The first of its kind in the UK, Folk Fest 2018 proposes to turn the courtyard of Somerset House London into a family festival celebrating all things British Folklore.
FOLK FEST - 7TH-13TH MAY 2018
Overlooking the River Thames from its dominant position along the Strand, Somerset House as a venue is well established in offering a home for arts and learning to its consumer. Folk Fest further enhances the programme of cultural activities on offer during 2018 through a festival format that will appeal to their already established clientele of three million visitors each year expecting the very latest in cutting edge, diverse cultural events that both promote and inform.
Titled ‘FolkFest 2018’ this concept is pitched as an inclusive, family focused event, in line with much of the ethos of folklore culture. In addition, the launch night of this event ‘THE CROWNING’ is a completely seperate entity with a very seperate target audience, despite sitting under the same umbrella, and therefore has been titled seperately to reflect this.
THE CROWNING - 5TH MAY 2018
The Crowning event acts to put the Museum of British Folklore on the cultural map - offering a club night to Londons scene quite unlike anything before. The crowning of the May Queen is central to Britains Folklore calendar and so too will this musical nemesis - ‘The Crowning’.
Attendees will line the Strand as they wait to enter the courtyard of Somerset House, greeted by an array of Folklore characters offering Absinthe shots to revellers as they wait in anticipation of being the first to enter the much anticipated giant Lego topiary maze filling the area.
Having chosen from one of four flower headpieces to be crowned with when placing their ticket orders, gatherers will have the opportunity once entering to collect them from stations positioned around the edge of the courtyard. Partygoers must then adorn themselves with the headpieces before being admitted for their timed entry slot (slots will be timed in ten minute intervals spanning across a time period of one and a half hours).
As they then travel around the interactive maze attendees will make their way around and through several fibre optic light installations, peeking through at those going before and after them, as their headdresses are the only things to be seen bobbing above the walls at various parts of the maze from outside. Absinthe stations along the route will help to keep everyone watered, disorientaed and hallucinated as they make their way towards the central dance floor area.
Greeting them in the central dance floor space will be the maypole like Fibre optic willow tree that shelters dancers from above as they revel into the night. Listening to Guest DJ PJ Harvey, Londons very own Queen of Sound from the top of its central trunk, nestled among beneath the optic strands in her own topiary nest, revellers will see a night thats truly a first for the city, one many will want to make history in being part of.
3D RENDER - PROPOSED LEGO MAZE
MUSEUM OF BRITISH FOLKLORE
This proposal in its entirety centers around the promotion of British Folklore on behalf of The Museum of British Folklore.
The Museum of British Folklore was founded by art director and curator, Simon Costin in 2009 and aims to be the first permanent centre to explore and celebrate folk culture in the UK; focusing on the importance of “Engaging members of the public through exhibitions, workshops, lectures, pop-up shops and digital platforms”.
With no permanent, fixed building for the museum to currently run from, FolkFest is proposed in response to offering the museum, as the identified client here, an outlet through which to make visitors aware of The Museum of British Folklore, generating awareness of British Folklore customs in their entirety and generating excitement of British Folklore through marking one of the largest traditions in the British Folklore calendar in a culturally appealing context, offering a broad spectrum of curated events in a high profile setting.
A SELECTION OF MARKETING IMAGES USED THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN
Photography - Jodie Edmonds Digital
3D Render Technical Collaboration - Simon Holland