Prince Edward will attend International Youth Arts Festival

It will officially start on July 6-15 at venues across Kingston, with Prince Edward attending a gala evening on Friday, July 13

To celebrate IYAF’s 10th anniversary over 200 performances and events will take place over 10 days. Venues include the Rose Theatre, Kingston College’s Arthur Cotterell Theatre (ACT), the outdoor Visit Kingston Stage and a boat on the River Thames.

IYAF is one of the biggest multi-arts festivals for artists under 27. This year, companies taking part include Hoipolloi, with their acclaimed one-man show The Duke, National Youth Music Theatre, with their production of Super Hero – The Musical and Chickenshed Youth Theatre with Raft.

To mark its 10th-anniversary Creative Youth has announced the appointment of a panel of Young Creatives, who will steer the organisation going forward. The Young Creatives have curated a special event titled So You Want to Work in the Arts? which will take place at Kingston University’s Reg Bailey building during the festival and is free to attend.

Robin Hutchinson, MBE, the co-founder and chair of Creative Youth said: “One of the key concerns, when we opened the Rose Theatre, was to create a space for young people to feel valued and celebrate their talent.

“That led to the first IYAF and the founding of Creative Youth. It’s been an amazing ten-year journey, and so many people have helped us along the way. Now it’s important we all look forward to the next ten years and keep nourishing the young people we serve.”

Louise Coles, CEO of Creative Youth, said: “This year’s IYAF will be a celebration of the best of our past, as well as looking firmly to the future. At a time when young people face ever-increasing challenges, we are proud of our legacy of giving them a voice and a platform to improve their life chances and career opportunities.”

Tickets can be purchased online at www.rosetheatrekingston.org and the full programme can be found on www.iyafestival.org.uk.