Isle of Wight Story Festival inspires young creatives

“It was a brilliant festival, I loved seeing the books come to life,” said Heidi Avey, one of the hundreds of visitors.

There were many wonderful authors, illustrators, artists and storytellers at the festival — including Amelia Fang creator Laura Ellen Anderson, and award-winning author/illustrators Sarah McIntyre, Philip Reeve, Neal Layton and Kieran Larwood — telling their stories and inspiring children of all ages in a creative and aspirational atmosphere.

Festival-goer Sam Sutcliffe said: “I found the Philip Reeve's insight great, everything about it was very interesting. He was very good to watch.”

Read more: Queen's Award for Isle of Wight Music, Dance and Drama Festival

Philip Reeve. Picture by Ffion Wood.

The biggest attraction was Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, who, in his sell-out event, effortlessly drew characters from his books, created new ones and answered questions about the process and his favourite characters.

The line for his book signing was out of the cafe, up the stairs and around the block, as people patiently waited to get their favourite books signed.

You could see people with dusty 20 year old copies of The Gruffalo waiting for his signature.

Axel Scheffler. Picture by Ffion Wood.

Many of the workshop sessions were run by creatives who live on the Isle of Wight — including storytellers Sue Bailey and Holly Medland, poet and artist Adam Gaterell, author/illustrators Jules Marriner, Peta Rainford and Debbie Webb, and artist Lucia Para.

A number of these focused on the biodiversity of the Island, through classic storytelling, crafting activities and author insights about their own stories.

After two years of people being inside and not doing very much, it is important to get children inspired and creative, and the Isle of Wight is a great place for this, with its natural and diverse beauty.

Dustbin Doris. Picture by Ffion Wood.

There were plenty of hands-on activities to get involved with throughout the festival, with fun workshops including Taking Your Paintbrush For a Walk (exploring paintbrush marks), creating a superhero cape out of recycled cloth, using fabric to tell stories, and making a nest ring for garden birds.

Rhubarb Theatre not only performed their inspiring show, Dustbin Doris, but ran an energetic workshop on it.

During the two days, young journalists from IWEF’s Carisbrooke College learnt intriguing details about the festival's stars, while photographers from the Island VI Form recorded numerous exciting events.

This festival is a fantastic family event with a relaxed atmosphere, lots to do and plenty to see.

If you've never been before, make plans to go next February half term for an enjoyable weekend.

The event was a huge success, with tickets selling out for many sessions.

This report was written by Year 10 students from Carisbrooke College, with photographs by Ffion Wood from The Island VI Form.

They were working with Independent Arts as part of the year-long Creative Biosphere project — a partnership of five cultural organisations, five schools and colleges and five artists, brought together through the Isle of Wight’s Cultural Education Partnership to inspire creativity in young people through the Island’s UNESCO Biosphere Status.

The project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and The Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Beauty, two High Street Heritage Action Zones (Newport and Ryde) and Ventnor Exchange’s #IWILL project.