Andover’s annual youth music festival will take a different shape this year.
Usually in the high street, A-Fest will be live-streamed on YouTube this year.
The event is organised by former town Mayor Katherine Bird and Cat Randle of Chat Together and will be hosted by local Youth Parliamentarian Dmitrijs Meiksans MYP.
A-Fest will be live-streamed on Sunday (6th September 2020) from 11am to 3pm and aims to showcase the opportunities and activities that are available for young people aged 5-18 in and around Andover.
Andoverians are also being encouraged to visit the new A-Fest website, which can be found by going to www.afestandover.co.uk, to check out all of the great businesses, organisations and musicians that will be showcased throughout the event.
“It’s very exciting as the website changes day-by-day,” says co-organiser Cat Randle. “Our host Dmitrijs Meiksans has supplied fresh ideas and energy to the event. At a time where there is uncertainty, it is a positive step to celebrate the youth of today and what we can offer.”
Organisations from Andover Trees United, to Unity – the pioneer of the Test Valley Community Helpline – will feature on the four hour livestream alongside local musicians Lani Clayton, Luseana and Matt Hadfield.
A-Fest has also created slots specifically for businesses during the livestream such as the Natural Business Network which offers support and compassion for businesses who are struggling because of COVID-19.
“It is vitally important that we use this platform to promote the charities and businesses that have been fighting through this pandemic,” says Dmitrijs Meiksans MYP, local Member of Youth Parliament and Host of this year’s A-Fest. “We are also really excited to be working with Chapel Arts Studios to hopefully launch SpAYCeMcSpaceFace, a weather balloon (weather permitting), filled with messages from young people and their families.”
The Chapel Arts Studios event is the culmination of an arts project created by former Artist-In-Residence Tom Mansfield. A high altitude weather balloon is hoping to be launched on Sunday morning too up to 20km in the sky.
The weather balloon will carry a capsule containing video cameras and Andover Radio will be supplyng a ‘chasing car’ to track and locate the capsule as it falls back to earth. You can follow the progress of the ‘chase car’ on 95.9FM Andover Radio on Sunday.
For the full event, ‘tune in’ to A-Fest on Sunday 6th September 2020 from 11am to 3pm by going to www.tinyurl.com/A-Fest2020.
