arts workshops at Deer Shed Festival 2017

North Yorkshire's Deer Shed Festival which happens from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd July 2017. has announced its science workshops. 

Deer Shed likes to regard itself as a family-centric festival due to the team’s determination that every Deer Shedder, young and old alike, should leave the festival feeling enriched from experiencing its array of music, arts, science and sports activities.

A host of the workshops and activities have been designed specifically to suit the national curriculum’s Key Stage 2 objectives (and beyond), whilst providing entertainment for all ages. This year’s arts workshops, curated by an experienced team with a strong background in education, promise to be the most exciting and rewarding for the whole family in Deer Shed’s eight year history. From dancing, acting and song-writing workshops to crazy variations on yoga, the beloved festival has something for just about everyone.

This Year’s Arts Workshops

Festival goers at Deer Shed Festival 7 witnessed an immense spectacle when a flash mob integrated into the crowd broke into an electric, choreographed dance during Ibibio Sound Machine’s set. This year, Dance City - a vibrant and inclusive dance company based in Newcastle – will choreograph another flash
mob to dazzle Deer Shedders. Word on the grapevine is that Ibibio could once again be in on the plan, but you’ll have to Give Me a Reason to believe such a wild rumour! 

Returning for a second successive year, Matthew Bourne New Adventures & RE: Bourne will lead dance workshops based on Matthew Bourne’s productions of The Red Shoes and Cinderella. New Adventures & RE: Bourne is one of the great success stories of British theatre, notching up numerous international
awards, including a Laurence Olivier award this year. The company is known for spotting talent in the most unlikely of places – sometimes even in people who have never before performed on stage. Perhaps a star will be born in Baldersby Park!

Hendrix, Marr, Page. We all fancy ourselves as a bit of a guitar god when we’re in our bedrooms rocking out to our favourite tunes. At #DeerShed8, Rock School UK will host the Air Guitar Championships, meaning you can fulfil your wildest dreams and play a set with nothing but your imagination, wicked moves, and a crowd to roar you on. What will be your signature move: the power stance; sliding on your knees; the windmill? For those about to rock, we salute you! Rock School UK will also present both Samba Drumming and Junk Funk Drumming, an experiment in sound and rhythm with household objects.

Ever been just a bit jealous of the birds soaring freely through the sky? Ever wished you could run as fast as a cheetah? Maybe you just wish you could relax all day, moving at one mile an hour, like a sloth! Deer Shed’s good friends at West Yorkshire Playhouse will present an acting workshop where festival goers are tasked with hunting for, and channelling, their inner spirit animal. No doubt the workshop draws inspiration from this year’s festival theme, The Wilderwild.

As well as standard yoga classes and even a UV yoga rave, Go Yoga Harrogate will lead a silent yoga workshop. Silent yoga is much the same idea as a silent disco, except there’s less dancing and more mindful relaxation, stretching and exercise. Deer Shedders will be provided with a set of headphones to listen to the awe-inspiring DJ skills of Tim Ineaux whilst being shown some remarkable moves by Go Yoga’s professionally trained instructors. Tim’s projected visuals were hugely popular during his 2016 DJ set.

The Lake Poets is the alias for singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Martin Longstaff from Sunderland. At the age of just 24, Martin has already supported giants of the UK music scene, such as Tom Jones, James Morrison, Jake Bugg and Lucy Rose, and he will be sharing the secret to his success in a song-writing workshop prior to his Sunday afternoon set on the Lodge Stage.

#DeerShed8 will also witness the return of those arty peeps from Leeds City College with a whole lot of creative capers aimed at bringing a bit of visual vivacity to your festival weekend. Their workshops will include poster design and printing; avatar masks; Wilderwild headdress making; wounds, scars & scary stuff (make-up, of course!); Land of the Giants Photoshoot (tour around Baldersby Park to photograph Wilderwild critters in their natural habitats) and a collaborative enchanted woodland mural.

ComedySportz UK is a fast-paced improvised comedy show where two teams battle it out for the biggest laughs. The players create quick witted sketches, scenes and songs from whatever suggestions are thrown at them by the audience to create a show that’s fast, feel-good and always unpredictably funny. They will lead an improvisation workshop so Deer Shedders can learn the art of fast and funny thinking.

In collaboration with Thinking Space, Deer Shed Festival will host Shed Talks: Philosophical stimulation and conversation for thinkers aged 11 – 111. This will consist of a rotation of three philosophy speakers giving thought-provoking eight-minute talks, followed by a series of quick-fire audience participation workshops designed to get small groups talking and thinking about what they've heard. Key ideas from these short discussions will then be fed back to the Thinking Space practitioners who will hold an informal Q&A, led by a compere.

Rejoice: your festival workout has arrived! Bring all the family down for a friendly and uplifting dance around to drum & bass. In this energetic workshop, Drumnbounce want to share their moves and get you hyped for the day. Join Emily the instructor to get warmed up, reach a healthy high, then dubstretch out.
Good things come to those who bounce. Join them - you'll see! Bharatanatyam is a global dance genre which has its roots in the Indian subcontinent. Dynamic
movements in angular patterns and percussive rhythmic structures make it one of the most fascinating dance forms in the world. Every movement of Bharatanatyam is executed with evocative hand gestures and focused movements of the eyes. Come and enjoy a workshop with SS Dance on Bharatanatyam
which will make you feel funky and energetic.

Remember the halcyon days of Scouting when you used to embark on a trip to a faraway wood to sit around a campfire eating marshmallows on a stick and singing traditional songs? Deer Shed are taking us back to those days! Join Sally Egan for a trip into The Wilderwild for some wild singing with the birds.
Classics like Kum Ba Yah are bound to be brought back to life, while we’re sure you can slip in some songs from main stage headliners. Kate Tempest around a campfire, anyone?

Sound and music can have a profound impact on our emotions and state of mind. Listening to your favourite song can sometimes feel like being hugged by an old friend, or have the same relaxing effect of taking a long, hot soak in the bath tub. The #DeerShed8 Gong Bath workshop takes its name from that
very sensation! Immerse yourself in the sound of the gong to help ease your troubles. 

It’s important at every family outing, including at music festivals, to have a little bit of down time for relaxation. Reflect on the weekend activities in the festival’s breathing circles and meditation workshop. The hustle and bustle can sometimes get a little tiring, so you can sit down in a calm environment to recharge and reenergise in time for the rest of the weekend.

In addition, the Deer Shed team have curated a vast array of arty-crafty workshops allowing Deer Shedders to make lovely mementos all weekend. These include the creation of: sun print art, hobby horses, bird feeders, tin can lanterns, friendship bracelets, cardboard guitars, willow hearts, worry dolls, insect coasters, wig-wams, fairy houses, pom-poms, friendship bracelets, willow creations, cardboard creations, acorn paintings, nature crowns, woodland tribal heads, clay tree faces and sun catchers. Phew, that’s a long list.

Keep your eyes peeled for many more performances, workshops, activities and festival spectacles due to be revealed in a mid-May announcement for The Wilderwild.

All of the above joins join the previously confirmed music acts, and more, which include headliners Teenage Fanclub, Kate Tempest, & The Divine Comedy, plus Honeyblood, Ibibio Sound Machine, Arab Strap, Cabbage, and many more including the comedy line-up, with more still to be announced. For all the details so far please see the line-up page.

buy tickets now >

Tickets are on sale, with an adult (16+) weekend ticket is currently priced at £135, a teen (aged 11 - 15 years) weekend ticket is priced at £45, child (aged 6 - 10 years) weekend ticket is priced at £45, child (aged 3 - 5 years) weekend ticket is priced at £10, toddler (aged 0-2 years) is free. Free camping is included. Prices include booking fees. Weekend campervan & caravan pass is priced at £50, add £15 for awning or tent. Car parking £10.

All the kids activities and workshops free of charge.

Deer Shed Festival offers a main stage with second acoustic stage in the Deer Shed itself, plus plenty of clean toilets and baby changing facilities. There will be a main bar as well as a cocktail bar, a large food tent with seating and high chairs. As well as the music the event offers vintage art and craft stalls, kids tent and outside play area, and will have a welfare and first aid tent.

The Arts programme includes cinema, PG-rated comedy, commissioned theatre, artists at work, illustrators, graffiti artists, spoken word, circus, cabaret, storytelling, and more usually centred around the theme.

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