top of page

HAVE YOUR          SAY.....

Whether you agree or disagree with our critics, we welcome  your comments and will try to include them at the end of the review. 

Please use our contact form 

Thrive Festival - Bringing Arts, Nature and Poetry to Coventry


Thrive Festival brings together poetry, arts and games in a festival that is free, open and accessible.


Operating from Edgwick Park in Foleshill and the Indian Community Centre, it has been working with local artists and poets to showcase their talents but also to connect people with urban landscapes. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy free food, a fantastic range of arts activities and workshops, plus performances from local artists.


The event will take place on Saturday 18 March at The Indian Community Centre, 243 Cross Road, Foleshill, Coventry CV6, with activities happening in the centre as well as in an outdoor marquee in Edgewick Park.


The event is suitable for all ages, and for the younger attendees, there will be outdoor games with the Park Rangers and mask making with local radio presenter Kate Hills.


In the lead up to the festival, a public call out took place and Coventry Poet Laureate Emilie Lauren Jones and local poet Navkiran Mann commissioned eight poets and a musician to perform as part of the event.


Emilie said: “We received so many applications and were blown away by the quality of the applicants. Our aim is to support local artists and shine a light on the incredible talent we have in our city. I can’t wait to see them all perform at the event.”


Navkiran added: "We were delighted in the response to the call out and as a result of the popularity had to extend the poetry slots, mentoring and performance spaces for the community artists. This shows the need for people to come together and share stories in a supportive space. We have a range of artists from diverse age groups and backgrounds and it demonstrates the inclusive nature of poetry as an artform."


The commissioned community poets and musician being platformed are: Barry Patterson, George Watley, John Chikonde Mpaso, Manpreet Kaur, Martin Brown, Olugbemi Moronfolu, Aysar Ghassan, Robert Gainer and Yathreb Ramadhan.

The full event programme for Saturday 18 March 2023 from 1pm – 5pm:

1pm - 3pm: Giant outdoor games including giant Jenga with Coventry City Council Park Rangers.

Langer Aid providing food

Free Workshops for adults and families:

  • Planting Poems with Coventry Poet Laureate: Emilie Lauren Jones

  • Mask Making with Artist Kate Hills

  • Gift of Spring with Artist Olugbemi Moronfolu

  • Listening to mushrooms with Artist Lisa Franklin

  • Nature Workshop with Poet Navkiran Mann

  • Bespoke Poetry station with Spoken Word Artist: Lewis Driver

From 3pm - 5pm:

Musical Performance from Coventry Spoken Word Artist Sir Kit

Fire and Dust Special: 40 mins open Mic Sign Up: Led by Raef Boylan and Guest Presenter Tolu Oluwatudimu

Plus Headliner: Wordsmith Laura Nyahuye: https://www.lauranyahuye.com/wordsmith-2


The festival is part of and supported by Positive Images Festival and funded by Coventry City Council.



Tags:

Comments

bottom of page