Hi! Stoke: Stoke Town High Street Heritage Action Zone

Hi! Stoke Festival returns to Stoke high street on Saturday 10th February 2024

The Hi! Stoke Cultural Consortium are planning a range of different participatory arts activities to take part in celebrating the culture and heritage of the town on Saturday 10th February 2024

Confirmed workshops include—sculptural hand-building with ceramist Jasmine Simpson—help create sculptural elements for a new artwork being created for Stoke Town. (Find out more about this here https://www.b-arts.org.uk/hi-stoke-wow-commissions)

Ceramic workshops with the team at British Ceramics Biennial; Planting activities with Stoke Growing Club (supporting by Festival Stoke and B arts); animation, illustration and story-creation workshops with B arts. More activities and details coming soon.

All activities are free to attend.

Stoke Town HSHAZ: Context

Is a partnership project between Historic England and Stoke-On-Trent City Council to support the regeneration of Stoke’s High Street through Heritage. The scheme includes public realm work which you can find out more about here: Stoke Town HSHAZ Public Realm Work

It also includes cultural and community based activity in the high street. B arts, along with other Stoke based cultural organisations, Acava SpodeWorks, British Ceramics Biennial, Festival Stoke, Spode Museum Trust, Friends of Spode Rose Garden, are working to help run new activity and raise the profile of existing cultural offers in the town.

The cultural programme includes mini festivals and events run by the cultural consortium. The first of these took place in April 2022, using the space between the library and market as the main event space, with linked activity happening inside the market and around the town. Activity included hands on workshop activity led by Stoke town-based artists exploring the food, botanicals, clothing of the high street, a dive into Stoke in the 1970s, and a pop up collaborative statue created by attendees across the day capturing ‘The Spirit of the High Street’ led by the first cohort of Hi! Stoke New Producers.

Stoke Town HSHAZ Get Involved!

We will be offering 6 training and mentoring opportunities alongside the delivery of the Hi Culture Stoke festival in February 2023.

The New Producers Group will work with the wider team to produce an element of the event as well as regular supported training and shadowing opportunities to gain experience in the different aspects of staging the programme.

Travel expenses will be provided to support involvement. To apply to be part of the New Producers 2023 cohort please email Siobhan siobhan.mcaleer@b-arts.org.uk

We would particularly welcome applications from people currently under-represented within the arts and cultural sector.

Be part of the Festival Working Group

We are inviting people of all ages to be part of a festival working group. The group will work closely with the festival co-ordinator to help plan and co-create the event and ongoing programme. The group will initially meet regularly with opportunities to take part in person and online. To find out more please get in touch with the Hi Culture Stoke Co-ordinator Sarah Bonam info@sarahbonam.co.uk

Details on the September festival (which took place on 29th & 30th September 2023)

PODCAST PREMIER Head over to Stoke Indoor Market on Friday and Saturday 11am-3pm and join B arts as they launch a new podcast project ARTCITY RADIO celebrating the sounds and stories of Stoke

On Wednesday 27th September they will be transforming one of the stalls inside Stoke Indoor Market into a PODCAST HQ ready for the festival weekend.

On Friday 29th and Saturday 30th between 11-3pm you can join in a range of podcasting and sound-based workshops to help make the very first podcast episode, from having a go at foley, sound-collection and jingle writing to creating your own mini drama with support from a writer or testing out your interviewing skills.  Alongside the workshop activities their will be a programme of guest-speakers and artists contributing to the show.  

All ages welcome.

MARVELLOUS MOTHS Visit Stoke Minster to join Festival Stoke in the celebration of the humble Moth! On Friday evening from 6.30pm, they are inviting people to to experiment with creating a sheet moth trap. In the dusk and dark they hope to be able to record some moth activity!
On the Saturday 11-3pm drop in to create an origami moth for display.

VERY VICTORIAN Spode Museum Trust are celebrating the Victorian era with a Victorian-themed Photobooth (led by Photographer Peachy Pictures), Tea Tasting (in their beautiful ware) and Victorian Costume handling sessions and talks and an ODE to SPODE -Drop in workshop with Cath Ralph inspired by the great legacy of the Spode dynasty, Cath will support participants to make your own "cream ware" bowls and platters all done in the classic blue and white style. All activities at Spode Museum Saturday 30th September- 11am-3pm

LOVELY LABELS Friends of Spode Rose Garden have lots to join in with, on FRIDAY 29 SEPTEMBER, 2023 10am-2pm its their AUTUMN TIDY-UP and VOLUNTEER INFORMATION session. Come and find out more about the garden, the volunteer group and how we work to maintain the little oasis the heart of Stoke Town. There'll be a chance to meet the group, SIGN-UP and do some autumn pruning and clearing.

ON SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER, 2023 12-4pm take part in TWO PROJECTS EXPLORING IDEAS OF IDENTIFICATION AND HERITAGE

PLANT LABEL WORKSHOP with LOUISE ADAMS & MARK DELF A real life Design Brief. Starting with drawings, and then working with clay and natural materials and a variety of simple moulds, work with Louise and Mark to develop a brand new and bespoke labelling system for the plants of the Spode Rose Garden.

FRAGMENTS + REMNANTS a PERFORMANCE by NAIMA OMAR KHAN

A symbolic durational representation of Khan's upbringing in apartheid South Africa. Khan explores gender and racial roles, methodically laying leather hard clay tiles in a grid to demonstrate the collective energies of thousands of labourers in regimented industries designed to generate generational wealth.

***PLUS*** PLANT SALE AND HOMEMADE JAMS AND CHUTNEYS!!! - THE SPODE ROSE GARDEN KINGSWAY. STOKE TOWN ST4 1BL