Our Director Matt Panesh is a Festivals Director, multi award winning Writer/Performer, Artistic Director, Producer, Workshop Developer and Leader. He is a Board Director of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (the largest annual ticketed event in the world). Matt’s vision is to re-connect the people of Morecambe with their entertainment heritage, by giving access to the performing arts and the health and wealth benefits they've been proven to bring.
Matt is based in the West End ward, in the top 20% of deprived UK wards with some streets in the top 2% tackling the exclusion of the working classes from the arts. Matt pioneered the Morecambe Fringe, which is now in its sixth year. This Festival has now seeded other regional festivals, including in Barrow, Carnforth, and Ulverston, leading to major regenerative regional arts development.
He runs Make your Fringe Show workshops for the community to develop work for these festivals and has set up the West End Players, a completely inclusive community theatre company which is just about to become CIC status with its own board. He has set up and runs the West End Playhouse which recieves touring work as well as provides a platform for the community to perform.
Matt also promoted John Cooper Clarke for the last four years in the area, laying the foundation for the highly well received 2022 Morecambe Poetry Festival. Building on that he's fostered relationships with the TS Eliot foundation, the Town Council, and Waterstones.
Over the last six years, Matt has worked with the local community, including people with complex needs and those who have historically felt excluded from the arts. We will recruit volunteers from our established volunteer pool, as well as the local arts community, with a focus on marginalised demographics. We will seek new staff through a combination of advertising and community outreach, giving preference to those who are currently under-represented in our local arts scene.
This project will give Matt the opportunity to develop his team further. The creation of the Senior Management Team will allow for the development of a leadership structure made up of Morecambe locals, who represent the growing arts community. This will be timely, as our future programming is growing.
