Friday 29 September New Vic Theatre
Sunday 1 October Potteries Museum and Art Gallery

New Vic Theatre, Keele University and Age UK North Staffordshire will be celebrating age in the Live Age Festival, which returns to North Staffordshire from Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October.

The Live Age Festival will take place at the New Vic Theatre on Friday 29 September and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery on Sunday 1 October and will showcase the artistic and creative works of older people in a series of free workshops, activities and exhibitions. Everyone, of all ages, is welcome to attend.
This year’s Festival features song-making workshops with Chloe Knibbs; a physical storytelling workshop with Caroline Wilkes; FRONTLINEdance’s Moving Stories; performance poet Leah Thorn and a choral song workshop with Kate Buttolph.

The Live Age Conversation (previously the Live Age Symposium) takes place 1.30-3.30pm on Friday 29 September at the New Vic Theatre. The theme this year is 'Stoke-on-Trent for UK City of Culture 2021: the contribution of creative ageing'. It will be chaired by Prof. David Amigoni and our speakers are Dr Lesley Mountford (Director of Public Health for Stoke-on-Trent); Claire Benjamin (Deputy Director, Education and Visitors, National Museums, Liverpool) and Deborah McAndrew (Playwright and Creative Director of Claybody Theatre). The Ages and Stages Theatre Company will help to explore the emerging themes with the audience.
Please see the Live Age Festival website for further information and links to book your free tickets: www.liveagefestival.co.uk
We are also on Facebook (Live Age Festival) and Twitter (@LiveAgeFestival).

The Live Age Festival originated through the activities of research project Ages and Stages, a continuing collaboration between Keele University and the New Vic Theatre, led by Prof. Miriam Bernard, which began in 2009. This year, the Festival forms part of wider project, Meet Me At Live Age: a year-round programme of creative outreach activities with older people’s groups from across the community. Supported by Arts Council England and the Baring Foundation’s Celebrating Age programme, Meet Me seeks to create new relationships between artists and groups and supports older people to develop creative skills and cultural leadership. Dr Jackie Reynolds (Public Engagement (with Research) Fellow) is Co-Director of Live Age.

Programme of events: Friday 29 September (New Vic Theatre)

Sunday 1 October (Potteries Museum & Art Gallery)