NEWS: Spread your wings with Festival of Flying free origami butterfly workshop on Castle Vale

Words by Ed King

People across Castle Vale and Erdington are being invited to spread their wings at a free origami workshop today, making special commemorative butterflies as part of the ongoing Festival of Flying project.

Held at Greenwood Academy on Sunday 4 September, running from 10am to 4pm, the origami workshop will be a fun and family friendly activity – exploring the ancient Japanese tradition of paper folding.

Hundreds of beautiful butterflies will be made to help decorate the event in Castle Vale on Saturday 10 September – as part of the culmination of the Festival of Flying project, which will showcase stories and the talent of the Vale.

There will also be a special performance of Taking Flight – a new theatre show from the world renowned High Sprung Performance company, featuring professional and community cast.

Open to people of all ages, the Festival of Flying origami workshop is completely free to attend with no art and craft experience necessary – simply come to Greenwood Academy between 10am and 4pm on Sunday 4 September. There are also pop-up workshops across the week with full details on the website.

Castle Vale and Erdington locals can also make their own butterflies at home, to be featured in the Festival of Flying on Castle Vale on 10 September – just follow the step-by-step instructions featured in the article, or on the Active Arts website.

The ‘butterfly’ is a central theme in the Festival of Flying, being used as a symbol of inspiration and showing people the impact small actions – such as a butterfly beating its wings – can have across a wider community and even the world.

Following on from The Butterfly Effect in 2015, which spurned a series of local arts and community projects across Castle Vale, the butterfly origami workshop and Festival of Flying are a unique blend of art and engineering experiences – celebrating the ingenuity and history of the North Birmingham estate and showing local residents the sky is literally the limit for their ambitions.

Led by Active Arts, Festival of Flying Project Director, Claire Marshall, told Erdington Local: “We hope as many people as possible can join us at Greenwood Academy on Sunday 4 September – helping us to make the hundreds of butterflies we need for the finale event.

“Castle Vale is full of creative, talented, and ambitious people, and the Festival of Flying is a chance for us to show the world what is possible from people on the estate – with the butterfly representing the chance for people to spread their wings and fly.

“In an area famous for the Spitfire plane, we want to spark new creative ideas and engineering ambition from people on Castle Vale – and show both them and the wider world the difference their dreams can make.

“The origami workshop will be a lot of fun, and something both individuals and families can get involved in and enjoy – helping us decorate a day packed with performance as the Festival of Flying celebrates its final day.

“We hope to see as many people as possible join us for both the origami workshop at Greenwood Academy on Sunday 4 September – and the big public event on Saturday, 10 September.”

The Festival of Flying is also looking for local artists, performers, and volunteers to take part in the Castle Park event on Saturday 10 September – anyone interested in knowing more should contact Active Arts via the email below.

The Festival of Flying is led by Active Arts and presented as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.

To get involved in The Festival of Flying, email Active Arts Project Director Claire Marshall on [email protected]