In August last year 2003 the Arts Lodge held its first annual Party in the Park. It was such a great success with over 2000 people attending from all over Portsmouth and surrounding areas we decided to do it all over again this year 2004.
The purpose of the festival was to enable local people to access a range of music, theatre, dance, and art activities for free in the beautiful surroundings of Victoria Park and also to give local performers who may not have previously had the opportunity the chance to showcase their talent.
We wanted these performers to be as diverse as possible and as many local bands and artists as we could find.
These included:
3 rock bands, Beatrimes, Rhinoman and Duri
2 heavy metal bands, Masters of the Universe and Birthstone
A folk/bluegrass group, Slim Pickings
A Caperioa group
A Steel Band
Local kids dance group, Hayley Sextone Dance Display
A contemporary dance and music trio, Equilibrio Magico`
Drumming workshops provided by Portsmouth Music Service
Thanks to the size of the venue we were able to have many different things happening simultaneously around the park. Thus the steel band was able to play at the same time as the heavy metal bands and you could see caperoia being performed whilst joining in with a drumming workshop.
We also had plenty of kids activities such as face painting and play areas and also a performance of Alice in Wonderland which was specially adapted and performed by the Artful Lodgers and many of the children who turned up on the day.
The Party in the Park was truly a community event, which was created, supported and enjoyed by a wide range of age groups and people.
