Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council are a local authority which has, in recent years, made an additional commitment to its Culture and Tourism Service, and an aspiration cultural vision for the borough.
Alongside the cultural vision, there has been an exponential increase in the service, with additional positions that strengthen the knowledge and ambition for events and festivals within the Borough.
The council have committed to the development of cultural engagement programme and experiences for residents, in particular, children and young people and visitors. We are currently in development of new arts and cultural festival, taking place year-on-year. The vision for the festival is a free Combined Arts festival in the heart of Redcar, aimed at children, young people and their families, thematically reflecting the thoughts, feelings, cares and hearts of our audiences, whilst maintaining regional and national appeal.
Why we joined Without Walls
‘The Without Walls programme is a fantastic opportunity to join a partnership of collaborative, diverse festivals and programmers, working together that strive towards excellence. Our ambitions are high and we believe the Without Walls opportunity to shape and deliver a high-quality programme of boundary-pushing, excellent outdoor work.
Within our service, we believe in collaboration which sits strategically across everything we do, from strategic partnerships to programming, production and engagement. We know that we are stronger together and look forward to sharing knowledge, experiences and activity as part of our new programme of activity for 2023.’
Impact on Local Communities
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Cultural Services aims to increase high quality arts and cultural opportunities for residents of Redcar and Cleveland and its visitors. We aspire to create a shift change in how culture is perceived and delivered. Using culture to cement our area as an exciting place to live, enjoy and visit showcasing the area as a strong tourism and cultural destination. The project will use culture to pull focus and to support future plans as we embed Culture as part of our everyday lives.
A selection of some of our recent aspirational programme has included, The Whale by Captain Boomer, the Development and delivery of the Redcar Illumination Parade and the participation in cultural strategic partnerships including The National Mela Partnership, Tees Valley Festivals Network, with whom we have secured funding to deliver one of ACE’s Volunteering Futures programmes and Redcar and Cleveland Cultural Partnership.
What's Happening at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
The festival, which will be programmed for Summer 2023, will be a high quality, multi-artform festival situated within the heart of Redcar and Cleveland. Focussed on children, young people and their families, the festival will be a free celebration of creativity, with a regional and national programme.
The feel and footprint of the festival is still being shaped, and we are excited to see what our newly recruited team of Creative Producers working within the Local Authority will develop.
The festival, currently named ‘Redcar-by-the-Sea Festival’, will be their anchor Summer festival, forming part of their wider programme that includes the following:
- Two large scale, international cycling events, with associated creative programme;
- A Winter programme of Light Switch On activity, as well as an incredibly popular Illumination Parade.
- A range of creative activity and performances that sit stand-alone in our programme, such as The Whale by Captain Boomer Collective.