What we do
Members of Beverley Arts Trust have continued to organise the Puppet Festival, the Wold Top tent at the Beverley and East Riding Folk Festival, and individual events supported by a number of very able volunteers. We promote these events at the Green Fair and Market stalls and by distribution of leaflets in addition to use of the web site and email list. The local press and media are contacted for each event and they have been very supportive and have helped our events reach a wider audience.
Many of our events use Beverley Memorial Hall and Pete has been appointed as a trustee there. We take every opportunity offered to comment on the plans for the proposed development of the Memorial Hall and other entertainment venues in the Beverley area.
We ran a number of events throughout the year in 2007, building on the success of the Puppet Festival and Blue Harlem concert at Howden Shire Hall last year. We have developed a web site and expanded our email contact list in order to promote our events more successfully. We have applied for funding to enable us to appoint an administrator to support these events and the organisation of the Puppet Festival and Folk Festival.
In 2006 we organised the Beverley Puppet Festival that featured 11 companies, 17 shows and various street performances over 3 days in May. Educational residencies created a schools' showcase and procession. The highlight of the festival was Pak Asep Sunandar Sunarya and troupe, master puppeteer from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.
Beverley Arts Trust members acted as task force volunteers during the set up of the Beverley Folk Festival site and helped throughout the 3 day festival.
We were involved in consultation for the Memorial Hall redevelopment and developed a Cultural Strategy for the Beverley Renaissance Partnership Cultural Group.
Blue Harlem performed to a packed Howden Shire Hall and this was so successful that we have organised a return concert in November 2007.
In 2005 we volunteered to assist at the Black Umfolosi concert in the Memorial Hall. This was the first performance that the group was involved in after a year of campaigning to keep the Beverley Picture Playhouse open as an arts venue. Beverley Arts Trust was started with a public meeting to campaign against the closure of The Beverley Picture Playhouse.
Beverley Arts Trust presented the case for keeping an arts centre in the market square in Beverley, collected numerous signatures and made presentions at the planning meetings. However despite our best efforts the Beverley Picture Playhouse has now been closed and refurbished as a commercial venue, possibly to be used as shops. We will however continue to promote, support and encourage performing arts in Beverley and throughout the East Riding of Yorkshire.