Our thanks to Jack Whitewood, Creative and Development Director at Ventnor Exchange, for sharing with readers his reflection of the past year and hopes for 2025. Ed
Another year draws to an end, faster than ever it seems, and suddenly we’re looking ahead to a futuristic sounding 2025. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly five years since the first Covid lockdown and an incredible 16 years since we were last treated to a new Wallace and Gromit on our Christmas screens!
On a family walk recently we noticed a plaque that prompted we’ll soon be digging up time capsules from the millennium, a somewhat back to the future experience for those of us who were the children burying these things!
Celebrating some significant milestones
This year we celebrated our own significant milestones. In July we marked 15 years of Ventnor Fringe, an arts festival a group of us set up as restless teenagers determined to make something happen in our hometown and which we’ve since stewarded through austerity, pandemics, new technology and ever changing trends. From an intimate gathering of 200 or so, this year we hit a new box office record of 12,000.
The novelty never gets old seeing the flags and tents go up, the smiles on the faces of families coming out of the circus, the gossip and rumours that whirl around the town of the sleeper hits and most bizarre discoveries.
It was Temper Theatre’s beautiful show ‘Home’ that really struck a chord for me this year, with its evocative depiction of a family who face the prospect of losing their home in the Norfolk Fens as sea levels rise. I may even have shed a tear.
Ten year anniversary for Ventnor Exchange
This year also marked ten years since we opened Ventnor Exchange. Our home in the old post office building was all about bringing a little bit of the Fringe energy to the Island year round and we’d like to think it’s now a firm fixture of Ventnor’s high street.
A front room for the whole town where you can learn new skills from the hundreds of workshops and courses we host each year, catch live performances or simply meet up with friends day or night in a different kind of space that sits somewhere between a cafe, bar, venue and record shop.
Exciting times ahead
However, New Year is about looking forward to the future and these are exciting times for Ventnor Exchange.
We’re in the early stages of a transformation that will be taking dramatic steps forward over the next 12 months as we seek to expand and step up efforts in our mission to transform the opportunities available on the Island to see and get involved with creative experiences.
The new Big Top
In the summer we take delivery of a new 600 capacity Big Top, currently under construction in Italy, which will provide the Island with a bespoke, fully equipped, flexible mid-scale venue which can be used for everything from circus to gigs.
Launching in 2026 you’ll be able to get a sneak preview at this year’s Ventnor Fringe and over time it’s going to transform the type of work we can stage here on the Island, allow us to employ more people and give every town access to a professional venue.
And there’s more
What else? Our plans to open a second building in Ventnor at Ingram’s Yard take an important step forward with the start of the design and consultation phase next month, and Brave Island continues to expand beyond all of our expectations with nearly 600 members and growing, providing free opportunities for 14-25 year olds every single week.
16 paid work placements
Next month we’ll be announcing the first of 16 paid work placements to help those looking to get a foot in the door, joining a massive programme of free trips, mentoring, workshops and commissions.
If you’re under 25 and looking for opportunities you should definitely sign up for updates. It’s a gamechanger.
Remaining optimistic
In an ever changing world where we are bombarded with news and opinion it’s easy to be cynical. Certainly in our work the challenges we face are numerous and vary year to year, from pandemic restrictions to road closures, energy costs and taxes more than doubling, to skills shortages and Brexit complications, it can all feel pretty relentless, but I continue to be optimistic.
We are all responsible for helping make our communities the type of places we want them to be and if working in the arts and festivals has taught me anything it’s that it takes a team effort to put on a show.
The support we have been shown over the years by audiences, customers, volunteers, funders, sponsors and donors has been phenomenal, and always keeps us motivated and focussed. It’s amazing what we can achieve together, despite the odds.
We may be celebrating more than a decade as an organisation, but in many ways we feel like we’ve really only just begun to get going.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year, let’s make it a good one.
Find out more
If people would like to know more about our projects here’s how they can stay in touch.
- Ventnor Fringe website
- Brave Island website
- News about the Big Top
- Read Ventnor Exchange’s Delivery Plan
People’s Palace of Possibilities
Earlier in the year Ventnor Exchange brought the People’s Palace of Possibilities to Ventnor. Watch the video below to see and hear some of what took place.
