The idea
The Feast:
After the success of The Dinner Party - an online party in lockdown with free Dinner Party kits & online entertainment, in partnership with The Larder - comes The Feast.
The Feast will be will be a community event made in Lache, for the Lache. Everyone will be invited as we have a street party on the Lache to celebrate Lache’s unique past, present and future. It will be a chance to hear untold stories, celebrate local people & bring the community together.
We want gardeners, makers, performers, cooks, hosts, artists, volunteers. Young or old, no experience necessary. Along the way there’ll be chances to learn new skills, get to know other people & make a day to remember.
Communities have visited RHS Bridgewater for gardening inspiration, attended a cooking masterclass to think about the menu, & a behind the scenes tour with The Storyhouse to think about setting the scene.
The project will be lead by artist Lowri Evans, and will be part of Chester Contemporary.
What we'll deliver
- 7 x gardening sessions for the community - including groups and for schools
- A new gardening space for The Larder
- 7 x cooking sessions for the community - learning from each other and from local chef Brian Mellor
- 7 x Theatrical and creative sessions for the community and local youth theatre groups and schools
- 5 x Creative reminiscent sessions - exploring history of community events, parading, carnivals and recipes on the Lache
- Creation of a Feast recipe book (1000) - featuring locally mined recipes and documenting life on the Lache.
- Photography documentation of the process and the event
- Video documentation of the process and the event
- Creative installations on the day of the Feast (props, site dressing, table dressing)
- A large scale community feast - the food and drink, performances and a round table
Why it's a great idea
Our research identified that people on the Lache felt that culture in the city centre was not ‘for them’, therefore, we wanted to bring the spotlight to the Lache & highlight its special sense of community. It is important to work with partners such as the Larder, a local resource with high demand & lack of resources to support their development & activities.
The project will benefit the Lache ward ranked in the top 2% most deprived in England and CW&C ranks amongst the worst 10% of local authorities for youth social mobility.
Benefits:
The Larder & the Community Centre - supporting new skills, encouraging new volunteers & providing resources.
Older people groups - with activities that provide an opportunity to get out, reminisce, socialise & learn new skills.
Young people - improving aspirations & new skills to help with social mobility & learn from older people in their community
Families - an opportunity for families to learn skills together & raise aspirations
Steps to get it done
- Funding Confirmed
- Project initiation meeting with Lowri Evans and community partners
- Design and conduct evaluation
- Advertise involvement opportunities
- Brief and commission workshop creative practitioners (theatre, performance and prop and installation design)
- Brief and commission cooking and gardening workshops
- Brief and commission photographer and videographer
- Reminisce and memory sessions in the community (gathering memories, photo’s and recipes)
- Brief local schools
- Start workshops
- Schools programme start
- Start growing locally
- Monthly sessions - bringing everyone together
- Detailed event plan including RAMS
- Conversation with bus service providers - start plan for alternative routes (if required)
- Ensure any relevant road closures are in place (if required)
- Complete TENS
- Marketing event - social media, leaflets, posters
- Press release distributed
- Rehearsals
- Harvest food - source other food through Larder and waste food
- Prep for cooking
- Event LIVE
- Design recipe book (including images from event, recipes for sessions and old photos)
- Print recipe book
- Distribute recipe book (proceeds to Larder)
- Gather and write final evaluation report
