Festival History
The initial idea of hosting a Festival of Arts was agreed by Recreational Services in July 1987 for a festival to be held in October the following year. The proposal was to organise an event that;
'Encompasses a number of art forms in which people of all ages and interest groups can participate both in an active and passive sense'
The first Festival of Arts ran for six weeks in September and October 1988, with a variety of professional and amateur events programmed. The Festival subsequently ran for a further four years. In 1994, the Festival of Arts was held over 6 weeks from 16th September to 29th October. The number of events was approximately 60 with the largest proportion of these being music and the second being talks and presentations. The festival was welcomed by a number of amateur organisations as it gave them the opportunity to fit their programme of work into the event and receive publicity.
After 1994 it was considered that the festival needed further assessment and in order to progress its development a Festival of Arts Working Group was established in January 1997. The group, made up of Council Members, representatives from Surrey Youth and Adult Education Service and local artists met regularly to organise, promote and plan a community festival that was re-named 'Arts Alive' in Mole Valley. After a three year break it re-commenced on 18th October until 31st October 1997. Priority was given to providing opportunities for young people and included workshops and performances at various venues. The programme celebrated the quality and diversity of local arts within Mole Valley with 35 local groups and artists contributing to the event. Complementing this programme of work, 21 professional companies were hosted, all of which were nationally known for the quality of their work. Arts Alive was received with much enthusiasm by members of the public and the arts community alike.
It was agreed in 1998 that the festival was to once again become an annual event, subject to funding, taking place at the same time each year and building on the strengths of the previous year's event. Two of the strategic aims of the festival were to promote the quality and diversity of the arts community and encourage active participation in a range of cultural practices. The festival, in time, should also develop organically rather then imposing a policy. The timing of the festival took place during the last two weeks of October but has since developed into its current duration of a month long festival with over 100 events.
Since it first began, one of the underlying aims of the festival has always been to provide an opportunity for all members of the community to participate and enjoy arts activity.