We want to create a music village that’s 'Live & Local' & 'Up Close & Personal' delivered in a range of venues , large & small, experienced & new, showcasing musicians, employing key professionals & encouraging & harnessing new raw talent, with a range of paid work & training opportunities.
Give Ashford & our surrounding communities exciting, affordable & brilliant live entertainment on their doorsteps
Make sure we deliver quality live music events by ensuring venues are supported with the very best technicians, engineers and equipment.
Create an Ashford Grass Roots Venue network, combining all our venues’ marketing power to ensure the widest reach possible, attracting new & existing audiences.
Work with guest programmers to nurture & develop talent, increase exposure for musicians who are the lifeblood of venues &
push partner venues to develop beyond their current restrictions e.g. location, capacity, finances, to expand & deliver brilliant and inspiring live music
What we'll deliver:
- A 10 day Live Music Village
- Paid work opportunities for up to 180 musicians,technicians and programmers
- Volunteering opportunities- working at the gigs
- A minimum of 10 ticketed live music events
- A minimum of 4 free live music events
- Workshops to help support young artists
- A platform to showcase established artists alongside new talent
Why it's a great idea:
Post pandemic Little Wonder helps us re-establish a music scene in Ashford, welcoming audiences back & reigniting their love & thirst for live performance.
It’s a crucial time after a forced hiatus & we need to inspire confidence in audiences, artists & partners that we are back & ready for business.
This work across 5 Ashford venues will:
Increase access to the creative sector job market, particularly for freelance artists & tech crew who have been particularly affected by the impact of Covid
Positively impact Ashford’s public, business & hospitality sector, empowering them to test out & be part of commissioning high quality artistic programming in a variety of non-arts spaces. Provide a more diverse attractive offer & increased opportunities for artists, audiences & local traders
Support the Council’s Covid Town Centre reset, contribute a clear vision for artistic use of spaces & assets creating a vibrant town centre to live, work and visit
Steps to get it done:
- Appoint programmers
- Develop Marketing Plan
- Appoint production manager
- Booking and Contracting artists
- Setting workshop dates
- Talking to project partners and confirming venues
- Develop Project branding
- Confirming dates and Launching Project
- Delivering event programme and workshops
