A virtual arts festival is being put together to showcase the arts, people and heritage of Ashfield.

Ashfield Art Fest 2021, a free community arts festival online, aims to offers a vibrant and diverse range of art events, ranging from performances, crafts, poetry, storytelling and more. 

It wants to highlight artists, community groups and the people of Ashfield to create and share their love of the arts. 

Artistic director Claire Finn, who runs the festival, said: “I decided to create an online festival for the community due to social media interest from artists and local people living in the area.

“I want to celebrate the people of Ashfield who continued to create in lockdown and see how the arts has helped them through the pandemic.

“The idea is to amplify the arts in the area by platforming its creatives and celebrating the community to offer an uplifting boost for Ashfield through these challenging times.”

Claire is developing a programme of online events, ranging from poetry, storytelling, theatre and crafts, for the event in May. Most of the events will be viewed through social media and be free for all to participate and enjoy. 

She added: “The programme offers an opportunity for visitors to view a range of artists, groups and makers from Ashfield to showcase their work.

“The festival is voluntary-led and welcomes support from participants and individuals wishing to take part.

“The aim is to be inclusive, affordable and as enjoyable as possible to everyone involved. If you’d like to get in touch on any aspect of.” 

The festival is seeking local creatives, craft makers, artists, poets, writers, performers and local people with a love for the arts, wellbeing and community.

Claire said: “You don’t need to be a professional, just a love of anything arty that you’d like to share or thought about joining. Please do get in touch for a friendly chat at [email protected] 

The festival aims to uplift the community through these challenging times and offer free arts to all.

For more information go to www.facebook.com/ashfieldartfest or twitter.com/ArtAshfield or https://ashfieldvirtualartsfest.wordpress.com/ or find the festival on Instagram at ashfieldvirtualartfest