News

Activate Secures Funding from the Talbot Village Trust

Activate Performing Arts are thrilled to announce that we have been selected to receive a grant from the Talbot Village Trust for the development of a diverse-led youth performance group for young people of colour in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP). The Talbot Village Trust awards more than £1 million a year to charities working […]

Worldbeaters: Enter The Most Mesmerizing and Magical World

Activate Performing Arts is bringing two shows by the fabulous Worldbeaters to Weymouth this September as part of We Are Weymouth’s Dusk Til Dark event. Spark! is a high-energy, live music performance featuring the percussion talents of this UK based company, which will pop up in three Weymouth locations on the evening of the Friday […]

Join Activate’s Board

Are you passionate about performance and would love to champion the work of a performing arts organisation? Activate are looking for a diverse range of people to join our board as charity trustees. This is an exciting time for Activate as we look ahead to Inside Out Dorset 2025 and plan another extraordinary programme that […]

National Landscapes Appoint First Arts Development Manager for Major £2 Million National Arts Programme

We are delighted to announce that the National Landscapes Association has appointed their first Arts Development Programme Manager, Kerenza  McClarnan, to lead the major new £2m National Arts Programme, Nature Calling, which will get underway this Summer. As partners on the project we are thrilled with this appointment. Kerenza McClarnan has worked on large-scale projects […]

Street in the Park: Want to relive the best event in May 2024?

You can transport yourself back to the most incredible moments of the Up & Coming DJ competition for Street in the Park 2024. We have just released a new documentary capturing the most memorable parts of this family-friendly annual event. There are interviews with members of the Activate team and DJs, dancers and creatives and […]

Noisy Noise Noise: A New Sound Work Sparking Children’s Imaginations

Working Boys Club’s new and exciting project cocreated with primary school pupils Jason and Adam Dupree, identical twins from Poole set-up the Working Boys Club in 2020.  Both started in the trades: Adam as car mechanic and Jason as an electrician but both are skilled creative artists too and they combined their creative talents with […]

Nature Calling: An Ambitious National Commissioning Project

Kate Wood, Activate’s Executive and Artistic Director, discusses in this month’s edition of Spotlight the organisation’s role as executive creative producer for the National Landscape Association’s £2m project: Nature Calling. What makes Nature Calling a major national arts programme? ‘Nature Calling is the first major commissioning programme that the National Landscapes Association has launched and […]

Puppets and Props: Interview With Holly Miller

This month’s Spotlight interview is with Holly Miller, a freelance designer and maker for indoor theatre and outdoor theatre. Holly is based in Bridport Dorset where she has a  workshop in The Lyric Theatre.  What inspired you to make puppets and props for theatre productions? “I have always been an artist and maker. I was inspired […]

A New £2M Ground-Breaking National Project: Nature Calling

Spotlight Interview: ‘Waterproof Skin’ Is Essential For An Outdoor Performing Arts Producer

Having worked at Activate since 2017, Dom Kippin has been producing cutting edge events for the biennial Inside Out Dorset festival, as well as special projects such as Dorset Moon, Pollution Pods, and Activate’s touring show Sense of Unity.  Our Spotlight interview reveals what its like collaborating with artists and touring their work. How would […]