Ok all you fabulous people, artists, organisers, audiences, partners, contractors, vendors and volunteers. In these uncertain times, it’s good for the soul to have something to look forward to, and the Festival Team, like everyone else, is really looking forward to the time when we can meet up with friends and family again.
The coronavirus lockdown has stopped many choirs in their tracks since they can no longer meet to rehearse but that’s not been enough to deter Kinder Choirs of the High Peak. Singers from as young as seven, to more experienced Youth Choir teenagers, have been learning and practising a new song at home and their efforts can now be heard on youtube .
We are inviting image makers around the world to participate in documenting the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic charting the time before, during and after the lockdowns. The images can express your thoughts, feelings and the world around you at this extraordinary moment in our collective lives.
Take part by uploading your images and captions on Instagram, using the tag #massisolationformat. Follow @massisolationFORMAT to see the highlights so far.
Whilst theatre companies across the world have responded to the current lockdown by posting past productions online and hosting Zoom box readings of plays, Derby based theatre company Oddsocks Productions have taken an altogether more ambitious route in order to keep in touch with their audience and are attracting new and unusual ones in the process.
We're focusing this month on some of the excellent children's books we have available from our eBook and eAudiobook collections, which are great choices to share with your family.
Throughout June, we're holding a special #bookaday challenge over on the Derbyshire Libraries Twitter feed. We'll be asking you a different question about books every day, and we'd love for to join in and share our challenge!
From the 15th to the 21st of June it is Men’s Health Week. This is a period used to highlight particular issues that affect men’s health specifically and also more generally and to try and both highlight and offer advice, support and encouragement for men in dealing and coping with these. One of these areas in particular over the last couple of years has been mental health.
We’re counting down to Empathy Day on June 9, celebrating how reading helps us all to understand other people better. The more we empathise with the great characters we read about, the more we understand how others think and feel.
A lot of us are taking our daily exercise close to home and walking/running/cycling familiar routes and we’re asking you to photograph and share the local history that surrounds you. Have you spotted something that you’ve never noticed before? An old building, mile stone, building plaque or something else?