Lots of people interacting at a community event. In the foreground three people are sewing at a table.

We're creating a Festival Working Group and would love for your to be a part of it.

Aims  

  • To provide a community perspective to help shape the Cambridge Festival programme.  
  • Make the Cambridge Festival more responsive to the community’s needs and interests.  
  • To give community, cultural, and corporate partners a place to use their skills and experience to inform delivery of the Festival.  
  • To promote the Cambridge Festival as a place to build regional relationships.  

Members

We are recruiting 6 to 9 members through an open application process. You could be a:

  • Member of the local community
  • Community organiser
  • Corporate partner or cultural practitioner
  • University researcher

Members will serve one year on the board, with the option to extend this twice. A member can therefore serve a maximum of 3 terms.

What you'll be doing

As a member of the Festival Working Group, you will have 2 main roles:  

  1. Use your expertise to inform delivery of the Cambridge Festival. You will be responding to questions from the Festival Team. This will involve providing recommendations on how to best engage and respond to the needs of the community. This includes practical suggestions on types and timings of events, and delivery partners 
  2. Assess applications and award funding to support community-created events. These events will showcase at the Cambridge Festival. You will work with the Public Engagement Team on this. 

Meetings

As a member of the Festival Working Group, you will need to do some preparation for, attend, and contribute to meetings. We will design the schedule with you to enable all members to participate as fully as possible. We are happy to discuss flexible participation options.  

The Cambridge Festival takes place in March and April each year. As a result, no meetings will be scheduled during these months. 

We aim to hold 4 meetings each year: 

Advisory meetings 

You will provide guidance and input to the Cambridge Festival, and discuss funding applications. 

  • 3 meetings each year, 2 in-person and one online. 
  • Last up to 2 hours, with a break included. 
  • We estimate these meetings will need about 2 hours of preparation. 
  • The Cambridge Festival Manager will attend these with you. 

Annual away day 

You will meet up with the Community Knowledge Working Group as part of the full Community Engagement Advisory Board. This meeting is an opportunity for creative thinking, to reflect, and share working group activity over the year. 

  • One day-long meeting held in-person with breaks and lunch provided.   
  • No advanced preparation will be needed. 

About the Cambridge Festival 

The Cambridge Festival is the University of Cambridge’s main public engagement event and is organised by the Public Engagement Team. Each year we offer a range of events for adults, families, and schools. Through this, we share research and build connections with the community. The festival also gives us the opportunity to think about the relationship between the city and the University. Strengthening this connection is a key aim for us, and the Festival Working Group plays an important role in achieving it.  

To deliver the festival we work with a range of partners including community organisations and Anglia Ruskin University. These partnerships help us to improve the Cambridge Festival each year. The Festival Working Group provides a formal space to support and develop these relationships. 

Get involved

Apply to join the Festival Working Group. We'd love to hear from you. If you have questions or need help with your application, please email us at communityengagement@admin.cam.ac.uk.