The Forgotten Arts Festival

Why is our festival important? 

The UK’s arts and entertainment sector has been one of the areas worst affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic; the arts and entertainment industry saw a 44.5% reduction in monthly gross domestic product output in the three months up to June 2020 compared with the three months earlier. (Tobin, 2020). Furthermore, public investment in the arts per head of the population in England fell by 35% in the last decade. (Tobin,2020).

To save the arts, we must look beyond West End theatres and London Galleries, local communities hold the key to recovery. So much has changed in 2020 but what is not different is the passion for community-led engagement and for creative connection. This is the grassroots side of the cultural sector – working in and of community, by locals themselves. The government fail to pay attention to the hyper-local, the groups that kept us going through the first lockdown and will do so again through local lockdowns. The value of the arts is not just evidenced in purely economic terms but also by all of the books, music, television and films that have been consumed during the pandemic. These works of art have been a comfort in the most testing of times. What value should we place on that?

We're raising money for The Forgotten Arts Festival - an online festival showcasing the UK's diverse arts performers, from singers to comedians, spoken word artists to burlesque dancers. This is a non-profit event, raising money for the charity 'For The Arts' dedicated to raising awareness of the role of public funding for the arts sector.