We have Launched!

15th March 2016

A pair of talented Northumbria students have hosted and managed their very own Performing Arts festival.

Russell Edge and Ellie McPhail, both third year performance students, took charge of the annually held event, The Launch Festival 2016, in order to gain valuable event management experience and to help prepare their fellow students for the professional world by giving them a chance to perform publicly.

The Launch Festival 2016 took place on 24-26 February, and ran as part of their Professional Directions module. It showcased a variety of acts and performances, including a film and theatre night, a cabaret show and a sole theatre orientated evening.

While Russell and Ellie didn’t star in the shows themselves, they both played active, behind the scenes roles in managing the event, including budgeting, space bookings, and marketing.

“To organise Launch has been exciting and rewarding, getting to see the festival come together has been worth all the hard work” said Ellie. “I think we have created a great platform for third year performing arts students to showcase their work.”

In total there were 26 students and 19 acts participating in the event from all Northumbria Performing Arts courses, including Performance, Drama and Applied Theatre, and Drama and Scriptwriting. Russell also hosted a discussion with the acts and the audience at the end of the evenings.

“It’s been a fantastic opportunity to organise this festival for my fellow students” he said. “There’s been a lot of exciting work and it’s been important to ensure that the festival reflected this. I’ve really enjoyed being able to present the fantastic work that the Performing Arts students’ at Northumbria have created.”

For more information on Performing Arts at Northumbria please visit: