What was so exciting about the whole range of events was the evident enjoyment of the thousands of people engaging in this broad array of activities. Over this weekend the whole cultural sector celebrated some of their best and most cherished assets as well as growing new ones. From celebrating our heritage to developing new works by leading visual artists.
Another valuable dimension of the weekend was the depth of engagement of young people in the development and production of the projects. For example in Norwich young people devised and produced new pieces of animation and dance to accompany the illumination of the castle and in Luton members of the Youth Orchestra performed the newly composed music and young members of a local carnival group performed in the show in costumes they had helped make themselves.
There will also be a strong legacy from these events, for example in Southend they used the weekend to recruit members to a new cultural consortium for the area, known as Idea 13. In other areas people are enthused by the activity this weekend and are now planning what they can do next.
The main idea behind the launch weekend was to open up our cultural treasures, and perhaps ask people to look at them in a new way. It truly was for everyone, and for my part the memories will last forever. It's just a shame I couldn't get to all 60 events!
