The project explores the possibilities of curating a public festival with children. The goal was to democratically imagine, together with children, the shape and the form of this social event that would invite the local community to participate, triggering the self-driven exploration of new festivities and community culture.
The process of making the "Vår festival" focused on community building from a participatory design perspective within a multi-ethnic small town in Sweden where 7 to 9-year-old children are deprived of participating in their local community and influencing its culture. During this project, I used my position as a child culture designer to investigate the realities of child participation and aimed to expand children's agency and belonging in their neighbourhood.
Over the ten weeks, a creative community of adult and child members living in Skillingaryd called the 'festival Committee ' was formed. They co-design different fun experiences of the festival through collaborative workshops. As a result, the festival committee presented and celebrated the "Vår festival" on 10th May 2022 at a creative recycling center- ReMida.
This project was realized with support from ReMida in Vaggeryd Kommun.
Festival Committee is preparing for the celebration!!
Festival Committee running the 'Biljett Station'
Blom station in action
Photography by Sumedh Vartak