ONE8 festival is a great success

More than 4,200 people of all ages and backgrounds gathered to enjoy a fantastic, gloriously sunny day at the ONE8 festival at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 27 September.

A colourful and noisy parade snaked up from Brewhouse Yard Museum to Nottingham Castle to open the festival at midday and drew the crowds which followed the trail up the hill and into the festival. Hundreds of performers, workshop leaders, volunteers and staff from arts organisations, museums and heritage sites across the East Midlands created a great atmosphere once inside the Castle grounds with the emphasis on young people developing and delivering activities.

People thronged around the site to enjoy facial reconstructions from Newark Young Archaeologist's Club, art workshops from Lincolnshire County Council, activities linked to many of the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery collections and circus skills, traditional toys and mystery objects from Derbyshire's museums. A DJ played people's records, workshops got people to record radio jingles, create their own plasticine characters for animation and write and perform poetry and visitors enjoyed a fashion show and being part of a huge graffiti project adding their artistic talents to an enormous banner.

A cinema showed film produced by young people working with East Midlands museums and a film workshop engaged young participants in making a film of the festival. Two stages provided music, dance and drama, all performed by young people. The main stage saw the final of the ONE Factor music competition which saw 13 bands and artists vying for a fantastic prize to set them on the path to a music career. After a tough decision the panel of judges (all young people) announced that Mark and Seb were the winners.

The event was also part of the launch of the Cultural Olympiad in the East Midlands and was part of the Open Weekend.

The event was only possible thanks to the hard work of a range of people, including many volunteers. The organisers of ONE8 extend their thanks to everyone involved.