Students of Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury College and Canterbury Academy came together in June 2022 to create an exciting new two-day Festival, programmed, planned and delivered by young people, for young people. We:Connect Festival took place on 25 and 26 June at Canterbury College’s Lanfranc Theatre with live music, theatre, dance, drag, talks, workshops and more in an exciting programme of events.

Due to a cancellation during the June dates, We:Connect student committee member Lily Marsh, delivered part two of the event in November 2022 acting as Events Coordinator. The one-day event which took place on the Canterbury Christ Church University campus proved to be a success, engaging people of all ages in workshops and performance. Lily shared this feedback as part of her event evaluation:

“Overall, I’m extremely happy with how the festival turned out for the conclusion of We:Connect. It was great to have the opportunity to become the Events Coordinator for this as it allowed me to learn new skills within this field of work and expand on the skills I already have. It’s great how invaluable the experience has been for me with being the paid coordinator for this.

It was amazing to work with a brilliant team on this with Amanda McKean as my support from the Canterbury Festival, the team at Canterbury Christ Church University who were so kind in letting us have the space and being able to see them again as some of them use to be my lecturers, and the acts who were able to do this event with us and putting on amazing workshops and performances. I’m proud to have this job role on my CV and can’t wait to take the skills/experience I have learnt through this to future job opportunities.”

We:Connect was just one part of Reconnect Presents – a Kent-wide project funded by Kent County Council, providing young people with opportunities that they missed during the Covid pandemic and two years of lockdown.

We:Connect was delivered in partnership with Canterbury Festival and in collaboration with Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury College and Canterbury Academy.