetry session with Casey Bailey

• Community Film Screening - a chat with Suggs before a live stream for 1,000 of his ‘My Life movie

• Dancing - floor fillings sets from Fri: DJ Sebadee and Sat: DJ Nina Love

• Creative Activities - rockets to robots

• Eclectic Community Art Trail for up to 2,000 visitors to the site

• All Live Streamed on all platforms if you couldn’t make it down

• Safe - Licenced by East Devon Council, risk assessed and Covid-19 safe (as can be).

We had some help with an Arts Council grant thanks to you Lottery players so we had a load of free tickets for you below.

WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

We’re taking a few days off to recover but all the streams are on our YouTube Channel here.

Here are a few highlights:

AIMING HIGHER THAN HIGH - HIGHER THAN ICARUS

Saturday evening round the fire pit with the #ARTofWORDS from Poet Casey Bailey

THE ART TRAIL

This was half kilometre long walk which will took visitors on a journey of imagination and creativity through the stunning grounds of The School of Art and Wellbeing.

It will also be available online.

Artwork covered a number of themes:

• Castles - echoing Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle

• Cats - who doesn’t like photographing, drawing or painting cats

• Black and white - inspired by the two tone music movement and current binary thinking, politics and world we live in

• Lockdown - art inspired by or created during

• Loo Rolls - art created with one of the commodities most associated with lock down

We want you to be part of it with your art. paint, draw, dance, film, write and share your art with us on social media using the tag #MYART20 for #ARTCAMP20. And let us know if you’d like to include it in the art trail.

SIGN UP HERE TO ENTER YOUR ART

SIGN UP NOW

We made it up as we went along now but if you want to be part of the next one, with your Art whether as just a camper or a creative and to submit art for the art trail, SIGN UP HERE NOW and let us know.

No commitment but it will help us plan.

WE LOVE CAMP BESTIVAL

There we’ve said it.

And we were really looking forward to Camp Bestival this year because we’d just seen a TED talk and read half a book called ‘What’s the Point of School’ when we first went ten years ago.

We stood in the rain and watched Madness, danced to Nile Rodgers and got creative with artists and thought why don’t we do something like that in our school.

So we did. STEAM Co. was born.

We love Rob and Josie Da Bank too not only cos it was their art that inspired us to start STEAM Co. ten years ago but they’ve been super supportive ever since by both giving us space at the event, speaking at conferences with us and joining our #UKArtTakeOver when we visited the Isle of Wight

We made the film above five years ago just before we went back with our own activity area and stage show and used a banging anthem that seemed appropriate then.

Even more now.

ROCKET KIDS

We first ran our Rocket Kids stage show and activity at Camp Bestival which was so well received we packaged it up and took it to schools across the UK and haven’t looked back.

A PLAN TO GO Back to our roots

So with this year’s event cancelled, what to do?

For years we’ve been in the Science tent area with #ARTofROCKETS and #ILOVEART T-shirt design/print activities.

Last year we had a massive pitch and staged a load of Art workshops - Dance, DJing, Poetry, Rapping, Ukulele, etc, a book launch talk, three stage shows a DJ spot in Caravanserai and even a main stage slot.

Take a look at the film we made of last year and what happened after we met Nile Rodgers back stage.

We’ve long had our eye on Art Town, the arts and crafts tent next to the Science stage, and Rob said we could do an Art Town Takeover this year.

FAR OUT FESTIVALS

After the LGfL Charitable Trust sponsored the equipping of our Community Lock-In - a Content Creation and Community Collaboration web TV Studio we were delighted to get an Emergency Arts Council grant for a month of online events under the banner of the #UKArtTakeOver.

That included a Parliament launch event, virtual pop-ups across the UK, the Hey Kids Book Fest and a weekend Art of Community Festival live streamed from Eden Project which we followed up with the epic #YourGlasto Festival.

That included Inspiring Talks, Uplifting Performances, Creative Workshops and Community Engagement, all on a half size cardboard pyramid stage that we built on the playing field of a school, just down the road form Glastonbury as you can see in the film here.

What to do?

How to beat that? Well with the lock down lifting we’re hatching a plan for a hybrid event, the best of real and virtual festival experiences, both here and there, or there and here, where ever that is.

One of the best things about festivals, especially family friendly festivals when you’ve got kids, is to be camping with a bunch of like minds knowing there’s some cool stuff going on in the field next door.

So are running a Small, Safe and Smiley Art Camp Festival in the countryside for just 10 families.

We’ll live stream it all for everyone else and run things so that people not here, but there can not only feel involved, but contribute through performances, activities, talks, etc.

We have a few A-listers lined up to be part of it.

Wanna come to the real bit, in the field?

Like Camp Bestival, it will be down South on Dorset/Devon coast, but don’t be dismayed as we may run another in the summer for our Notting Hill weekend with Gaz Mayall.

We’ll have to charge a bit to help cover the costs, which we’ll keep to a minimum. You’ll bring your own booze (we’ll provide ice), tho to make it all look as cool and boutique as possible we’ll offer pre-pitched bell tents with beds made (by people wearing PPE).

There will be a programme of content all day and evening but it won’t be like a normal festival. For example there won’t be much, if any very loud music (have you noticed what happens when people do when they talk to each other when there’s loud music) but more that cool camp site and we may ask you to muck in.

We’ll be sensible around social distancing, health and safety and expect you to be and get cross if you aren’t.

We won’t have cover for everyone so if it rains, or looks like it will we might have to sit in our tents all weekend!

ARE YOU WITH US?

So if you want to be part of it, with your Art whether as just a camper or a creative, SIGN UP HERE NOW and let us know.

No commitment but it will help us plan. We have two and a bit weeks!