Once again, the Isle of Arts Festival had Ventnor buzzing, bringing new visitors to town and enticing residents out for the many brilliant events.
OnTheWight was very proud to once again sponsor the event, this time as one of the headline sponsors.
Poetic laughs
Our highlights from the Festival included laughing along with the wonderful Liverpool poet, Roger McGough. With great ease, he wooed the audience on the late Saturday afternoon with his dulcet tones and brilliant observations on life.
Listening to Roger on Radio 4 yesterday afternoon, he repeated one of his new poems recited at the Festival, an hilarious account of the seven nearest chip shops to home when he was growing up. It made us wonder whether those at the Festival were the first to hear it.
Riotous Rich Hall
Another act that had Endorphins flowing through our veins was the American comedian, Rich Hall. He opened the very first Isle of Arts Festival back in 2011 and was just as good the second time round.
Performing to a full house with plenty of new gags, as he’d done previously, Rich picked out someone from the front row, found out a few facts about ‘Andy the Rose Grafter’ then created and performed a song on the spot.
He had the audience in the palm of his hand from the beginning of the first half, until the end of the second. A great choice to close Sunday’s proceedings.
Culturally diverse
But there was so much more to the Festival than just poetry and comedy. Festival goers enjoyed the brilliant Arts Trail, spoken word, story-telling, children’s art workshops, Ukulele making workshops, theatre, live music, film and more.
The diversity of of programming meant there really was something for everyone.
Take part in survey
If you attended any of the events, you can help make the Festival even better by completing their online survey.
Even if you didn’t attend any of the events, organisers have a couple of questions they’d love to hear your views on.
To share your views, visit the online survey.
Image: © With kind permission of Lucy Boynton
