A festival once dubbed as a celebration of Brexit is launching this month with a totally new brand that makes no mention of leaving the EU or Britain. Unboxed includes various events taking place in Wales. It was first announced in 2018 by Theresa May as a Festival of Britain following Brexit. She said it would strengthen "our precious union" and showcase what "makes our country great".
Organisers now say the programme has “never been a celebration of Brexit” and instead focuses on creativity and the arts. The festival will be taking place in different locations around the UK from March to October 2022, including in Wales with its projects About Us, Dreamachine, GALWAD, Green Space Dark Skies and StoryTrails. Events will take place in areas such as Caernarfon, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Machynlleth, Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea from March to October, 2022.
The £120m festival has had various names in the press and that have been used by politicians and the media. After Theresa May launched it as a Festival of Great Britain and NI, it became Festival of UK 2022 and was dubbed Festival of Brexit in some parts of the media. It has since been backed by Boris Johnson’s government and the other devolved governments in the UK.
Read more: A two-day festival is coming to Swansea with some big-name chefs, Iive music and a lot of fun
However, a report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee this month claimed that the aims of the government’s nationwide creative festival has been “vague and ripe for misinterpretation”, and questioned “whether people understand the vision for Unboxed, or even know it is happening”.
In response, The Chief Creative Officer for Unboxed - the former Chief Executive of Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and Head of Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Martin Green CBE, has dismissed the DCMS’ claims, stating that the festival has created jobs and united communities across the UK.
He said: "It's difficult to see how an informed or accurate assessment of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK could be made by the DCMS select committee, since evidence was heard before the 10 projects had been announced and any activity had taken place.
"Throughout the pandemic, UNBOXED has created jobs and facilitated new partnerships across science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, developing hundreds of events and activities for the public to experience, shaped through engagement with the local communities that will host them across the UK."
According to its organisers, the festival is not a celebration of Brexit. Instead, Unboxed promises to be a "once-in-a-lifetime" celebration of creativity through science, technology, the arts and mathematics.
A spokesperson for the festival explained that Festival UK* 2022 was "the working title" for the project and that it has so far received an "overwhelmingly positive response". They said: "It was always the intention to decide on a name after the programme had been developed. The UNBOXED programme was commissioned following an open call to creatives across the UK for public art projects that were open, original and optimistic. It was important to see what the programme looked like before giving it an official title."
They added: "The programme has never been a celebration of Brexit and we have never called it the Brexit festival. UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK is a celebration of creativity that is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland."
One event will take place in the Gwynedd town of Caernarfon and will start on March 30, promises to take spectators on a journey "through the ages". The event, named 'About Us', will see Caernarfon Castle lit up for seven nights as part of a massive digital display, as well as three local choirs performing, including Côr Dre.
The secretary of the choir, Jamie Dawes-Hughes, said that the choir were excited to take part in the event after the coronavirus pandemic had affected their abilities to practice for the last two years. He said: "One of the best aspects of the project for us as Côr Dre has been the opportunity to rehearse and sing with two other local choirs - Côr Eifionydd and Côr Kana - creating music and making new connections. After a long period of being unable to rehearse or perform, we as a choir are finally able to sing together in our town, and we can't wait to do so."
However, not everyone is pleased with the event. Local resident, Sian Elen Tomos, has expressed her concerns.
She said: "It would be interesting to see the breakdown of how much the UK Government has spent on the event on the Maes. I have no doubt that it'll be a fantastic event, but a part of me does feel like all this money could've been used elsewhere. All the equipment that has been bought to be used at this one-off event, could've been bought for the town of Caernarfon and be permanently used by its people.
"The money is there, isn't it? Why hasn't there been any consultation? What exactly is it's purpose? I'm all for supporting the arts anytime that I can - but the level of spending without any sort of substantial plan or long-term investment in the community is a real shame."
Lysander Ashton, Director of 59 Productions and Creative Director for About Us, said: "About Us has been a unique collaborative process bringing together poets, scientists, musicians, visual artists and school children from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. All of these unique voices have contributed to create a dazzlingly rich composite view of the extraordinary universe we all share, and I can't wait for audiences to come and see it in Caernarfon."
