The countdown has begun to celebrating Coventry’s Creative Quarter’s tenth birthday with a diverse mix of live music and family activities.
FarGo Village is starting its Big Birthday Weekender this Friday (September 27) and the celebrations will continue throughout the weekend to mark the launch ten years ago of a community to support independent, creative traders.
The transformation of an industrial space by regeneration specialists Complex Development Projects (CDP) into a hive of activity has seen traders ranging from vintage clothing and a crafts brewery to artisan food and a dance organisation locate at Far Gosford Street in Coventry city centre.
Fast-forward a decade and free family performances to entertain little ones to live music across different genres have been organised to underline the creativity of the venue which has attracted 3.5 million visits to FarGo Village since it opened on September 27, 2014.
Drft RAVE kicks off the tenth birthday festivities from 10pm to 2am on Friday with a night of hypnotic house and house tech, including DJs Sam Ford and Tom Something taking to the decks in The Box, tickets cost £3.
Just Dropped In & Sink or Swim Promotions will be bringing an afternoon of music to The Box on Saturday (September 28) with Batsch, Project Overload, Duck Thieves and Special Brew taking to the stage.
There will be a charge of £3 per person, with proceeds going to Coventry and Warwickshire Mind, to attend the evening music sessions including The Bellows, Bobbie Dazzle and The Primitives.
During the day, there will be walkabouts from Highly Sprung – Professor Egg Street Performance, and multi-talented performer Stilt Man while Pop Bang Colour will be providing arts and crafts for all and Art Riot Collective will be running a Do Touch sensory installation.
The Big Birthday Weekender will come to a close on Sunday with another day of music and performances.
The Box will be the focus for Amit Dattani, Willow Taiwo, Clemency and The Swaps while tickets must be booked in advance for Graham Duff’s Just Dropped In Q&A.
Again, for the night-time music, there will be a £3 charge per person in aid of Coventry and Warwickshire Mind to watch Coventry Poet Laureate, John Bernard, & Band, and Dirt Road Band which features Horace Panter from The Specials, Steve Walwyn, who played with Dr Feelgood, and drummer Ted Duggan from Badinger and Banco De Gaia.
The walkabout performances will come from The Bin Rats, The Last Baguette Company, and Art Riot Collective while there will be free family activities with arts and crafts from Artventurers, and drumming workshops with Bakayoko Music.
Holly Hewitt, Manager at FarGo Village, said it was a magnificent milestone.
She said: “We have put together a wide and varied programme for our Big Birthday Weekender to celebrate our wonderful creative businesses.
“FarGo Village has really established itself as a place to go over the last decade to visit our independent traders, events and markets throughout the year and we wanted to encapsulate all of that over a few days of family-friendly activities and music.
“The programme is aimed to attract all members of our community whatever age because we are renowned for our inclusivity and creativity.
“We have joined up with Coventry and Warwickshire Mind as our birthday charity partner and they will benefit from those events which are ticketed.
“It would be great to see as many people here as possible to join in with our fun festivities and make this a special birthday to remember.”
Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants scheme has given FarGo Village funding towards the community programme while Towergate Insurance and Zenith Contract Services Ltd, which provide its insurance and cleaning services, have provided sponsorship.
For tickets and further information, please visit https://www.fargovillage.co.uk/whats-on
Caption: FarGo Village in Coventry