After three eventful and exciting days the CMCI Winter festival hosted by the third-year undergraduate students of the BA in Culture, Media and Creative has concluded. 

 

After opening its doors on 12th of December, these three days of events have welcomed academic staff, friends, alumni and visitors that have participated and formed part of this collaborative festival experience. 

 

During the first and busiest day of the festival, the 14th of December, after opening its doors at 10am, the Inigo Rooms welcomed a constant influx of audiences that moved around the venue and explored all of the different events taking place: Cottage Core, Under the Reminiscing Tree, City Zen, A Conversation about Mental Health, Re2tro, The Closeted and City Zen. All of the curators and producers expressed their satisfaction over the turnout rate of their events as well as the collaborative nature that helped to achieve a smooth running of the organized activities. This first day culminated with the Sewing Futures fashion show, which took place in the Great Hall and which also was one of the most popular events.

 

The second day, opened its doors to four different events: Collecting Labels, Rainbow Me, Aura’s Wonderland and Alter Ego. All of these immersive experiences provided audiences the opportunity of exploring their identities as well as safe spaces and sites for reflection around youth cultures. Within this group of producers and curators there was also an emphasis on the importance of team work, and again a feeling of fulfilment around the overall smooth running of the events as well as the audiences’ positive reactions and enjoyment. 

 

Finally, during the last day of the festival audiences attended and participated in three different events: Redefine Normal, Undercurrent and Women’s Voices. Although not as busy as other days, there was still a great turnout rate. These final groups all spoke around the pre-production processes behind their events as well as the bonding experiences and memorable moments from behind the scenes. 

 

Overall, among all of the different participants and audiences there has been an emphasis on the utility of the CMCI Winter Festival as a horizontal creative space, where everyone has been an active participant in reflecting about youth cultures nowadays. Furthermore, as previously exposed, the collaborative aspect within team work dynamics and the actual activities and events has also been a highlight for all of the partakers of the festival. 

 

Having said all this, the whole cohort of the CMCI Winter Festival wants to express their gratefulness for attending the festival and contributing to the realization of all of the events as an invaluable learning experience. 

 

Happy festivities and we hope to see you again in future editions of the CMCI Winter festival!