WVRF aims to connect communities, inspire and support creativity, and to interpret and celebrate our outstanding landscape. This includes working with partners to make arts accessible for all, embedding new skills that support individuals on their personal creative journeys, whilst fostering a deep appreciation of the environment. We began our Creative Community Champions (CCC) programme in 2022. This allowed us to employ artists who worked creatively across the area.

Our CCC’s seek to develop projects with local communities building confidence, ambition, and skills. Their collaborations feature in the festival and build lasting networks and partnerships that continue to enable the development of a year-round WVRF creative programme.

Creative Community Champions 2026

NICHOLA GOFF – FLOCK

www.nicholagoff.com

FLOCK: to move or gather together in large numbers

This project brings communities together to celebrate the rich birdlife of the Lower Wye Valley. Across a series of workshops, many hands are helping create large-scale silk panels filled with printed birds forming a stunning murmuration.

There eight-metre panels will be carried in the Festival Parade, winding down Monmouth Highstreet on Saturday 2nd May, then installed on site as an installation and backdrop for a singing session with the wonderful Jenn Singleton.

Nic has already worked with people in Chepstow Art Space and at the Print Yard studios, together, designing and carving beautiful linocut birds, then printing them with earth pigment inks onto the silk panels.

If you’d like to get involved, we still have one workshop in Redbrook to come but tickets are selling fast. Book on or join the waiting list HERE:

Tickets

Alternatively come along to Drybridge Park on the 2nd May- Nic will be there running print making workshops.

If you like to help us carry the FLOCK murmuration silk panels in the procession, please get in touch: wyevalleyriverfest@gmail.com

Araceli Puppet Theatre – LARGE SCALE PUPPETS

www.celiescielo.wixsite.com/puppeteer

Araceli Cabrera Caceres is a Chilean-born, independent community creative practitioner: director, producer, scriptwriter, performer, dancer, shadow puppeteer, puppet maker, found-object theatre artist and podcast creative producer.

She animates objects collected from the landscape, being found by the objects, letting them surprise and bring up their stories.

We are very excited to commission the The Sea Horse Dragon, which will take part in the procession and then be in Drybridge Park.

Then, working alongside and in response to Think Creatively and artist Anna Vigar’s WVRF Schools’ Outreach Programme, Araceli will design another large scale puppet. This is based upon the folkloric characters the children have made.

Araceli and Anna will be making this puppet during the week before the Monmouth event on Saturday 2^nd May.