Swindon Carnival 2005

The spectacular, the sensational and the downright surreal The Big Weekend Swindon's Biggest Street Party was on Sat 16th & Sun 17th July. Daredevil acrobatics, hilarious comedy, surreal street theatre, world music & dance... all free of charge in Swindon town centre.

Over 70 performances from 30 fantastic acts including...
Close Act - awesome 5m high dinosaurs
Titan - 8ft robot & Son of Cyberstein,
Nakupelle - Culinary slapstick and absurd acrobatics BOSI - jawdropping acrobatics
Mat Ricardo - juggler extraordinaire
In the Dholdrum - a stunning festival finale
The Brunel Showcase Stage

For more information please go to www.swindonartscape.co.uk

Commonweal were very pleased to be involved in this professional/community event both as a sponsor and performance provider. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students and has given them the confidence to perform at other community events.

Over the Summer term professional carnival costume makers Cirque Bijou came into school to deliver eight weekly sessions. With the theme of cultural tales 44 Year 9 students created costumes for the parade. The chosen cultures were Aboriginal and Egyptian.

This project is part of the students GSCE course work. The final workshop with Cirque Bijou involved drama and dance moves which the young people performed in the parade.

Music Workshops with The Real Macaws. This street band worked with a class of mainly GCSE music students and is part of their coursework modules. The aim was for members of the band to come into school for two days preceding the festival and teach techniques which was performed alongside the Real Macaws performance in the carnival. This was truly a fantastic experience for the young people and they intend to continue with the band with the aim of performing in the community.

The Brunel Showcase Stage This was a 45 min slot in which Commonweal performed a mixed bag of entertainment including Year 9 DanceTroupe, the school choir and a mix of vocal and instrumental soloists and duos.

Fab, well done all of you!