Colourscape Festival

For the second year running, Rotherham will experience the extraordinary Colourscape structure. This, the largest Colourscape structure in the world and which has only ever before visited London, Vienna and, last year, Rotherham, will be in Clifton Park from the 14th to the 25th June.

An acre in size and comprising a hundred rooms, Colourscape is a multi-chambered walk-in sculpture of colour and light.  The public enter the labyrinth-like space and explore endless views of radiating colours illuminated by natural sunlight.  Music, dance and theatre performances may be found anywhere in the structure leading the public on a journey of music and colour. 

The festival will feature two weekends of performances in Colourscape (17th/18th and 24th/25th June) of national, local artists and school performances, eight days of workshops both in schools and in the Colourscape structure run by local and national artists.

This year, for the first time, we will also have the smaller Colourdome structure in All Saints' Square, Rotherham on the 16th and 17th June.  It will fill All Saints' Square and is like a mini Colourscape with a transparent performance bubble at the end. Passing shoppers will be able to see musicians performing inside and glimpse the multicoloured tunnels beyond.

This is what Colourscape made happen last year:

• Over 1500 young people from 38 schools took part in Music and Colour workshops in Colourscape during the week and a half.
• Those attending these workshops came from Nurseries, Infant schools, primary schools, PRUs, secondary and special schools.
• 60 days of workshops involving 12 artists took place in 18 schools during the week
• Nearly 2000 people visited Colourscape during the periods when it was open to the public
• Seven Rotherham schools performed in Colourscape on the second weekend
• Twenty local people were employed.
• International, national and local artists performed in Clifton Park.
• After London and Vienna, Rotherham became the third place that this, the largest Colourscape structure in the world, visited.

This year will be even bigger!

Rotherham Colourscape Festival last year brought comments like:

• Absolutely spectacular! What an experience.
• Just been round Colourscape – I'm a different person to the one who went in.
• Pure magic. Thankyou. I used up all my film.
• An absolutely unique experience – what a treat!
• It feels like you're in a sunset!
• But you don't get this sort of thing in Rotherham.

But you do! We proved it last year

The partners in Rotherham Colourscape Festival are:

• Open Minds Theatre Company,
• Rotherham Community Arts,
• Rotherham Libraries,
• Rotherham Ethnic Minority Alliance,
• Swamp Circus Theatre,
• Clifton, A Community Arts School,
• Oakwood Technology College,
• Rawmarsh School, A Sports College
• Thrybergh Community Learning Partnership

and is supported by Arts Council, Yorkshire, RMBC and 2010.

For more details contact Steve Rogers of Open Minds Theatre Company:

Tel:01709 367287
Mobile: 07770 984704
E-mail: steve@omtc.org.uk