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Festival of Art, Literature and Music
On Saturday, 9 July we opened our gates to welcome guests to the first ever VIAT Festival of Art, Literature and Music. With the orchestras tuning up eagerly in the main hall at SST, the Art and DT exhibitions beginning in earnest and, in the literature tent, Invicta students stepping up to begin the showcase of their work it was sure to be quite the day ahead.
What happened next can only be described as a phenomenal display of talent, artistry and fun as guests from across the Trust and the surrounding areas experienced the sheer force of creativity that students from Invicta, Lenham, SST and Valley can bring to bear on occasions such as this.
Whether it was basking in the dulcet tones of the IGS Orchestral Showcase, listening to the wonderful renditions of Rocketman from the school choir or enjoying the Big Band rock out on the main stage, Invicta's Music Department and students certainly provided an incredible soundtrack to the festival. Further performances from the likes of Lenham's soloists brought an incredible energy to the stage whilst SST's first house band wowed everyone with their performances before Valley Park's choir rounded out the day with a fabulous showcase of their own talents. They should all be immensely proud of the music they produced on the day.
In the literature tent, we were honoured to welcome students from across the Trust to the stage to read their own original works and perform readings of many of their literary favourites. Visiting author, Lauren James, was blown away by the talent on display from our students before she offered up several talks of her own on writing with science, a flash journey through her own background in STEM and how it influences her own stories, and a summary of her writing career so far. All of our students and parents alike were left awed by her talks and questions were boundless in her signings afterwards. Ironically there are few words with which I can adequately sum up just how impressive our students are. Their work knows no bounds but their own imagination we were honoured to give them the audience they deserved at the festival.
On the top floor of SST, the Art exhibition proved equally as popular with guests by granting them access to some of the finest creative pieces developed by students from across the four secondaries. Some daring and colourful, others contained and mature but all utterly skillful in both execution and craft. Later on in the day, as proceedings at the festival began to draw to a close, many students were welcomed to the exhibition to receive their awards for the work they had produced this year in true ceremonial style.
With an event of this scale, there are simply too many thank yous to be issued but a special mention must be given to Reconnect who helped to support our event and whose own work is so valuable in supporting projects across Kent which are designed to bring our children and young people together again in the community. Thank you for helping to make this day a reality, now the planning begins for the Festival of Art, Literature and Music 2023!
