Immersive city festival to take children 'around the world'

Taking place on Sunday 19 October alongside Hockley Hustle, the programme is being expanded after winning increased funding from Arts Council England following eight years of making a positive impact on the diverse communities of Nottingham.

Young people and families are encouraged to immerse themselves in a world of creativity, using the festival as a platform to enjoy and create music and art alongside talented local artists.

There was a 27% increase in attendance last year, with performance opportunities for 45 young people. An evaluation carried out by Nottingham Trent University showed an increase in confidence in 87% of children participating in the festival.

Based around Sneinton’s Market Avenues and Square, Young Hustlers 2025 will explore cultures from around the world through art, music, and food.

Taking place across multiple indoor and outdoor venues, the festival features a mix of live performances, interactive workshops, and energetic parties.

Already confirmed are:

The Big Fish, Little Fish rave at the new Movers venue in Sneinton. 

A playful and interactive live music session, celebrating traditional Ukrainian music, from BaBa’s Musical Kitchen and a workshop where children will make their very own mbira, a Zimbabwean thumb piano using recycled materials, led by Sekuru, an internationally renowned Zimbabwean musician and cultural educator.

The Djembe drums, a traditional West-African instrument, will feature in the drumming workshops led by Biant Singh, who will also playfully guide children and adults through the instrument’s significant history and cultural importance in its location of origin.

Creativity is the name of the game with an Around the World cardboard installation to be made with the young attendees while City Arts will host creative workshops and the environmentally friendly Dizzy Ink will be back with a printing based workshop where families will experiment with colour, creating their own artworks to take with them, and learning the important meanings of flag colours. 

Chocolate-themed workshops run by Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates, who source most of their chocolate from the Solomon Islands will be a new addition to this year’s festival, where families will also learn about the origins of chocolate and the cocoa farmers responsible for supplying it around the world.

There will also be food and art workshops at Vietcentric, which offers an immersive experience into Vietnamese culture. 

The epic Lego Club will be hosted at Bustler Market. 

A badge-making workshop by the community arts organisation Freedom Arts will take place at One BC, following on from the tapestry workshops they will be running in the lead up to the festival, celebrating the city’s globally diverse communities.

The Brazilian Cultural Centre will be running samba dancing and headdress-making workshops, as well as hosting award-winning performer Sohan Kailey’s Bhangra Tots perfect for little ones to experience the fun of the high-energy music and dance from the Punjab region of India with Bhangra Fusion for older children. 

Around the avenues will be an array of street entertainment bringing plenty of colour and fun, including facepainting, circus skills workshops, DJs and more.

Ahead of the festival in October, there will be workshops with schools and with community groups.

The festival will be working with pupils at Djanogly Academy for the third year running, following the success of music workshops and showcase performances with Jah Digga last year.

This year, they will be working with Milla Hanna, on West African drumming; Chai Larden, on songwriting and Ling Peng, working with Chinese music instruments.

They will have the opportunity to perform at the Young Hustlers showcase at Blend where talented young artists will be playing to a live audience.

The festival is designed to be affordable for families and aims to bring together different communities and cultures of Nottingham to enjoy a day of creativity, music, food and fun.

Festival director Saziso Phiri said: “We’re very happy to announce a generous uplift of around 130% in funding from Arts Council England. This is a testament to the positive impact the festival has on families from a diverse range of backgrounds. It offers the opportunity to experience joy and fun alongside people they might not usually encounter in their day-to-day lives. The festival also encourages learning and understanding among different communities, helping to build connections.

“The Arts Council’s investment will have a significant positive effect on Nottingham’s creative economy, enabling us to continue to fairly compensate the talented creatives who contribute to the event, develop innovative experiences in local venues and support fellow cultural organisations through venue hire, helping to generate increased footfall for the local area and surrounding businesses.

“This support is particularly crucial given the current challenges facing local cultural funding. As someone who was enriched by accessible cultural activities during my own childhood, I understand just how vital such events are for enrichment and well-being. Who knows — this festival might just plant the seed for a future star artist or musician from our city.”

Tickets for children and young people (2-17) are £4 plus booking fee. Adults are £11 plus booking fee (adult wristbands can be used for Hockley Hustle). There will also be several Hockley Hustle venues accessible to Young Hustlers during the day.

For more information and tickets, go to www.younghustlers.co.uk

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