The day finally arrived that everyone was waiting for. The 17th July 2011 was the annual Earls Court Festival Street Fair. Events 4 Youth (E4Y) teamed up with Earls Court Festival to participate in this great day. The small stage was managed by them. The keen volunteer stage manager, Lilli Schmidt from the E4Y team said this about the day ‘I meet a lot of amazingly talented artists, and developed my communication skills through stage management’ which lead to Rebecca Claydon, Earl’s Court Festival Director to comment ‘We hope the team at E4Y had a good experience of the Street Fair and learnt new skills. I believe that this partnership is one that can be developed for the 2012 Festival, to provide it with high quality artistic performances whilst offering young people the opportunity to develop themselves. Thank you for all that you have contributed to the 2011 Festival and making it the success that it was’.

However it was not just about the day, as the whole group had planned the whole thing from the beginning. Some of the team gave a presentation to a key fund panel to raise money for festival t-shirts and materials for designing backdrops, involving local young people from Earls Court Youth Club. One of the team who successfully raised money, Felicia Akhazemea, said ‘When presenting our pitch to the key fund panel in order to raise money for the festival, we gained valuable skills such as presentation, teamwork, and confidence’.

The day went by without any hitches and the crowds were amazed with the artists such as Jimbo, TNS, and Klein but a young woman Kiera Lorelle Rhomes blew everyone away, just like last year when she won an open mic competition at Youth Day 2010. The host of our stage was Neecie Gold who had this to say ‘Born and raised in West London. I believe that projects such as E4Y have helped provide a fantastic platform for young people interested in Events. I was hosting the small stage for the day and received fantastic feedback. Well done to Events 4 Youth and the team who were involved, you made a difference and keep doing what you do best!’

The day was truly amazing for people to gain skills like E4Y’s Jairzinho Sharpe 'I gained confidence working with my group. I particularly enjoyed my friend Kieran King’s singing and actually remember all of his songs. I also enjoyed all the different activities that went on. I can’t wait till next year’s festival, and hope that it is as good as this one. KAPOW!'

It was a great day, with everyone having fun and we have been invited back next year. We will do it bigger, more colourful, more extravagant and raise even more money for charity.

By Michael Ojeer (E4Y Volunteer)