Village Green will be returning to Chalkwell Park on Saturday 13 July 2013 with a host of UK and international talent in a wide range of artistic disciplines.
Music
Among the music treats for the day we are delighted to announce the Ragga Hip-Hop band, The Skints; local Southend boy Sam Duckworth (of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly); the five piece folk group, Skinny Lister just back from their huge and successful tour of the US; D.B Cohen - described by his producer Snowboy as a mixture of Paul Weller, Bob Dylan, Chicago Blues and Two-Tone Ska with a punk attitude; the energetic White Devils’ Cause with their folk rock sound from Leigh-on-Sea ; Youth Club the new Southend band featuring Ladyhawke’s guitarist Dan White; and Perhaps Contraption, an astonishing, twisted brass, art-pop marching band.
Theatre / Spoken Word / Comedy / Poetry
Additionally the Village Green programme will include its usual popular mix of a visual artists; street theatre and comedy, including Rampage Carnival Arts, Old Trunk, who will be curating a range of exciting new theatre and writing including Bitch Boxer (winner of Soho Theatre Young Writers Award and sell-out shows at Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and performances by Two for Tea and Jigsaw. Local arts duo Sundown return to Village Green to host their fantastic spoken word and multimedia tent with confirmed performances by singer songwriter, Beans on Toast and Fashoda Crisis with more acts to be announced shortly.
Street Theatre
Also making a welcome appearance at this year’s Village Green will be The KÅtiri, a 1920’s side stall tent which will be cleverly transformed into an intimate cabaret venue featuring performances from some of the world’s most acclaimed sideshow, circus and cabaret entertainers including ‘New Zealand’s foremost funny freak’ Sam Wills, Canada’s Mike Wood and Portugal’s Pedro Tochas. They will be joined by award winning performers Abigail Collins and Mat Ricardo.
World Music and Dance
The Village Green Global Village stage has a confirmed performance by Europe’s leading Indian percussion group Chakardar. Guitarist David Randall (Faithless, Dido and Sinead O'Connor) will be premiering his new act Abioye and Randall with their blend of West and North African and Middle Eastern sounds, adding their own distinctive South London twist. Join in with dance workshops with Brazil Arte and Bollywood Dance.
Taking part
Join artists on site in creating new works of art in real time across the day. Julian Wild will be making a Village Green version of his Connection Sculpture, made from one continuous line of over 300 metres of tubing. Try your hand at the live drawing event, Life Cycle conceived by visual artist Heidi Wigmore and film maker Michael Eden. The large scale group drawing (up to 30m long!) will be created and projected live on screen for the gathered audience as a celebration of cycling culture past, present and future - and to promote the idea of drawing for all. The live event is partnered by Cycle Southend and European partners Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
It will be streamed on the web and we anticipate participation from our contacts in countries around the world.
The Big Charge
Powering a big Village Green LED screen will be the return of The Big Charge, in conjunction with Cycle Southend and Bike Friendly Cities. In the three days leading up to Village Green a bank of bikes linked to a battery will be on site. Festival goers are encouraged to book onto a cycling session in order to power up the battery. his battery will then power the screen for the day. Dates and Times for The Big Charge are: Wed 10th 7am till 10pm, Thurs 11th 8am till 10pm, Fri 12th – 8am till 6pm. Booking through: 01702 215595 or email: [email protected].
Arts and Crafts
The Village Green Marketplace will be packed with over 60 stalls showing upwards of 100 local artists, makers and craftspeople with plenty of hand-made, one off items for sale and on show.
Wristbands
Last year the event attracted an audience of over 31,000 from across Southend, the south east region and London. Due to the incredible year on year increase in popularity, this year Metal will be introducing a FREE wristband registration process.
How To Register
It couldn’t be easier for Festival-goers to register for their Village Green Wristband - simply register online prior to the event in order to obtain a wristband and free entry to Village Green on the day.
Registration is quick and easy for groups of up to 8 people at a time by visiting www.metalculture.com.
Once Festival-goers have registered online, they will be given the option of having their wristbands posted to them for a small fee or, if they prefer, can take their printed confirmation to one of a number of retail outlets and Libraries around Southend, Westcliff and Leigh on Sea displaying the Village Green ‘Wristband Collection Point’ sticker.
