FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS WANTED!!
The North East Festival of Architecture has just opened recruitment for volunteers.
As well as volunteers to help with the logistical delivery of festival events, they are also looking for photographers and a number of marketing and communications assistants to help promote some specific events in the run up to the festival.
If you think you might be interested, please email:
eleanor@northernarchitecture.com and Eleanor will send you all relevant information.
Sunniside on FACEBOOK
Sunniside is now on Facebook!! CLICK HERE to join the group and find out more about what's on in Sunniside.
WIN A £1,000 SHOPPING SPREE IN SUNNISIDE
A £1,000 shopping spree around Sunniside in Sunderland city centre is up for grabs this Christmas.
Sunniside Partnership has hidden five ‘Explore Sunniside’ symbols on pavements in the area and all you need to do is find them and then tell us where they are by logging onto www.exploresunniside.co.uk
You’ll even get a prize for entering (providing that you’re right of course!)
You can enjoy exploring Sunniside – Sunderland’s newly rejuvenated city centre quarter – while you look for the symbols. There are some clues to help you on the website.
It is part of the new Explore Sunniside campaign, which aims to encourage more people into the area and take advantage of the wealth of attractions.
Over the last five years Sunniside has attracted over £100 million of private investment, which has breathed new life into its Georgian streets and attracted a diverse range of high quality businesses to the area. As well as over 160 listed buildings this part of the city centre now boasts award-winning £2m public gardens, a £6 million business and arts centre, a state-of-the-art bowling alley, cinema, high class eateries, niche boutiques and shops and stylish homes.
Spearheading the area’s regeneration programme and the Explore Sunniside campaign is Sunniside Partnership, which is supported by Sunderland City Council, Sunderland arc, the Homes and Communities Agency (formerly English Partnerships) and One North East.
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SUNNISIDE PLAYS HOST TO OCTOBERF1RST FESTIVAL
WITH autumn now upon us, Sunderland City Council has organised an exciting festival to mark change in seasons, kicking off this weekend (Saturday 24th October) with a live 3D disco in Sunniside.
OCTOBERF1RST 2009 runs between 24th October and 1st November with highlights including the chance to represent Sunderland in the World’s first ‘Great Street Games’, a live audio-visual 3D experience and local produce on show at the Farmers’ Market to be held in the city.
Organised by Sunderland City Council, OCTOBERF1RST is part of the Quick Wins project. This is a multi-stranded programme of action that aims to encourage residents in and around Sunderland to make the most of the city centre and use it as a place to spend their time.
Cllr Denny Wilson at Sunderland City Council said: “There is so much happening this autumn in the city centre and throughout the OCTOBERF1RST Festival visitors can get involved in a range of exciting activities, such as art and museum programmes, an animation workshop and a Darwin Discovery Day.
“We also want the people of Sunderland to represent their city in The Great Street Games a massive participatory socially inclusive, high-tech athletics tournament.”
Launching OCTOBERF1RST is a live audio-visual disco in Sunniside Gardens featuring a 3D Disco, created by artist collective NOVAK - originators of the World’s first fully audio 3D club experience. Everyone who goes down will be asked to wear 3D glasses to fully appreciate the unique 3D audiovisual performance that has been commissioned specially for OCTOBERF1RST.
NOVAK have performed at Glastonbury Festival with Calvin Harris, Chemical Brothers in Trafalgar Square and Kraftwerk in Bucharest, as well as across the world in student unions and clubs. Joining NOVAK will be the DJs, Ward10 and VJs, Liam Carlin a.k.a. Basic Production and Michael Gardiner a.k.a. Boxed Roomer.
During the OCTOBERF1RST festival, everyone is getting the chance to represent Sunderland in The Great Street Games. This is a World-first event being held in Sunderland, Gateshead and Middlesbrough on four days (29th October - 1st November).
Media artists KMA will create a large scale outdoor kinetic light work that links the three cities at the same time via a real time physical game. Great Street Games has been commissioned by the Bupa Great North Run Cultural Programme.
The games are held in the outdoors and uses projected thermal-imaging technology to create jaw-dropping interactive play arenas in which the physical movements of the players will determine the outcome of the games.
Later this month, also as part of the Quick Wins project, the Shop in Sunderland F1RST campaign is launched. As well as offering practical support to businesses the campaign is designed to encourage Sunderland residents to shop in the city centre.
Cllr Denny Wilson concludes: “Throughout the festival there is something for everyone and I hope people are able to take the time to go down and take part in some of the activities organised in the city centre.
“Sunderland City Council recognises that this is a challenging time for business and is investing in our city centre to do all it can to support local retailers, bars, cafes, restaurants and services.
“Sunderland has some fantastic shops, bars and restaurants and through the Shop Sunderland F1RST campaign we want to really make people realise what there is on the doorstep and stay local.”
For more information about the OCTOBERF1RST Festival, visit www.sunderlandevents.com
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
3D Disco
Saturday 24th October Sunniside Gardens 7pm – 9pm,(DJs from 6pm) FREE Website: http://www.novakcollective.com/wordpress/
This promises to be a great event to launch OCTOBERF1RST - a live audio-visual disco in Sunniside Gardens featuring a 3D Disco, created by artist collective NOVAK – originators of the World’s first fully audio 3D club experience. Everyone who goes down will a free pair of 3D glasses to wear for NOVAK Collective’s unique 3D audiovisual performance that has been commissioned specially for OCTOBERF1RST.
NOVAK have performed at Glastonbury Festival with Calvin Harris, Chemical Brothers in Trafalgar Square and Kraftwerk in Bucharest, as well as across the world in student unions and clubs. Joining NOVAK will be some of the best VJs in Sunderland.
NOVAK would be happy to be interviewed if you would like to speak to them more about the event and there’s a photo below, which can be sent as a jpeg – it looks like great fun.
Represent Sunderland in a World-first event - The Great Street Games
Thursday 29th October – Sunday 1st November
Outside the Old Fire Station, Dunn Cow Street 5.30pm – 11pm FREE
Website: www. greatstreetgames.org.uk
This is a World-first event being held in Sunderland, Gateshead and Middlesbrough on four days. Media artists KMA will create a large scale outdoor kinetic light work that links the three cities at the same time via a real time physical game. And we want the people of Sunderland to go down and represent their city in this massive participatory socially inclusive, high-tech athletics tournament.
Great Street Games has been commissioned by the Bupa Great North Run Cultural Programme.
You’ll see from the photo below that the games are held in the outdoors and uses projected thermal-imaging technology to create jaw-dropping interactive play arenas in which the physical movements of the players will determine the outcome of the games.
Players will develop game-playing skills as they progress through a number of levels and of course help Sunderland to victory.
Farmers’ Market
Saturday 31st October, Park Lane (near the Borough), Sunderland
9.30am – 2.30pm
This is the first Farmers’ Market to be held in Sunderland City Centre and is a great opportunity to visit stalls featuring local produce. The delicious fruit, vegetables, cheeses and sweet things are fresh and because they are local you can enjoy them even more – knowing that they have not travelled thousands of miles from where they were produced.
Media information: Sara Fisher at Press Ahead on 0191 516 6235 / sf@pressahead.info
SUNNISIDE SHOWCASED AT STUDENT FRESHER'S FAYRE
Sunniside showcased all that is on offer in the area to students at Sunderland University’s Fresher’s Fayre.
More than 8,000 students poured through the doors of the University's exciting new CitySpace building on Chester Road on September 30.
And members of the Sunniside team were on hand with staff from the Sunniside Leisure Complex and thePlace cafe to hand out information and let students know where to visit in Sunniside for eating, shopping, drinking, entertainment and much more.
They were armed with all the latest Sunniside offers and promotions including where students can use their Campus Card for a 10% discount in Sunniside.
GET CREATIVE DOWN AT THEPLACE IN SUNNISIDE
Members of the public have the chance to get creative and see their work exhibited as part of an art project inspired by the regeneration of Sunniside in Sunderland city centre.
North East artist Dawn Lehrer has already been working with pupils at Hudson Road, whose landscape will change when a disused shop fitters surrounding the school is knocked down in the next few weeks. The site will form part of future regeneration plans for Sunniside and the children have been learning about the subject through art. They have made a collage out of photographs, paint and recycled old materials found in the building, creating their very own Sunniside street.
Now the general public is invited to contribute to the project, ‘Site Verify’, by coming along to workshops held at Sunniside’s newest award-winning development thePlace.
Every Saturday from October 3 at 11.30am to 2.30pm people will be able to go along to the gallery and create art work in response to the pieces already on exhibition as well as the regeneration happening in the area. Each week will focus on different art forms with the first one being about sculpture and photography. The exhibition officially opens on October 1.
The project is funded by Arts Council England, Sunniside Partnership, Sunderland arc, One North East, Sunderland City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency.
Dawn, of Gateshead, who is working on her own contribution to the exhibition at Sunderland Art Studio, said: “My work is about what is currently present in the area, about what is soon to disappear. I am asking people of all ages and ability levels to come in and make what they would like to see built in its place. The exhibition will be changed weekly to include their work and allow an evolving exhibition that mirrors what is happening in the community through the regeneration.”
Dawn’s own work centres around the former shop fitters, which opened in 1918 and closed in 2008. She has used photographs of the building and salvaged materials such as blueprints and abandoned tools found inside. Her work includes painting, collage, photographs and installation.
“Currently I am using the blue prints in my work printing photographs directly on to them, using them in collaged painting and recreating them as paintings,” Dawn said.
“The work I am creating will reflect one of the workman’s trades that once thrived in Sunniside as well as expressing the current environment of changing industry and regeneration.”
Since Sunniside Partnership was set up in 2003 by Sunderland arc, Sunderland City Council, One North East and the Homes and Communities Agency, the area has attracted more than £100 million of private investment and boasts award-winning developments including Sunniside Gardens, thePlace and the Gentoo led Mowbray Apartments.
Listed buildings have been brought back into commercial use and the area is becoming renowned for its high quality bars, restaurants, cafes and niche shops. Further improvements to the main streets linking Sunniside into the rest of the city centre began earlier this summer.
For more information on the community workshops please contact dawn@dawnfelicia.com Children must be accompanied by adults.
Sunniside Showcasing at Uni’s Fresher’s Fayre
Find out what Sunniside’s got to offer at Sunderland University’s Fresher’s Fayre on Wednesday September 30 at the exciting new CitySpace building on Chester Road.
Members of the Sunniside Partnership team as well as staff from thePlace café and Sunniside Leisure complex will be on hand with information on where to go for eating, shopping, drinking, entertainment and much more.
Come and visit us on our stand and find out about all the latest offers and promotions including where you can use your Campus Card for a 10% discount in Sunniside.
Students get 10% off in Sunniside with campus card
Students can now enjoy 10% off at their favourite places in Sunniside using their very own campus card.
Sunderland’s stylish city centre quarter is bursting with bars, restaurants, shops and entertainment. Now anywhere that displays a Campus Card sticker in the window is offering a 10% discount to students. With more than £100 million invested into the beautiful area of Sunniside, it is fast becoming the place to be in the city centre with state-of-the-art leisure facilities such as a cinema and bowling alley, quality eateries, boutique shops as well as award-winning gardens and attractions such as Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art.
Ben Hall, director of Sunniside Partnership, said: “We are delighted that so many businesses have come on board with this new offer for students. Sunniside has so much to offer and we hope this initiative will help encourage more young people to come into this part of the city centre and enjoy the area.”
See below for a list of participating venues:
- The Inkdrop – Printer Consumables
- The Theatre Restaurant
- thePlace Café
- Amore – Restaurant
- Eauzone – Restaurant
- Helen Russell Photography
- Stardust Café and Gift Shop
- Relish the Thought – Café
- Associate Hair Dressing