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  1. FAQs

VAFest Event ideas

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Voluntary Arts Festival is a great way to shine a spotlight on the creative work you do – and invite new people to get involved as participants, volunteers and/our audience members. This could be as simple as listing your regular meet-up on the Voluntary Arts Festival website (if it falls between 5 - 14 May 2017) and making it welcoming to new people, or you could run a special event such as a taster session, showcase event or open day. 

We have created three dedicated Voluntary Arts Festival event toolkits that share our learning and guidance on how to create a community CraftBomb, stage a pop-up Flashmob and grow a Woollen Woods. Scroll down to download these toolkits and for more event ideas.


Once you have decided on your event, click on the bullet points for guidance on how to make it happen:

  • Planning your event
  • Funding your event
  • Listing your event
  • Publicising your event
  • Documenting your event
  • Evaluating your event

Ideas for performing arts groups

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Flashmob – Take your talent into town! Whatever kind of performance you do, why not venture outside and show the public what your group is made of? You could also use this as an opportunity to hand out flyers for an upcoming show/concert and help promote your group to potential new audiences and participants. For more information, advice and ideas, download the Voluntary Arts Week Flashmob Toolkit (coming soon).


Open rehearsal – If your drama group, choir, orchestra, dance troupe or band meets for a weekly rehearsal, why not open your doors during the Voluntary Arts Festival and invite people in? An open rehearsal is a relaxed, unpressured way for people to see what you do, and perhaps be inspired to join you.


Special performance – Celebrate your group’s achievements, and make use of the extra publicity the Voluntary Arts Festival can bring, by putting on a special one-off show. Perhaps you could use it to raise money for charity?


Taster session – Sometimes, it’s not until you try something that you know how much fun it is! Give people a chance to share your enjoyment by running a taster session, giving them a gentle introduction to your activity.


Part of a music group? Making Music is encouraging music groups across the land to stage ‘come and try’ events during the Voluntary Arts Festival. Download the Come and Play/Sing Toolkit (coming soon), which has lots of practical advice and ideas on how to plan your event.

Published: 30th November, 2016

Updated: 28th July, 2017

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Grow your own Woollen Woods

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Get creative with nature and spin a yarn about your local woodland this Voluntary Arts Festival!

The Woollen Woods is a fun way to bring craft and nature together, engaging communities with their local green spaces, both as participants and visitors.

In May 2015 Voluntary Arts helped establish seven flagship Woollen Woods in woodland venues across the UK and Ireland and over 6,000 woolly creations were sent in from across the world to be exhibited. Some great partnerships were formed between venues, community groups and craft groups, and thousands of people visited to see the work on display.

In 2016 a further 11 Woollen Woods burst into bloom, resulting in wool-craft skills being shared, groups forging new connections and people from all walks of life coming together to exhibit their woolly artworks.

Grow your own Woollen Woods in 2017 - A number of Woollen Woods are already taking root and will go on display as part of the Voluntary Arts Festival in May, but there's still time to get involved and organise your own!

See the Woollen Woods Toolkit for tips, guidance and useful links to help you grow your own woolly woodland as part of this exciting nationwide project. 

To see images from Woollen Woods in previous years and to keep up to date on developments, visit the Woollen Woods Facebook page. 

Published: 6th December, 2016

Updated: 28th July, 2017

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Form a Flashmob

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Whether your passion is singing, dancing, music, amateur dramatics, circus skills or spoken word – step outside your usual rehearsal space and surprise your local community with a pop-up performance this Voluntary Arts Festival.

Download the Flashmob Toolkit to find out more.

Published: 6th December, 2016

Updated: 28th July, 2017

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Create a CraftBomb

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Brighten up your community and help launch the Voluntary Arts Festival in an explosion of colour and creativity from 5 – 14 May 2017!

The Voluntary Arts Festival CraftBomb has become somewhat of an annual affair, which sees high streets, school yards, public gardens and museums across the country decorated with a host of crafty creations each May.

This is a great project to undertake if you want to raise the profile of your group, and also presents an opportunity to work with other organisations in your area and invite members of the public to join you.

Those involved in previous years have had tremendous fun, been featured in both local and national press and met new people along the way.

Download the CraftBomb Toolkit for more details, including ideas on what to make, where to find low-cost materials, how to spread the word and guidance on getting permission.



Published: 6th December, 2016

Updated: 28th July, 2017

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Working with another group and/or venue

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Taking part in the Voluntary Arts Festival is a great opportunity to get together with others groups and organisations or perhaps take your creativity to a new venue. This could lead to a relationship that lasts year-round and is a way of reaching out to new people that you may not otherwise come into contact with.


Step outside your own creative activity – Get in touch with other groups in your area and see how you could work together. You could:

- Organise a showcase event to celebrate the voluntary arts activity in your village/town/city. This could include information stands and a lively programme of workshops and performances, led by different groups, that invite people to find out more and get involved.

- Stage a multi-arts event in partnership with a a creative group of another discipline, for example - a choir could team up with a drawing group to hold a sketch and sing workshop, or an orchestra could work with a dance group to stage a special performance.


Join forces with similar groups – If there are groups in your area who do the same thing as you, why not see if you could collaborate on a special project for Voluntary Arts Week? Two choirs are louder than one when it comes to a Flashmob! Previous Voluntary Arts Festival events include:

- Belper Woollen Woods, which saw a number of different wool-craft groups sharing skills and working together to create a magical display of   knitted nature, which was exhibited in their local woodland as part of the nationwide Woollen Woods project.

- The Playhouse Swing, which brought swing dance groups and enthusiasts from central Scotland together for a day of 'come and try' workshops     and social dancing in the sunshine at the Polloksheilds Playhouse in Glasgow.


Take your creativity somewhere new – Why not approach a venue you’ve never used before, such as a library, community centre or school to host your Voluntary arts Festival event? Public venues like museums and shopping centres are especially good for the hosting a drop-in workshop, CraftBomb display or Flashmob performance, as they can provide a captive audience and passers by to engage with your activity.

Working with a new venue is a great way to break out of your usual meeting space and reach out to new people. The venue may also be able to help you advertise your event, meaning you could benefit from additional publicity. Previous Voluntary Arts Festival partnerships include:

- The Inspire Youth Dance Flashmob, which saw a dance group based in Newton Stewart partnering with the local football club to stage a pop up performance to entertain the crowds and promote their upcoming dance workshops.

- The Gwynedd CraftBomb, which saw Crew Celf Art Group join forces with the Gwynedd Museum & Gallery in Bangor, to create a community CraftBomb inspired by the buildings historical collection.


Further resources - Visit the Voluntary Arts Contact us page to get in touch to see how we can help you connect with other groups.

Voluntary Arts Briefings - For guidance on everything from health and safety to finding a new venue, see Voluntary Arts Briefings. 

Published: 6th December, 2016

Updated: 28th July, 2017

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Ideas for visual art and/or craft groups

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Create a CraftBomb – Join creative groups across the country and help put creativity on the map, by organising a community craft display in your local area this May. Scroll down for more information and download the CraftBomb Toolkit (coming soon) for more details, including ideas and guidance on what to make, where to find low-cost materials, how to spread the word and getting permission.


Run a workshop – If your visual art or craft group has a set of creative skills – be it oil painting, flower arranging, quilting or knitting – why not share these with newcomers? You could run a simple beginners workshop open to everyone, or a special themed workshop for those more in the know. This could be a great way to promote your group and invite people to join you on a more regular basis.


Hold a ‘come and try’ session – Less formal than a workshop, ‘come and try’ sessions are a great way to engage potential new members and offer hands-on fun in a relaxed environment.

Often run on a drop-in basis, 'come and try' events work well when held in a public place or done in partnership with another event, to ensure a captive audience. Successful 'come and try' events, include:

  • Drop-in knitting sessions in a busy shopping centre
  • Sewing skill-share workshops in Glasgow Botanic Gardens
  • Mobile print demo's and 'have a go' activities held in partnership with a community garden event

Exhibit your work – Celebrate your group’s achievements with a special Voluntary Arts Festival exhibition, perhaps featuring some of your favourite pieces from the previous year or asking your members to respond to a particular brief or theme. Make sure to include information about your group for people who may want to join you.


Woollen Woods – The Woollen Woods invites craft groups to team up with local greenspaces, share wool-craft skills and create nature-inspired woolly art works to go on display during the Voluntary Arts Festival. In previous years this has seen knitted birds sitting alongside crocheted frogs, and all manner of crafty flora and fauna on display in the great outdoors.

Scroll down for more information and download the Woollen Woods Toolkit (coming soon) for practical advice and useful links to help your fibre forest flourish.

Published: 6th December, 2016

Updated: 28th July, 2017

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