We are excited to be working with Spalding Town Forum to create a procession artwork for the upcoming Spalding Flower Parade (13th May 2023).
In typical Transported-fashion, for this project we want as many people as possible to have the chance to get creative, learn new skills and celebrate where they live. To that end, the brilliant The Art of Emily will be delivering workshops to Spalding schools and community groups.
Transported has been working with community groups and officers in Spalding to explore the potential for festival activity to enrich the visitor offer, contribute to the areas regeneration and to restore a sense of pride in the area, in direct response to “the tulip shaped hole” left in peoples’ cultural expectations since the demise of the annual flower Festival.
After years of discussions and attempts to reinvent the Tulip parade/Flower festival, a local resident Stephen Timewell has brought a team together, established a web site and is coordinating the parade for May 13th, 2025.
Spalding Town Forum are sponsoring the production of a float, on behalf on Spalding’s residents and are working with Transported to engage a good number of participants in the process and create an artwork of quality as catalyst for future partnership projects.
Transported are collaborating with artists Emily Cartwright, and Jamie Hawker (of JRH Services), to develop the float proposal: ‘The Bee’.
The theme addresses our current era of environmental awareness. The proposal includes workshops with groups and schools so that as many local residents as possible will have a real ‘hands-on’ experience of the flower parade.
Using natural, reclaimed or recyclable materials like willow, origami and paper techniques, small scale items will be made for the parade, along with a ‘Queen Bee’ mobile sculptural feature that processes at the centre of our section of the parade with costumed ‘worker bee’ primary school children accompanying alongside and riders of mobility scooters adorned with giant flowers.
Why – what do we want to achieve, what will change
Purpose – self making, community making, place making
- Establish confident and aspirational partnership between the Spalding Town Forum and Transported
- Create a high quality, inspirational element of the new Flower Parade, seeding potential for the future with organisers participants, funders and delivery organisations
- Provide opportunity for hundreds of people to actively take part in new artistic activity and acquire new skills benefiting future projects and programmes
- Contribute and assist in the development of a spectacular new sustainable annual Festival
- Bring communities together and foster social cohesion
- Increase the skills and talent in the area for future cultural and community programmes
- Increase a people’s pride in the town and foster a sense of belonging
- Contribute to the regeneration and reimagining of the town and the area
- Foster positive links and partnerships between local businesses and the community
- Raise awareness of the towns history and value if offers to the place
- Create a successful programme of events and an annual festival that enriches the visitor off and contributes to economic development of the town
- Increase the profile, awareness and support for the Parade, the town and Transported
Find out more
You can find out more about the Spalding Flower Parade on https://www.spaldingflowerparade.org.uk/
