About HYF
What is the Youth Festival?
The Henley Youth Festival is a totally individual event and as far as we know there is nothing quite like it anywhere else in the country!
It is a means of celebrating the talents and achievements of young people in our area and to give them experiences across a wide range of activities that they may not otherwise encounter.We support and promote the performing and visual arts, have some great team and individual sports events and also nurture other skills through workshops and competitions.
The first Henley Youth Festival took place in 1994 and now over 1,500 young people, ranging from under 5’s to 18 year olds, take part each year in about 35 different events and activities.The Festival itself takes place over a couple of weeks every March and many participants are busy preparing well in advance!
Performing Arts – As well as holding events in the River and Rowing Museum and other venues we also take over the local Kenton Theatre for the week and there are events for musicians, dancers, singers and entertainers
Sports – There are hotly contested inter-schools competitions as well as taster sessions in different sports for individuals
Workshops – We run a wide variety of workshops in schools to both enhance the curriculum and to broaden pupils’ experiences.There are also Workshops that take place out of school hours for which you need to book
Competitions – Whether you are a writer, photographer, film maker, poet, artist, sculptor, there is a competition for you, based around our theme for the year
Sponsors – Involving the local community is vital for the Youth Festival to ensure events can be accessible to all , and through sponsorship and volunteering we can organise events at little or no cost for participants.Local firms make donations both financially and in kind.
Volunteers – The Festival is run entirely by volunteers with a core Steering Committee of 15 members. There are several sub-groups and specific roles involving a further 40 or more helpers, of which the School Representatives play a vital role in liaising with the staff and pupils and encouraging the children to take part in the wide variety of events on offer. During the main Festival days even more people are needed to helping with stewarding and all sorts of jobs.
If you would like to get involved please contact the Chairman, Helen McClure
(helenmc.hyf@googlemail.com)Reg Charity: No 1044280
