An arts festival to inspire climate action in Teignbridge
The inaugural ACT with the Arts Climate Festival will run from 22nd to 29th June in venues across Teignbridge, featuring exhibitions, performances, workshops and street entertainment. There are choirs, dances and poetry readings. There is drama, art and film.
We want to offer free entry to all events so no one is excluded. We need to raise money to help fund the performers and musicians taking part as Action on Climate in Teignbridge (ACT) is a voluntary organisation.
Artists can offer a visionary view of the world, so we have invited artists from the worlds of contemporary art, music, dance, poetry and theatre to show us through their art how they feel about climate change. We want to engage, inspire, illuminate, and explain what the climate and ecological emergency means for people in the Teignbridge district of South Devon and what we can all do to make a difference.
Tree of Hope
One of the festival highlights will be the opening ceremony in Newton Abbot featuring a 10ft Tree of Hope constructed from recycled material by school children and community artist Sam Lock and covered by leaves recording the children's hopes for the future.
Public erasure
Another highlight is a Public Erasure, when people will be invited to “erase” the animals drawn by artist Frances Gynn RWA to draw attention to the loss of species worldwide.
Visitors can also enjoy the Plymouth Climate Choir, Brixham Chimes, Red Earth Playback Theatre, Kimwei, Troubadour Theatre, and many more.
Visual artists include Frances Gynn, Nigel Moores, Nicole Wassall, and Simon Temblett, with more artists and groups wanting to take part all the time.
Who we are
ACT was set up in 2019 to encourage and support Teignbrige residents, councils, organisations and businesses to cut their carbon dioxide emissions and help local wildlife survive and thrive. We have around 500 members, and run the Wildlife Wardens and Carbon Cutters schemes which recruit, train and support volunteers to take on whatever projects they think will help people in their local parishes to understand the issues and make a difference in their area.
Wildlife Wardens being trained to complete surveys by the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre
How can you help?
We want to reach as many people and include as many performers and artists as possible, so there is something for everyone and no one has to pay to join in. We will all feel the effects of climate breakdown if we don't cut our energy use and carbon emissions and treat nature with respect. Please help us spread that message and make our Climate Festival a success.
The festival organisers
The main organisers are Kate Benham, chair of ACT, and Paul Wynter, founder of Londonart, who has organised and curated many exhibitions and arts events. Paul says: "The exhibition will give artists and performers the opportunity to inspire and provoke thinking around issues of climate change. Scientists keep telling us it's the biggest challenge facing humanity and yet politicians are still not taking it seriously enough. We need to communicate via the arts as much as through science to make sure the message reaches as wide an audience as possible."