SO Festival 2022
What did we get up to in 2022?
We brought back the 3-day summer festival!
2022’s free, three-day festival, featured an awe-inspiring array of innovative performances from the local and international circuit. The event was delivered in Mablethorpe, Sherwood Fields on Friday 19 August and Skegness, Tower Gardens on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 August 2022 and entertained thousands of people over the festival weekend.
Of the touring artists, highlights included ‘an uplifting dance riot’ courtesy of the diverse creative team at Stopgap Dance Company, an emotive exploration of the experiences of new arrivals in the UK in ‘The Tide’ and LA PARTIDA: a unique blend of dance and football, which conjured up memories of our Lionesses’ win and captivated even the youngest festivalgoers – who also enjoyed a kick about with the performers after the show.
As well as being entertained by the variety of performances on offer, there was plenty for our local communities and visitors to participate in too! 2022 saw the return of the Community Stage in the Activity Zone, produced by local creative, Bruce Knight of Spilsby Theatre. Young minds ignited with inspiration as they took part in aerial workshops with Lincolnshire based artists, Creative Heights. Skegness based dance troupe, Top Limitz, dazzled audiences with their talented young dancers who created bespoke routines for the festival.
Alongside our community programme, jaws hit the floor as Brighton based artist, Jon Hicks, demonstrated his miraculous powers in ‘The Visionary’ with the help of local community groups, Desperate Men’s show ‘Generations’ was co-created using local people’s stories and audiences were also invited to collaborate with Artificial Intelligence, artist and robot in Kaleider’s immersive installation, ‘Robot Selfie’, funded by and delivered at in partnership with Visit Lincs Coast DBID.
Here are some lovely comments from our audiences:
Memories and Moments
Enjoy highlights, performance snippets, audience reactions and special moments from SO Festival 2022, in Mablethorpe and Skegness…
Watch A Love Letter to SO Festival & the Power of Making Arts Accessible to All…
Coastal community members, SO Festivalgoers, touring artists and local creatives at the event’s 2022 edition share their thoughts on why SO Festival, and its mission to make high quality arts and culture truly accessible to all, is SO vital.
We collaborated with our communities
Coastal communities were still evidently a key focus for SO in 2022, with locals taking part in prop making workshops, leading cultural discussions and showcasing their talents on the popular Community Stage.
In the lead up to the hotly anticipated return event, SO Festival performers Desperate Men and Jon Hicks spent time meeting with, speaking to and working alongside residents, shaping their shows around local voices and welcoming brave community participants to take to the stage as part of their acts.
Carla Craney, Regional Community Support Service’s Manager for County Care Lincolnshire was thrilled to be involved with the festival, and said “Service users of County Care were part of ‘The Visionary’ show by Jon Hicks; it was so rewarding seeing the positive engagement from the crowd when our users performed a dance wearing the fish heads they’d made during workshop sessions and displayed Makaton”.
“All of their hard work and preparation paid off and the SO Festival spirit was euphoric, tremendously building our users’ confidence & interactional skills. We are SO excited to attend next year and work closer with the SO team going forward!”
