We sat down with Arcadia’s producer, Kay Michael. Arcadia is a creative and interactive festival sparking conversation, the imagination and activism to ‘re-forest’ our minds and places. Over four days, Stanley Arts will be taken over by young people’s response to the climate crisis, imagining a future in harmony with balance and nature.
What inspired the creation of Arcadia Festival?
We wanted to create an indoor community festival around the climate emergency that responded to the London Borough of Culture call for systems change and that would be led by young people. Our location in South Norwood, Croydon is unique. The land we’re on used to be ancient woodland, the Great North Wood, which once stretched from Deptford to Croydon, and there are still remnants of it that remain, in what is one of London’s greenest boroughs. But Croydon is also a concrete and glass centre with huge social inequality. So we asked ourselves the question: what would it be like to bring back and celebrate nature; how can it be for everyone to access, enjoy and benefit from? That’s where the name of our festival ‘Arcadia’ comes from. It’s a kind of utopia which imagines a future where we live in harmony and balance with nature, which we know plays a role in addressing the climate crisis too. The festival is now both indoors and outdoors so that we can connect our communities directly with our surrounding natural environment.
Can you tell us about what attendees can expect at the festival?
Stanley Arts will be taken over by a deep immersion into nature, creativity and community action. There’s so much on offer – whether you want to try your hand at gardening, learn about permaculture, go through a 3 hour (highly recommended) interactive climate science workshop with Climate Fresk, experience promenade dance and performance that takes you on a journey through the seasons and elements, live music in response to air pollution, or be inspired by internationally acclaimed South London artist-activists who’ll be sharing their work too. We also have nature trails and book talks where we’ll learn about the local ancient woodland, bird species and take part in tree care. Our walking tour with Lira Valencia, the David Attenborough of Croydon, is sold out, so do book soon for our other activities to save disappointment!
How has the involvement of young people shaped the festival, particularly in relation to their responses to the climate crisis and envisioning a sustainable future?
Since the autumn we’ve had five local creative partners work with groups of young people to learn about the climate crisis, its impact on social justice and then create their own responses to it through different artforms and stories. Their work is the beating heart of the Arcadia Festival and has shaped the whole experience that we’re providing for an audience. Every day audiences can come see a performance cycle of work from Birdgang Dance, Croydon Youth Theatre Organisation and Syrus Consultancy CIC and can visit installations and interactive games from Boundless Theatre and the Croydon Youth Association. We’ve recruited young producers to work with each creative partner, and they’ve each received carbon literacy training and are acting as our festival Green Reps – so that they are learning by practice what’s needed to make arts and culture sustainable in every aspect of production. Our young producers have come together to also design a climate cafe which they’ll be running on the Saturday for anyone who wants to have a friendly chat with others about the climate crisis and what it means to them.
With Arcadia being part of the Croydon Borough of Culture legacy, how do you see the festival contributing to local conversations on the climate crisis?
Whilst our young people’s creative responses are the heart of Arcadia, we’ve also themed each day to give communities different experiences that can directly further their engagement in climate action. For example, on the Friday we’re holding a sector-wide conversation, a ‘Cultural Climate Assembly’, that is bringing together local artists, cultural workers and organisations to meet each other, deepen their learning on the climate crisis and imagine bolder pathways of action that can be taken individually and collectively. There are already plans to build on the success and impact of the Croydon Borough of Culture, and environmental sustainability is a key value and mission for the ‘Culture Croydon’ legacy network. Our Assembly outcomes will directly connect with this and we hope will lead to a permanent Hub or Environmental Working Group for the local sector to continue collaborating on the climate and nature crisis. On the Saturday of our Festival, our focus is on local nature and climate action groups that we want to showcase for our communities to engage with. The day is called ‘We Are the Forest’, which sparks the idea of everyone in the community being a necessary part of the living ecosystem; like the root systems of the trees that once stood here that we can bring back in our imaginations, we will be sharing skills, resources and network with each other to make Croydon more green and healthy.
Are there any events in the programme you’re particularly excited for?
Our Saturday evening headliner event is very exciting! We’re screening Complicité Theatre’s ‘Can I Live?’ followed by a hip-hop fuelled party. Can I Live? is a vital new digital performance about the climate catastrophe, where actor and activist Fehinti Balogun (I May Destroy You) shares his personal journey into the biggest challenge of our times, weaving his story with spoken word, rap, theatre, animation and the scientific facts. Fehinti will be present for a Q&A after the screening where he will share how as a young Black British man he has found his place in the climate movement. Joining him in conversation is Ian Solomon-Kawall, CEO & Co-founder of the May Project Gardens, a Global Majority-led, award-winning grassroots organisation and community garden in the borough of Merton. The evening will end with live music and DJ sets from hip hop artist KMT Freedom Teacher, award-winning Afrofusion Hip Hop Artist MoYah, and Amy True, who with her band performs a politicised fusion of hip hop, jazz and soul.
What do you hope audiences at the festival can take away from the experience?
Inspiration, hope and community.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the future of Arcadia Festival, and how do you hope it will continue to evolve and make an impact in the years to come?
Dotted throughout the festival are opportunities for people to share their visions of change and the actions they want to be taken. We’ll be collating all of this so that we can continue to tell and mobilise for a story of cultural, social and environmental change in Croydon beyond the event. Stanley Arts is also joining the Culture Declares Emergency movement, kickstarting a hub of Croydon-based artists and cultural organisations to continue connecting and collaborating in response to the emergency. Arcadia Festival will certainly live on beyond this April!