Football Fiesta

by Admin Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:38 am

Football Fiesta

Tuesday 29th July 2008
7.30pm
Carnatic Halls, Elmswood Road, Liverpool

The Liverpool and Knowsley International Youth Soccer Tournament is already a hugely successful annual event but this year there is a fabulous new flavour to the proceedings.

Through funding from the Capital of Culture, we have been able to expand the tournament into ‘Football Fiesta’!

What’s it all about?
With the help of arts, dance and drama, Football Fiesta promises to be a fantastic celebration of football, cultures, skills, experiences and participation of young people throughout the world. It offers the perfect opportunity for young people to come together, via the internet or face to face, and explore their own culture and that of each other. Not only does it unite young people in football, but also friendship, creative experiences and cultural exchange.

There will be 15 countries, 35 visiting teams and approximately 800 young people taking part in ‘Football Fiesta’ which is essentially about celebrating who you are, where you’re from, learning, sharing and respect.

How?
During the weeks leading up to the event, youth dance and theatre groups in Knowsley have been using an online forum on the tournament website to chat, share their ideas, experiences and lifestyles with young people from the football teams back in their countries.

Exchanging information about the kind of music they listen to, where they go out and what they like doing in their spare time has meant our young people have been able to incorporate that information creatively in their work.

The groups have developed performances of dance and theatre based around these exchanges of email as well as developing friendships and getting to know each other.

Young people in Knowsley have also been creating amazing pieces of visual art, learning to drum and dance in Summer school workshops around the Football Fiesta themes.

A film crew will be documenting all of the workshops, tournament activities, fixtures, behind the scenes action and young people’s stories to ensure that all the smiles, laughs, highs and lows are captured.

Parade of Nations
The creative pieces of dance, drama, drumming and art will be incorporated into the traditional ‘Parade of Nations’ which will officially welcome the teams to the tournament. The result of all this hard work will be a sensational performance at the Carnatic Halls site on Tuesday evening.

We invite everyone to be up dancing, Mexican waving and clapping along to the drum beats, the funky banging tunes and feasting on the spectacular that is the ‘Football Fiesta’ crescendo.

Surely not more?
Throughout the rest of the tournament we will be engaging the teams in ‘The World’s Got Talent’ competition, dance, a rap and DJ night and for the final night of their stay, a film night showing footage taken throughout the week.

We will be recording what the teams think about the experience using Dictaphones and encourage them to interview each other. All this information will be used to evaluate the whole tournament and ‘Football Fiesta’ and support future funding bids.

Football Fiesta is an exciting chance for young people to come together, have fun, be free – just stand back and watch the magic!