Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere will be at EcoFest, Victoria Park, Widnes, Halton on Sat 12 August, 12-4pm
Join us to explore what we can design, make, play and build from bamboo. Timings may change if it rains, please check our social media for schedule updates.
What's on at EcoFest
Bamboo Artworks
All day
Artist-makers from Liverpool City Region have created ambitious structures, some of which you can see in person. Inspired by local themes and landscapes, and organic patterns and forms, they have been experimenting with borinda bamboo from nearby Ness Botanic Gardens and how to combine it with other natural, recycled and recyclable materials.
Bamboo Music (Teepee)
12.30-1pm Pagoda Bamboo Orchestra
1.30-1.45pm James Lyons, bamboo beatboxer
1.45-2pm Tian Qi-yu
2-2.15pm Bamboosters
2.35-3pm Pagoda Bamboo Orchestra
3-3.15pm James Lyons, bamboo beatboxer
3.15-4pm Beatboxing workshop with James Lyons
Pagoda Arts have brought together young musicians from across the region with members of Pagoda Youth Orchestra, celebrating its 40th birthday this year, to fuse traditional bamboo instruments with other instruments and sounds.
Bamboo Drums and Bamboorines: Inventor/artist/musician Jonathan ‘Jab’ Butters has developed and built a drum kit and percussion instruments using bamboo, which makes them far more sustainable and they sound amazing! Learn a bamboo dance and make music!
Bamboo Bikes (outside)
Popping up all day
See our bikes and trikes that have been customised by Faith Bebbington, Maeve Corke Butters, Becky Bryson, Steve Threlfall, Jo Pocock, Jed Long, Bring in the Fire and Urban Workbench.
Bamboo Talks
2.30 - 3pm
Artists Louise Nulty, Sarah Gallagher-Hayes and Ling Tang in conversation with Imagine Bamboo creative director Orit Azaz.
Bamboo performance (outside)
12.15 - 12.30pm
1 - 1.15pm with Sambo Mundo
2.15-2.30pm
3.45 - 4pm
Performers from across Liverpool City Region have worked with director/designer Mish Weaver to experiment with animating bamboo in public space – Home will be passing through during the day.
Performers: Silvia Carmona, Deborah Davies, Paula Hampson, Kadisha R Kayani, Faye McCutcheon, Kirti Patel, Martyna Puciato, Mariana Sampaio de Magalhães Pires and Adrian Sokołowski.
Bamboo Makes (maker tent)
Drop in all day.
Design and make your own bamboo creation and meet some of the artists involved in the project.
Bamboo Circus workshops (outside)
12.30 - 1pm
3.15 - 3.45pm
We invite you to run away with the Bamboo Circus, meet local balance artist Grace Neville-Evans, and try out new bamboo equipment designed and made by circus engineer Tarn Aitken.
Put Yourself in the Bamboo Picture
Share your Imagine Bamboo photos on social media using #imaginebamboo and contribute to a growing digital artwork on https://growing.imagine-bamboo.co.uk
Visitor Information
This is an outdoor event so please be dressed for the weather! You may want to bring a picnic blanket or your own seating. Please note that we may change some performances and activities in the event of bad weather, keep an eye on our social media for more information.
Entry is free. Free parking on site.
Please walk, cycle or use public transport if you can. Active travel information can be found at www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/imaginebamboo
Access
Track way will be provided on some grassed areas to improve accessibility for wheelchair users and people with pushchairs. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the sites, not all areas will have hard, flat ground and it may be necessary to cross grass or uneven terrain to view some aspects of the event.
There are accessible toilets on site.
Ear defenders are available free of charge from our event stewards.
We offer dedicated quiet times for those who would prefer to visit when the site is less busy: the first and final hour of the day.
BSL interpretation will take place for selected talks and for the MC/ host
Clear signage will point out the most accessible areas of the event site.
Large print programmes will be held by our event stewards & available in our Making Tent
If you need to discuss your access needs, don't hesitate to email us at imaginebamboolcr@gmail.com
Why are we interested in bamboo?
Bamboo is widely held to be one of the most important sustainable materials in the world. It has uses in design, construction, green innovation, farming and carbon capture.
Local residents, young climate leaders and artists from across Liverpool City Region are coming together with engineers from Atelier One and bamboo specialists from four continents to explore bamboo as a sustainable material for the future.
We are using locally grown borinda bamboo, originally from mountainous Tibet, brought to the UK by a botanist working for University of Liverpool and grown at Ness Botanical Gardens, who have kindly allowed us to explore what we can design, make, build as we Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere in Liverpool City Region.
About Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere in Liverpool City Region
Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere is part of the LCR Cultural Events programme which brought the Lost Castles and Constellations projects that were held in the city region in 2018 and 2019 followed by the bamboo Bridge project in Liverpool in 2021.
It is part of Mayor Steve Rotheram’s 1% for Culture programme, which earmarks £300,000 per year – 1% of the CA’s core funding – to activities designed to promote culture and creativity.
This summer's events build on the work that took place in 2022, where 14 artists led pilot projects with communities across the city region. 24 baby borinda bamboo plants were taken home and raised by their ‘parents’ before being planted in Court Hey Park in Knowsley, to become a future sustainable building material for the planet.
Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere is part of the LCR Cultural Events programme, delivered in partnership with Imagineer and Culture Liverpool, and led by independent creative director Orit Azaz.
Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere is presented in association with Halton Borough Council, Sefton Council, Wirral Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, St Helens Borough Council and Liverpool City Council.
Imagine Bamboo is Everywhere is supported by Arts Council England, part-funded from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as the lead authority and partners Heart of Glass, Ness Botanic Garden, Newton Town Show and Liverpool City Region Music Board.