Pictured above: The Spark's Development Manager Tricia Kelly
with Pragash Suntharamoorthy, Marketing Manager at Invicta Group
Ltd - The Spark's business partner and supporter of the
event
The Spark Children's Arts Festival hosted a business reception
at Curve for local businesses to share its vision for the
organisation and look ahead to 2012. The Spark revealed plans
for the future, following its recent success in securing funding
within Arts Council England's new National Portfolio.
The event on 3rd June was supported by local businesses East
Midlands Airport and Invicta Plastics Ltd and celebrated current
partnerships as well as looking forward to future opportunities for
collaboration. Many of the attendees brought children along to
enjoy Curve's co-production of Mr Stink, the musical stage
adaptation of David Walliams' book.
The Spark is England's largest independent arts festival for
children and is indebted to its current business partners, many of
which have supported the festival for years such as Taylor Bloxham,
Takeover Radio, The Belmont Hotel and East Midlands Airport while
new partners such as Blueprint and Cuttlefish Multimedia Ltd have
also come on board for 2011.
Anna Thomson, Community Relations Manager at East Midlands
Airport which supported the event, comments on the partnership:
"East Midlands Airport is delighted to be working with The Spark
and supporting them into their tenth year. Encouraging young people
to get involved with and be excited by a variety of art forms can
only have a positive impact. The Spark enables families to access
the arts in surroundings they are more confident in, resulting in
experiences they wouldn't have otherwise shared and, hopefully, a
life-long love of the arts. As a business we are keen to support
initiatives that are accessible to and have a benefit for the
community, The Spark certainly does this."
The Spark's Development Manager, Tricia Kelly was delighted with
the event:
"The Spark's business reception celebrated past and current
partnerships that have supported the Festival in its commitment to
providing exceptional arts experiences that transform, inspire and
educate children. It gave us a chance to say thank you for helping
to develop it to become the biggest Festival of its kind in the UK
and offered an opportunity to discuss how partners can contribute
to and benefit from what the arts offer in Leicestershire."
The Spark is a nationally recognised festival which was attended
by over 14,500 people last year. Until 12th June The Spark will
bring to Leicester some of the leading UK and international
companies creating work for children. This year's highlights
include Curve's Play-ground - the festival's hub with free family
activities during half term, playful First Spark events for
pre-school children, stunning dance shows, mesmerising theatre,
hands-on digital fun and many fantastic free shows at smaller
venues.