Montol Festival

A little bit about them:


The Montol Festival is a six day an annual heritage, arts and community festival which is held every year between the 14th to the 21st December, in Penzance. The Festival is a revival and reinterpretation of many of the traditional cornish midwinter rituals along with Christmas traditions which are formerly practiced in Penzance and across the Lands End Pennisula. Montol is organised each year by the same creative team who organise the Golowan Festival. During the festival there are a series of workshops which are dedicated to making lanterns, which are then used in a large lantern parade on the 20th December in Penzance town center. The parade is then followed by lighnting the beacon at the Lescudjack Hill Fort, which is one of the most acient sites in the Penzance parish. During the main event the people of Penzance take part in many of the Cornish traditional customs of Midwinter and Christmas including Guise dancing, which is where many people wear traditional masks, dress in disguise and wear mock formal costume, the lighting of several fire beacons throughout the town and chalking of the Mock and the Cornish Yule log. The processions start at 6pm from St John's Hall, with a second procession starting at 10.30pm in Chapel Street Penzance, followed by a Montol Street party where Chapel Street is closed for street entertainment. Traditional music, fire throwing, carols and the theme of light and darkness are also part of the proceedings.   

Penwith Radio

A little bit about them:


Penwith Radio is based in Wharfside Shopping Centre, which has great views overlooking Mounts Bay. It is a social comany with a board of directors which is currently led by Jim McKenna. The radio station is managed by Dave Pascoe and Alan Jones and is also supported by a team of volunteers who have been trained in a wide range of media skills, such as:

• Presenting (TV and Radio)
• Recording
• Editing
• Office Management
• Programme Making
• Journalism
• Technical Development

The station has a wide range of output covering community issues, arts and specialist music shows. The community radio tries to aim to encourage the personal development of volunteers and to respond to the concerns of people in the Penwith area. Presently the radio is just internet based with a world wide coverage, but it is an aim of the directors to get an Ofcom licence for FM coverage, which is still being decided by Ofcom.

Possible Partners to Work With

For the first part of this project we have to research and come up with 3 different possible partners which we would like to work with. I have been researching a few different local event organisers or companies which I have an interest in working with.


The first company which I have been researching is Penwith Radio. I have never been to the Penwith Radio studios or even listened to it, which makes me interseted in working with them. I like the idea of working on a radio show because I think that the technical side of creating a radio show is very interesting and am willing to learn more about it.





Another company which I have been researching is The Montol Festival. Once again this is the first time I have really heard about the festival and what it is all about. I think that there is a wide range of products which could be made to advertise the Montol Festival, from a brand new, more understandable website to a short film explaining what the festival is all about and how long its been running, etc.

Awen Productions is another local company which I have been researching. I've only heard about Awen a few times before but I did'nt really understand what they were and what they did. I am interested also in film making and different camera techniques which I think I would get a good understanding of from working with Awen Productions.

                       

Unit 3 - Interaction

Unit Overview

Living in West Penwtih gives us a lot of different opportunities to interact with a variety of possible partnes such as:

• Local Charities
• Event Organisers
• Local Production Companies

For this project 'Interaction' we will have to be able to work in partnership with a chosen group to complete a project that uses a variety of skills which we have developed in our first year on the Creative and Media Diploma. It will be our desicion to research and select the partner we want to work with, which is likely to be a community based group or charity. For example:

• Trengwainton Gardens (National Trust)
• Montol Festival
• Awen Productions (The Tre Project)
• Penwith Radio
• The Young Promoters Scheme

Over the next few weeks we will have to create events and products with our chosen partners within an effective and professional working relationship. We will have to remember that all the work we do is for real and our partner is relying on us to deliver.