Open weekend in the East Midlands

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Open weekend in the East Midlands

2012 Staff,

29 Sep 2008

Day 2 of Open weekend, celebrating the launch of the Cultural Olympiad, and I'm at One8 in the grounds of Nottingham Castle. The facial reconstruction workshops, the circus skills and the hip hop demonstrations do a roaring trade in the bright sunshine. Robin Hood wanders past. Young bands perform on the main stage. And then the drumming begins at the bandstand.

Hip hop and street dance group QMX - Quantum Matrix Academy of Excellence - demonstrate their skills and then Director Joseph Hall takes volunteers through a quick class, teaching the routine and then encouraging freestyle. I wish I'd been up there with them. I spoke to him afterwards and he'd like the group to continue to be part of the Cultural Olympiad. Here's hoping for an Inspire mark application from him soon.

One8 itself is one of the first projects to be awarded the Inspire mark. It's led by Renaissance East Midlands and Nottingham City Museums and builds on work begun last year with young people designing and delivering the festival. It was an excellent example of what our Cultural Olympiad is all about: new partnerships, new experiences, sport, culture, science and young people right at the heart of it.

Roll on next year!

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