March 2010

12/04/10

March has been another packed month here at Hidden Cities HQ.

We were delighted this month, that Seasider has been named as a key focus in the new National Strategy for Seaside Towns. We have now been endorsed by several national bodies and are working with them to ensure that Seasider becomes a nationally supported strategy to celebrate and promote our UK coastline through an innovative and creative cultural campaign. Full details of these partners available next month! The full National Strategy can be downloaded here:

Seaside Strategy 2010

Roma took a trip to Skegness and Mablethorpe this month to discuss how they might get involved with Seasider. A day which started out soggy went on to take in wide stretches of beach, a crazy antiques emporium and some extraordinary dancing on the Skegness pier (from an observational perspective) as well as the excellent Bathing Beauties project, and the beautiful flat green expanses of East Lincolnshire, and ended in sunshine. It's a beautiful part of the country, and for anyone keen to visit there's a direct steam train leaving from Kings Cross in June evoking past trips from London.

Who'd have thought it was only 12 months ago when we first started working on this project! The last year has flown by and we are thrilled at the response that the project has been getting. Please do get in touch with us if you would like to know more about Seasider.

The Bloomsbury Festival plans are also moving apace. We are really pleased to be working with Mobius, who will be delivering all PR and Marketing for this year's Festival and are newly Bloomsbury based. It's great to have them on board.

Mobius website

The Festival Steering Committee met again this month to discuss updates and planning for the next 6 months. We also held another meeting with the major community organisations in the area, hosted by the Holborn Community Association at Bedford House. Programming ideas such as the Youth Festival, Unity Cup, community bingo, media projects and street meals are all being developed at the moment - watch this space for further information.

Marketing for the Festival will begin in the next few months with the launch of the website - if you're not yet familiar with the Bloomsbury Festival, it's time for you to get acquainted!

Maddy went along to another fantastic Cultural Bloomsbury Breakfast this month hosted by Cockpit Arts. Besides the wonderful array of breakfast treats, it was great to see colleagues and hear about all the upcoming projects within the area.

Roma also attended the launch of the new Marchmont Street Association website. This is a really impressive and extensive project, which has been innovatively supported by Waitrose. The evening was a great celebration of the area around this local Bloomsbury street, and the website is looking fantastic - congratulations to Ricci and the team. Take a peek here!

Marchmont Street Association

Another night to remember was the Fitzrovia Youth In Action showcase at the Camden Centre which Maddy went along to. The event was packed with the families and friends of those participating, munching on the delicious free popcorn and caribbean food whilst watching some fantastic performances and films by local young people from the last 12 months. It was such a great atmosphere and opportunity to inspire and celebrate the artistic work that the organisation do - huge well done to everyone who was involved.