The past few weeks have been particularly busy. I have worked at venues across The Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the past few years, but not for CDF before. We have a small team, so there’s always lots to do – It is never boring! I have enjoyed the festival build-up, that feeling of ‘something-great-is-about-to-happen-very-soon’ is shared between all venues, artists and festival staff.
As Festival Support, my main role is to liaise with the artists and venues. I have to make sure that everything is running smoothly and that everyone is happy. This means I get to meet lots of new people, but it does come with some challenges. Since the festival is showcasing a lot of international work, there are artists and companies coming to Cardiff from all over the world over the course of 17 days. Emailing is great way to keep in touch, but let’s just say it will be a lot easier to meet everyone face to face!
My day-to-day involves things like organising travel and accommodation, booking a DJ for the launch party, organising Instagram takeovers and distributing leaflets and posters around the city. Although there’s a lot of admin involved in my role, there’s also a lot of creativity which some people might be surprised by. For example, I have helped organise an exciting commission by artist Cecile Johnson Soliz, as well as put together the official festival trailer for CDF 2019.
The festival is very well curated this year, a lot of the programmed artists and companies are challenging the very notion of dance and crossing disciplines which I find really interesting. I’m looking forward to everything that will be showcased here, of course. However, I’m particularly looking forward to The Elsewhen Series by Theo Clinkard & Leah Marojević. I haven’t seen a dance piece with no music or soundtrack before. I love watching dance that occupies public spaces and I think the piece will engage all types of audiences.
Being a part of making things happen in Wales feels more important than ever with continuous cuts to our arts and culture sectors. It’s fab to put Cardiff on the map, to support local practitioners as well as welcome such incredible artists here. We want to inspire, create lasting connections and spark interesting conversations. This is exactly what I hope audiences take away with them from CDF2019.
Image: The Elsewhen Series by Theo Clinkard & Leah Marojević