First Fortnight Festival 2013

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First Fortnight is an arts-based mental health awareness project centered around an arts festival that happens in the first two weeks of every year. 2013 will be our fourth year of operating, and our second year as a full-blown mixed-arts festival.

First Fortnight is unique in its approach to challenging the stigma surrounding mental ill health and those affected by it. First Fortnight has made mental health synonymous with the first two weeks of every year producing events that include Music, Film, Visual Arts, Poetry, Theatre and Talk events.

Following from the success of First Fortnight 2012 we aim to deliver an even bigger and better festival in January 2013. The festival will be comprise of a packed 2 week programme consisting of theatre, visual arts, film, poetry, music, discussion and more. The content for each of these art forms will be selected both on its artistic merits and its ability to help explore the difficulties and stigma that surround mental health problems in modern society.

First Fortnight is run by a small group of volunteers who work every spare moment we have to make this project happen because we believe passionately in it. We gain nothing but the satisfaction of knowing we can deliver something that we believe helps to inspire engagement with a crucially important issue. Although we receive an amazing amount of support from artists, venues and volunteers, there are considerable costs to be covered when running a project like this. The immense generosity shown by Fund it users last year gave us an amazing boost (both to our finances and our confidence about the project) and we hope that your continued generosity will help make First Fortnight 2013 not just possible, but bigger and better than ever. Funds raised through Fund it will help us to cover many of these costs. Venues need to be paid for, artists’ expenses need to be covered (although they all perform for free, some expenses are unavoidable), programmes need to be printed, mailers sent out, posters printed and distributed, advertising and media coverage needs to be secured... The list goes on. The generosity shown by artists, venues and other supporters is astonishing, but there are still a lot of costs to be covered. Even the smallest donation through this Fund It campaign would make a massive difference to our ability to deliver.

2012 has also seen First Fortnight move into courageous new territory having made the first steps in developing a national center for creative therapies by hiring two Art Psychotherapists to work with individuals affected by homelessness and mental health problems. With such a bold leaps forward First Fortnight needs your support now more than ever before.

We have been lucky enough to receive some amazing support for our Fund it rewards, and every donation will receive a gift as a token of our appreciation. You can see a list of these rewards below.