My name is Liam. I am one of the co-founders of Manchester based theatre company, Rising Roots Theatre. As well as, being co-producer of the new theatre festival, At The Edge.
www.attheedgefest.co.uk
Meet the Team
We are small, yet passionate, team that is striving to develop a festival that champions creativity, connection and community!
Liz - A dedicated and experienced arts therapy practitioner and one of the land keeper at Fell Edge Farm. Liz is our volunteer and crew administrator making sure we have enough people to keep the cogs turning over the weekend.
Richard - Fellow land keeper with Liz. They make a swell team! Richard is a local GP as well as know Fell Edge Farm from the inside out. Richard has been working closely with refugee groups and developing funds for the festival. You will find him hard at work over the weekend keeping the festival ticking over.
Saskia - Outstanding physical performer who has worked with the likes of Flying Seagull Project and will be performing on the Saturday with her new show. Sas wears the second and third hats of Co-technical manager and Co-marketing manager. As Sas knows the land very well also she will be helping the smooth running of the festival.
Lydia - Co-founder of Rising Roots Theatre - the production company of At The Edge Festival. Lydia is the Instagram and marketing wiz chiefly making our website from scratch! Lydia is also helping bringing the team together and developing our program. Lydia has an eye for making spaces look wow-tastic so you can thank her for the visual displays!
Liam - The other founder of Rising Roots Theatre. Liam is the budget guy, artist liaison and tech manager. A professional actor and yoga teacher by trade he is now turning his eye to producing his own work including taking on the challenge of making a festival happen alongside these amazing people!
What's it all about?
This year we are bringing together a huge host of talent that will focus on the questioning Land Justice, Social Justice and Asylum Rights.
Coming along for the ride is Three Acres and A Cow (A journey through land justice with folk tales and song), Saskia Solomons (A brand new show delving into the world of wealth and inequality) and members of Leeds Refugee Playback with be sharing the work they have been doing with Playback Theatre with the refugee community in Leeds.
Alongside this, there will be workshops, dances, music, fire circles, children’s activities and much more!
When?
With this being our debute year, we are looking to spread the word about our festival as much as possible, which will be happening on the 28th – 30th April at Fell Edge Farm, Ilkley.
Where will the funds go?
An important question! A festival has many overheads including (but not restricted to): paying artists, performers and technical staff, paying staff, food and drink, utility bills, photography and filmography promotion.
We rely heavily on the good will of volunteers and crew to help run the festival. Otherwise, there would be no way we could run a festival on our own. Thankfully, Fell Edge has acuminated and wide range of compassionate and hard-working souls who are already coming on board to make At The Edge happen.
With this being our debut year. We are starting from ground-zero with funds without the bolster of a previous years profits. So we are relying heavily on our own funds, charitable donations and now this Crowdfunding Platform. We do not know how ticket sales will do, we hope amazingly, but we need some financial reassurance that we can support all of those involved!
We will always pay our artists be that with ticket sales or from our own pockets. But we want this to go on next year so need to be able to make a profit that we can turn over into next year.
This is where you come in! With your help we can guarantee payment of our artists without adding financial pressure to ourselves. On top of this, it will hopefully allow us to pay our own commitments to this festival. Producing events is a lot of hard work that we do for the love of it. But being paid for our hard work is also nice!
Budget Breakdown (updated)
These figures are projected budget goals to achieve.. We hope to reach these so we can pay the running costs of the festival. If not, us organisers will forgo our payments in order make sure that others are paid first.
Saskia: £500 (rehearsals, creation and show)*
Three Acres and A Cow: £900 (rehearsals, creation and show)*
Threadbare Theatre: £900 (rehearsals, creation and show)*
Kontiki: £300 (rehearsals, creation and show)*
Producers (two staff roles): £1000
Barn and Land: £1710
Sauna and Wood: £200
Children's Tent: £255
Healing Hut: £120
Meals: £800
Total: £6,685
* These are the bare minimum payments artists should be paid. This involves, rehearsal, creation and performance. Which can involve months, if not years of labor.
We are doing this for the love and passion to bring this festival into the world! We are volunteering our time and are surrounded by wonderful people who are doing the same. Without this community we would not be able to operate. This is a team effort. Income is not our goal. We just wish that the festival stand on its own feet financially.
Consider this as financial aid to support the fluctuations in ticket sales.
We massively appreciate any contribution provided and send our heart-felt thanks to those who can offer support.
Get in touch
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us via our email:
You can also follow us on Instagram: @risingrootstheatre / @attheedgefest