Bucks residents encouraged to take part in a Summer of Stories
It could be a personal story or one of Buckinghamshire itself
Bucks residents are being encouraged to share their stories as part of a Summer of Stories.
The Summer of Stories programme is a partnership from Buckinghamshire Culture, Buckinghamshire council and the Rothschild Foundation.
Residents are being invited to share and celebrate their personal stories, and those of Buckinghamshire itself.
There will be lots of opportunities to share stories in creative ways, through an artist-led Story Project throughout the summer, and the Open Weekend event taking place over a long weekend, 22-25 July.
The Story Project will see artists touring a pop-up Story Stall - think artist-designed market stall - to locations across Buckinghamshire and encouraging people to share their stories. Our lead artist, Tom Cross, will design the Story Stall, which will collect stories using postcards, and through conversations with the public.
Starting at WhizzFizzFest (26 June), and touring the county over the summer, the Stall will visit events, markets and high streets - engaging lots of different people.
The artists will then respond to all of the stories they hear over the summer and create a pop-up storytelling structure that will visit town centres across Bucks in early autumn.
Lead artist, Tom Cross says:
"I am excited to be working in Buckinghamshire, and looking forward to the moments of wonder, joy and sadness that I know I will experience, hearing and sharing stories of residents. This is a great opportunity to celebrate Buckinghamshire and the people that live here - especially now things are re-opening after lockdown.
"Story Stall will also be part of our story-themed Open Weekend. For Open Weekend, 22-25 July, we will be promoting a four-day programme of activities themed to stories and we want everyone to come along and be part of it. This will be a celebration of creativity, culture and stories. Organisations, groups and businesses across Buckinghamshire are invited to contribute events to create an exciting and varied programme of activity for people to join in with. We hope to see workshops, talks, walks, demonstrations, open days and many more things that you can enjoy or have a go at!"
Councillor Clive Harriss, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure at Buckinghamshire Council said:
"I would like to thank our partners Buckinghamshire Culture, Arts Council England, Heart of Bucks and the Rothschild Foundation for their support and additional funding which has enabled us to run these amazing events.
We think Buckinghamshire is a county of great stories, not just from Milton to Dahl and opera to film, but all of its resident's experiences and tales. In time, we aim to create an annual Storytelling Festival for the county. This is just the beginning."
For any organisations, charities or groups keen to join in with Open Weekend head to their website.