This year’s Grhyme (Gloucester Rhyme) Festival was able to provide opportunity for Gloucestershire Artists to collaborate with one another on work that takes them out of their usual sphere.

The festival was then able to showcase the work produced to an audience that’s been denied access to locally produced art due to Covid, lockdowns and a host of other reasons. As part of the programming, the organisers were also able to introduce a number of Artists from outside of Gloucester to the people of Gloucester.

The following shows in numbers what the organisers were able to achieve

• 1 Artist mentored (helping them to become a producer in their own right)
• 2 Members of the community invited to take part as hosts.
• 4 Professionals to capture, record and archive the event (1 Photographer, 2 Camera crew, 1 Graphic Designer)
• 5 Artists from outside of Gloucester introduced to the people of Gloucester (and one returning to Gloucester having been studying at Oxford)
• 8 Commissioned Artists from Gloucestershire (6 from Gloucester) working in collaboration on a series of works
• 9 Members of the public acting in 2 theatre pieces
• 12 Pieces of individual work commissioned by producers of the festival
• 160 Members of the public attended and watched the live performances.

The organisers feel that they were able to produce and programme a festival that could be appreciated by an audience that was made up from a broad spectrum of age and ethnicity, with the majority coming from Gloucester. Even though this is the first time the Grhyme Festival has been delivered to a live audience, the organisers feel this in itself is a great achievement. The level of collaboration between the Artists involved coupled with the engagement from the public made the festival something special that they hope will continue to grow. Continued working relationships, partnerships and possible future collaborations have been discussed with producers and several of the Artists who had taken part. Mr Milise (one of the Artists) said that as an Artist he wants to be a voice for the voiceless, we at the GLOS would like to believe that events such as Grhyme gives that voice a platform.