They say that everyone has one book in them so Rhythms of the World (ROTW) is giving budding writers a chance to perfect their prose at an upcoming creative writing workshop on Saturday 3 September.
Hosted at the British Schools Museum in Hitchin, the latest chapter of ROTW celebrations will focus on the sound of pens being put to paper as published author Sarah Leipciger shares her knowledge with aspiring wordsmiths.
Born in Peterborough, Canada, Leipciger spent her teenage years in Toronto before moving to Vancouver Island to study Creative Writing and English literature at the University of Victoria. She currently lives in London with her family, where she teaches creative writing to men in prison. Sarah recently published her first novel The Mountain Can Wait, a psychological thriller set in her native Canada.
Sarah is looking forward to the event and says “It’s always fascinating to write with a new group of people and I’m really looking forward to the workshop in Hitchin, sharing stories and ideas and expressing them in ways that are unique, edgy and inspiring”.
The creative writing workshop will start at 2pm and will cater for all ages, but under 16’s need to be accompanied by an adult. Tickets for the workshop cost £4 per adult and child, or £3 per adult. The workshop will be roughly 1 hour long, and afterwards everyone will get a chance to meet the author and get their books signed by Sarah.
To book your space for this popular event, please email [email protected] by Friday 2 September.
Proceeds raised by the workshop will contribute to securing the long term future of the Rhythms of the World charity.
About Rhythms of the World:
Rhythms of the World (ROTW) is a registered charity (no. 1090835) led by volunteers. The charity aims to unite communities through the arts by organising a festival of music, dance, art and cuisine from ‘around the World and round the corner’. ROTW is one of the largest celebrations of world music and arts in the UK.
Find out more at www.rotw.org.uk. You can follow us on Twitter @ROTWfestival or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rotwfestival.
]]>Friday evening will see the weekend kicked off with local live “music from around the corner” bringing a rock flavour, with the alt/funk stylings of English Manner followed by Late Homecoming and Points. Thousand Suns and Scar City will cap off the first evening’s performances. Tickets are on the door and cost £5.
Saturday will see the Icehouse Stage brought to Club 85, with a free daytime line-up starting with the alt-psychedelic influence of the Timeless Lizards, followed by acts including Katie Rice who brings her acoustic vibes, indie from The Elements, and Such Strange Arts, who bring pop-punk to the roster.
On Saturday night, DJ’s will take over with ROTW favourites the Blunt Beats DJs, Agent M, DJ Erbalist, Marcus Hurley, DJ G Louis-Krisis, DNB from DJ Barrington and MC Five Alive. Starting at 7pm, tickets are a bargain at £7.50.
The Arcadeclectic Stage on Sunday will round up the weekend featuring an eclectic mix of acts blending blues, funk, African influences and fifties rock and roll. Performers include The Rapides, Chris Ripple and the Blood Sisters, The Astronauts, Purple Dread and Chron Gen. Starting at 1pm, tickets cost £6 on the door.
Club 85’s Bob Mardon is looking forward to hosting the latest ROTW residency. “We are long-time supporters of Rhythms of the World, and are excited to provide a temporary home for the charity to help them remain a part of Hitchin’s vibrant musical scene.”
Tickets for music from around the corner on Friday night costs £5. Entry to Club 85 on Saturday 12.30 – 6pm is free, with a charge of £7.50 for the evening gig. The performances on Sunday start at 1pm, tickets cost £6. Money raised at the events will contribute to securing the long term future of the Rhythms of the World charity.
A full day of the finest funk, soul, Latin and disco beats is in store on the Saturday with the fantastic Blunt Beats DJ’s, Marcus Hurley, Erbalist, Agent M, Chexx and Shwiggee on the decks.
Sunday’s roster includes live performances from exciting acts including Coloryde, The Ben Drake Collective, NOVA, Waste, Points, Electric Black, Back River Blues, Timeless Lizards, Dan Bond, Georgia Nevada, Midnight Drives, indi and The Vegas, and Sophie Celeste.
The two-day event is part of the series of festivities celebrating the 25th year of the Hitchin charity which celebrates music, arts, food and culture from around the world and around the corner.
“We are delighted to collaborate with the teams from Blunt Beats and London Road Studios and thank them for their support. The Anchor Weekender promises to be a fun-filled, family friendly event with music and entertainment to suit everyone” said Amy Hopkins, Chairperson, Rhythms of the World.
Entry costs £3 for adults, with music and performances from midday to 11pm on both days. Money raised by the Anchor Big Bank Holiday Weekender will support fundraising efforts for the Rhythms of the World charity and contribute to securing its long term future.
Founded in 1992 by the Hitchin Oxfam Campaigns Group, Rhythms of The World was initially established to raise money for the charity while highlighting international issues through World music. In the years since, the festival has evolved to become a celebration of music, dance, art and cuisine from ‘around the World and round the corner’.
Kicking off the two-day event on Saturday 23 May were the folk-acoustic stylings of Shaun Clark. Continuing the first day’s line-up representing the North East was singer-songwriter Donna Mackay, St. Albans based duo Starseedz, ending with an acoustic set by The Mighty Collider.
Sunday’s line-up began with some alternative folk courtesy of The Portraits who added some violins to the proceedings, while Storywheel drew on musical influences from the Middle East, North and West Africa. Honeywitch finished the second day with a Gothic flavour.
The two-day event was a roaring success, raising a significant amount of money that will contribute to securing the long-term future of the charity and giving a platform to talented folk artists and performers.
Upcoming events for Rhythms of the World include Fire Under My Feet on Friday 3 June at the Queen Mother Theatre, an evening of electric songs and dance from local street dance troupes. Full price tickets are £8 with concessions at £4. On Saturday 16 July the Hitchin Round Table Community Ball takes place at the Hitchin Priory Hotel. Tickets for the ball cost £60. Money raised will support ROTW and other local charities and initiatives.
About Rhythms of the World:
Rhythms of the World (ROTW) is a registered charity (no. 1090835) led by volunteers. The charity aims to unite communities through the arts by organising a festival of music, dance, art and cuisine from ‘around the World and round the corner’. ROTW is one of the largest celebrations of world music and arts in the UK.
Find out more at www.rotw.org.uk. You can follow us on Twitter @ROTWfestival or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rotwfestival.
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]]>The purpose is to take ROTW back to its roots with events held in and around Hitchin. An eclectic range of activities will take place which are true to the spirit of ROTW, with the aim of uniting diverse communities through music, arts and cuisine. They will be community focused, value for money, family-friendly, fun and safe.
ROTW are delighted to announce the launch of the 25th anniversary events, at the Half Moon Beer festival on 23rd and 24th of April.
Over 2 days ROTW will showcase a wide range of live music including British rock band Ease Spring, renowned singer-song writer, Steve Young and local acoustic talent Shaun Clarke.
Following hot on the heels of the launch at the Half Moon, ROTW will host over 20 amazing events planned during the summer and autumn, including an appearance at Walsworth Festival, the fabulous Choir on Fire,at Hitchin’s Queen Mother Theatre, a 3 day extravaganza of music at Club 85 and a special buskers day in July with music at 10 local venues across Hitchin.
Amy Hopkins, Chair of Trustees said ‘we are delighted to be working with so many local businesses and community groups for our 25th anniversary year events, including Hitchin Festival, Mary Exton School, Hitchin Round Table and St Mary’s Church.
We have a fantastic series of events planned and although these are smaller events than our traditional festival, we are confident there is something for everyone to enjoy. For full details and dates of all of the events please see our events page.
- Rhythms of the World (ROTW) is a registered charity (no. 1090835) led by volunteers. The charity aims to unite communities through the arts by organising a festival of music, dance, art and cuisine from ‘around the World and round the corner’. ROTW is one of the largest celebrations of world music and arts in the UK.
- Find out more at www.rotw.org.uk. You can follow us on Twitter @ROTWfestival or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rotwfestival.
On Sunday 8th November the ROTW Trustees reviewed the charity’s position and agreed a strategy for success going forward. In 2016 ROTW will deliver an exciting programme of fundraising events that will ensure they are able to settle any outstanding invoices from the 2015 event, and celebrate the 25th anniversary of ROTW.
To mark its 25th Anniversary the plan is to take ROTW back to its roots with a series of smaller events held in and around Hitchin. This diverse range of events will be true to the spirit of ROTW with the aims of uniting diverse communities through music , the arts and food. Events will be community-focused, value for money, family-friendly, fun and safe.
The Trustees intend to ensure that the events will provide something for everyone, with the launch event taking place over the weekend of 23rd April at the Half Moon pub in Hitchin in the form of a beer festival and live music. Some events will involve an entry fee out of necessity, in order to ensure the events themselves raise funds for the charity.
Although there will be no large festival in 2016, the Trustees do hope to deliver a more traditional version of the festival in Hitchin in the future.
Chair of the Trustees, Amy Hopkins, said:
“Since the Comet announced the position of ROTW last Thursday, we’ve received many messages of support, as well as constructive criticism of our traditional ROTW annual festival and suggestions for how we could move forward. We are aware that not everyone who attends the ROTW festival is aware that ROTW itself is a charity, or that the ROTW team of volunteers deliver community-focused educational ‘outreach’ activities and events all year around. In celebration of our 25th anniversary, 2016 will see a programme of events that will help us to showcase the diversity of the arts in Hitchin, whilst at the same time staying true to the vision of the charity to unite diverse communities through music and the arts. We will announce details of the programme in early 2016, and will be calling for volunteers to help ROTW present an amazing year of events in Hitchin.
On behalf of the Trustees I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ROTW suppliers, sponsors and volunteers for their continued support. We would also like to thank the 17,000 people who came to the event in 2015. It’s clear that you love the annual festival as much as we do, and we hope you will join us at our ‘back to our roots’ events in 2016. A huge amount of love, sweat and tears goes into ROTW and we hugely appreciate the support we receive.”
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We are encouraging people who want to support Rhythms of the World in the short term to make a donation to the Charity. You can do this online at www.virginmoneygiving.com and entering “Rhythms of the World’ in the ‘Find a Charity’ box. The full URL is:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?charityId=1007284
Donations can also be made through ‘Easyfundraising’, again, the link to our page is:
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/rotw/
As a result of this, ROTW has a shortfall against its budgeted income – not massive, but significant. Therefore, the Charity sought an agreement with its suppliers in July and has worked through the last four months to make payments against those invoices received.
The Charity Trustees have reviewed the Charity’s position and with regret, have concluded that they will not be able to hold a ‘traditional’ ROTW festival in 2016 because of both the current financial situation and the fact that attendances at the 2014 and 2015 festivals have been below the levels required to break even. The Charity currently does not have the cash reserves to support the investment needed to put on a big event. The financial risk is not acceptable to the Trustees and they are not minded to expose our suppliers and supporters to the same risk. On the plus side, by working with suppliers and other creditors, we have been able to secure the immediate future of the Charity which is solvent and continues to function.
Over the coming months, The Trustees will continue to explore alternative options for the future direction of the Rhythms of the World Charity and the festival.
Chair of the Trustees, Amy Hopkins, said:
‘Despite some very prudent budgeting, we have not generated the income needed to meet the costs of the festival.
‘We have obtained free expert financial advice to address the situation. Although an agreement has been reached with our suppliers, our ultimate aim is to pay them in full, when possible in recognition of the many years of support that the Charity has received from them.
‘Rhythms of the World 2015 was an amazing spectacle and we don’t want to detract from that. We would like to thank everyone who got involved – as an attender, volunteer, performer, sponsor, advertiser or trader. We would also like to thank Hitchin Priory once again for hosting the festival. We will do everything in our power to ensure Rhythms of the World has a future in Hitchin, and will be looking into a range of different fundraising options and ways to ensure a sustainable future for the Charity.
‘2016 is our 25th anniversary and we would like to mark the occasion in some way. We particularly would like to continue with our Outreach programme. We also need help from all of you to give us your thoughts, ideas and feelings about how you would like to see things go forward.
‘All of your opinions matter to us and the more feedback we get, the better informed we will be, so please do email us at [email protected] with how you’d like to see ROTW move on.’
We are encouraging people who want to support Rhythms of the World in the short term to make a donation to the Charity. You can do this online at www.virginmoneygiving.com and entering “Rhythms of the World’ in the ‘Find a Charity’ box. The full URL is:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?charityId=1007284
Donations can also be made through ‘Easyfundraising’, again, the link to our page is:
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/rotw/
It’s one of our favourite nights of the year, get a team together and join us!
Enjoy the finest funk, soul, latin, and disco beats with plenty of party jams and did we mention the bbq… First set starts at 4pm
DJ’s on the night include our very own Marcus J Hurley, Julian Rochfort, Rob Hague and Erbalist.
Keep up to date with all the latest information by joining the event on our Facebook page.
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