A FREE festival celebrating youth rights and youth voice through workshops, performances and discussions is coming to Portland.

The WHY? (What’s Happening for the Young?) Festival will be held in Easton between Thursday, September 13 and Saturday, September 15 from 10am to 5pm daily.

The festival was launched in 2014 by the Southbank Centre and has been inspired by the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Each of the events and discussions, programmed by b-side’s five young ‘[intransit] producers’, are all based on articles from the UNCRC that are of interest to Portland’s young people, as well as to the local community.

The [intransit] producer programme was launched in March 2018 to offer training and an alternative creative learning process for young people, aged 16 to 25, who would like to learn more about events management and social action.

The popular b-side festival will return to Portland this year between September 8 and 16 with a packed programme of events, talks, walks and brand new artworks created especially for Portland.

b-side and the [intransit] Producers are looking for people to support and take part in the festival, both before and during the festival too.

You can support the WHY? Festival by offering your time as a volunteer or by pledging or sharing their crowdfunding campaign: http://bit.ly/whyfestival

The [intransit] team are looking for young people to take part in the festival.

They are particularly looking for: young musicians to take part in their WHY? youth music event – happening in Easton Gardens on Saturday September 15 between 12pm – 4pm, trainee film makers to film and document parts of the festival and trainee technicians to help set up the festival and keep the festival running smoothly.

If you’d like to support or take part in the festival, get in touch with molly@b-side.org.uk.

b-side wishes to thank funders: Awards for All (Big Lottery Fund) and Dorset Community Foundation and its supporters Southbank Centre and Bay Theatre Studios.

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