Live Age Festival

The idea for a festival originated through the activities of a research project called ‘Ages and Stages’: a continuing collaboration between Keele University and the New Vic Theatre which began in 2009.

Led by Professor Miriam Bernard, ‘Ages and Stages’ was also linked with a partner project based at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where an annual ‘Creative Age Festival’ has been held since 2008.

It was our experiences on the ‘Ages and Stages’ projects, combined with two visits to the Canadian festival in 2011 and 2013, which prompted us to scope out the potential for holding such an event in North Staffordshire.

As a result, in the spring of 2014, fourteen organisations came together to plan and put on this area’s first ever ‘Live Age Festival’. Held at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and the Mitchell Arts Centre on 1-2 October 2014, the festival celebrated continued creativity in later life and showcased the work and talents of local older people, arts organisations and practitioners across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.