Blackburn’s new art centre, The Bureau – Centre for the Arts, is taking part in Fun Palaces, a national festival celebrating art and science activities for all ages.
Taking place in the converted church on Victoria Street, ‘Fun Palaces’ will see The Bureau provide a fun, free weekend of arts, culture and science activities for people of all ages to get involved with from October 3 – 4.
With a variety of different rooms and themes, including the main hall of The Bureau will be used as a space for children and adults to create and design their own giant fun palace from donated cardboard boxes in a Lego-style activity.
Science workshops including how to make an electronic gizmo will take place in the ‘Geek’ room, led by Hackburn, a local group set up to engage locals in digital and electronic technology.
Everyone can get involved in the ‘Music’ room by using a DIY music box to create a personal soundscape and also create experimental music with found objects (you can bring your own) or make a giant musical instrument.
The ‘Green’ room will allow children and adults to project themselves onto a variety of backgrounds using a green screen, whilst the ‘Air’ room will be filled with a range of different sized bubbles.
There will be also be a cafe with Fairtrade and Organic hot drinks, cakes and snacks available on both days, with the money raised going towards supporting The Bureau – Centre for the Arts.
The Bureau will be open both days from 10am – 4pm.
‘Fun Palaces’ is an annual, free, nationwide celebration of arts and science that helps brings communities together.
This activity has been funded by Blackburn is Open and the Arts Council of England.
Joan Littlewood and architect Cedric Price came up with the concept in the sixties; they wanted a temporary and movable home for the arts and sciences, open and welcoming to all, labelling it as a ‘laboratory of fun’. The idea could never happen back in 1961 and so it was later brought to life in 2013 by Stella Duffy and Sarah-Jane Rawlings.
The event is becoming increasingly successful. Last year there were 138 local, temporary Fun Palaces across the UK and beyond, made by local people for their own communities.
For more information on the event, visit www.funpalaces.co.uk.
The Bureau, Centre for the Arts
Victoria Street,
Blackburn
BB1 6DW
info@bureaublackburn.co.uk
