#underthetown

Today, at the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool was the Under The Town festival, organised by 27 young people, all of whom were working towards an arts award qualification. This was the second year of the festival, last year it won the prize for the being the best youth event in Blackpool. Under The Town incorporated fashion, food, dance, art and music for a fantastic event!

The festival was opened by a Blackpool councillor, who praised the efforts of the young people creating the festival. It was then time for the first act, Katy Pickles, a well-known local singer-songwriter, who attracted many people into the thriving festival. Other acts playing were Jekyll, who described their sound as 'alternative rock', and singer-songwriter Joe McCorriston. There was also a dance performance centred around the theme of the Olympics. Headlining were The Colours, playing Under The Town for a second year. I interviewed them in a bus where pizza was made. This interview will be up soon!

There were also a variety of stalls: the aforementioned incredible pizza bus, which was parked outside the gallery, a free ice-cream van, and a stall from Manchester based Me&Yu amongst others. Linking to the artistic theme of the gallery was the 'Sit and Knit' stall, where one of the Blaze young producers was teaching audience members to knit. The art was focused around the theme of light, due to it being the centenary of the Blackpool illuminations. A highlight for me was Liquid Light Art: food colouring on a kind of microscope projected onto the blank walls of the gallery. It created a kind of ink blot pattern, very difficult to describe but very effective. I'll upload some pictures and a video soon!

As a blaze blogger, my job was to interview people. I hadn't done a lot of interviewing before, but I quickly learnt on my feet. I really enjoyed interviewing everyone: from audience members, to volunteers, to bands. I found it rewarding, learning the importance of naturalism on-camera, and also the importance of having an idea of what to say prior to the interview.