‘Strike A Light Festival’, where I undertook an internship was a great success. The idea behind the festival was to bring much needed arts culture to Gloucester, alongside good food, drink and fire. The festival was in association with Battersea Arts Centre so a number of performances they had produced were a part of the festival. It was fantastic to see such amazing performances in Gloucester. The festival took place in a beautiful old building, ‘Blackfriars’, which really added to the charm and atmosphere of the events.

I found working with the two producers Ali Haywood and Sarah Blowers so inspiring. It was really useful seeing how they worked with each other and interacted with the performance companies. There were a number of issues that arose during the festival and yet they remained calm and problem solved very efficiently. I tried to learn as much from them as I could and feel the internship really helped me develop confidence and skills that will help in the future. I had the opportunity to meet various people who work for BAC and it highlighted how important networking is when seeking a route into the creative industries. Something I found particularly useful was talking with Ali and Sarah about my career and the direction I wish to go in. I plan to stay involved with Strike A Light Festival and am hopefully going to take on further responsibilities for the March festival, including taking a lead on circus programming. This experience has helped open up a number of opportunities and confirmed my desire to be a producer.

“Our first contact with Jess was an email she sent via the Stand and Stare website blog wishing to be involved with the Strike a Light Festival in Gloucester, and this straight away showed her pro active approach to seeking out opportunities. Our aim is to engage young producers to work in Gloucester and from the outset she has shown energy and commitment, and it has been great to have her as part of the Strike a Light Festival team.  As a volunteer, her reliability and practical support during Season 1 of the Festival in Sept 2013 was fantastic as well as her intelligent approach to problem solving.” Ali Haywood, Creative Producer of Strike A Light Festival