Friday 11 June 2010

New Scottish Festival mFEST, Organised by Under 18’s

A new Scottish arts festival entirely planned and run by under-18s has been launched in Stirling.

mFEST is the fruit of the mPower project, which has given more than 100 young Scots experience in working in the arts both onstage and off, in technical and administrative roles.

Headlining acts at mFEST, which runs from July 30 to August 2 in venues in and around Stirling, include 19-year-old Fife comic Daniel Sloss, and London hip-hop star Tinchy Stryder.

The event kicks off with a jamboree at Macrobert Centre before a bumper bill of indie at Albert Halls including Hadouken! New Young Pony Club, Darwin Deez and Scotland’s Unicorn Kid.

Also set to perform at the same venue is chart-topping star Tinchy Stryder supported by Daisy Dares You and Pearl and The Puppets.

Fraser Morrison – who at 17 is one of the older festival organisers – said he and other teenagers were hoping to gain experience of working in the entertainment industry and create "something totally new".

"Some festivals run by adults for young people think they know what we want. We actually know what we want," he said.

mFEST is backed by Scottish Arts Council Inspire Fund, and has ambitious target sales of around 1,000 tickets a day. There are hopes that if successful it could become an annual event.

Morrison added: "Next time, we'll obviously know what does and doesn't work."

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