Firestarter Festival, the Island’s only festival catering exclusively for teenagers, has moved its location to the Ardwhallan Outdoor Education Centre, a site run by the Island’s Department of Education.
Graeme Brooks, the Festival Coordinator, commented: “It is important to give our teenagers something that they can call their own, which gives them something to do and makes them feel valued. Firestarter does that. We are really excited about moving to Ardwhallan, as we feel the music and entertainment Firestarter traditionally provides will complement the outdoor pursuits that Ardwhallan offers. This should be the best festival in our history.”
The Festival has been running annually since 1997, and gives young people between the ages of 12 and 17 the choice of a huge range of activities, including outdoor pursuits, games and live gigs. This year’s event runs from Wednesday 17th August to Sunday 21st August, with over 100 youths expected to be camping there for four nights. Firestarter is a non-profit organisation and relies heavily on support from local business and churches to ensure low ticket prices and wide access to people of all social backgrounds.
Firestarter 2011 is due to feature a wide range of local bands and singers, and features two separate gig venues. One will be a marquee with a full AV rig for the big-band festival experience, while the other will be in Ardwhallan’s Manx Longhouse and will feature acoustic-only acts. Other activities and entertainment on offer should include climbing, kayaking, cycling, pugel fighting, giant boxing on an inflatable ring, hikes, talent shows, themed parties, sumo suit wrestling and water fights. For many regular attendees, the highlight of the festival is a water fight involving over 5,000 water bombs and more than 100 water guns.
Graeme explained how Firestarter works: “We give the youth as much independence as we can. For example, we run a 24 hour rock cafe – if they don’t want to be asleep at 3am, they can go and hang out with their friends instead. We just give them choices - we might have an educational seminar on drugs abuse in the cafe, a live indie music gig in the marquee and a group doing climbing, all going on at once.”
Graeme continued: “We prove to these young people that they can have fun without drugs or alcohol. We have a 24-hour security team to ensure that, but really we have very few problems each year. Teenagers are great when you respect them and give them a bit of space.”
The Festival is entirely run and staffed by volunteers, most of which come from the Island’s Christian churches. Although religious content is provided, all activities are optional and the organisers welcome people of all backgrounds and beliefs. The majority of the young people who attend the Festival do not affiliate themselves with any particular faith group.
Tickets are available to anyone aged 12 to 17 at the time of the festival, and cost ?95 with all camping, meals and entertainment included in the price. Further information and application forms can be found at www.firestarterfestival.com
-END-
Wednesday 4th, May 2011 09:09pm.
