{"id":6856,"date":"2015-08-06T08:03:37","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T07:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/?p=6856"},"modified":"2015-08-06T08:03:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-06T07:03:37","slug":"capturing-the-imagination-of-children-and-adults-alike-interview-with-boing-festivals-ali-chambers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/2015\/08\/06\/capturing-the-imagination-of-children-and-adults-alike-interview-with-boing-festivals-ali-chambers\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing the imagination of children and adults alike: interview with bOing Festival’s Ali Chambers"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the bOing! International Family Festival<\/strong> <\/a>set to burst into life at the end of the month, I caught up with the newest member of the festival team, Ali Chambers, to find out what’s in store…<\/p>\n

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You’ve recently joined the Gulbenkian team; where have you come from, and what’s your background ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I joined Gulbenkian at the end of June having worked for Canterbury Festival for five years doing logistics and education stuff! Events management is really my \u201cthing\u201d and I\u2019ve done all sorts, from field festivals to international conferences but Festivals are my favourite. I love creating something from nothing; starting with an empty space and making something wonderful that disappears a few days later but creates lasting memories! Working with an artist to create the bOing<\/em> map has been my favourite part of the job so far, you\u2019ll see why when you see the map; a university campus reimagined!<\/p>\n

What’s your role in bOing ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ali<\/a>
Ali Chambers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

bOing<\/em> is approaching incredibly quickly and most of the planning has already been done so it\u2019s just a case of pulling everything together and being a fresh pair of eyes. I\u2019m creating an event management schedule so the team have a good overview of what\u2019s going on and when, and a bit of an instruction manual to help them deal with particular events that could arise like lost parents (or children!)<\/p>\n

As ever, the Festival couldn\u2019t be done without the help of our bOing!<\/em> volunteers and we\u2019re still in need of a few helping hands, so perhaps anyone who is interested in volunteering could drop me a line.<\/p>\n

Young people are at the heart of the Gulbenkian, and you’ve even got them involved in running events at bOing; what will that involve, and what’s the take-up \/ response been like ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gulbenkian has started a youth arts movement called ART31. We host a group of young people who are passionate about creating their own opportunities in the arts, so they\u2019re running their own stage at bOing<\/em>; programming it, performing, managing all the tech and also making the most of the opportunity to recruit new members of the movement so hopefully we\u2019ll be very busy at the ART31 weekly meetings from now on! We\u2019re realising that young people, teenagers in particular, are frustrated with not having anywhere to go or anything to do, so the take-up has been fantastic and you\u2019ll definitely see some up-and-coming talent on the bOing<\/em> ART31 stage.<\/p>\n