SparkFest is an exciting and dynamic festival by Bath Spa University, promising a fresh look at how early career talent engages with Bath audiences and the region’s artistic and business community.
A four-week celebration of the artistic creative work of students, alumni, staff and our collaborators at Bath Spa School of Music and Performing Arts.
We are dedicated to providing a platform for emerging artists and students to express themselves and engage with our supportive audience. Join us for a performing arts festival filled with theatre, dance and music performances!
SparkFest is programmed and produced by Bath Spa Productions - Bath School of Music and Performing Arts' production house.
We produce and support a range of projects, events and initiatives that profile the creativity and talent of students and staff on all courses in the School; facilitate the application of new skills and knowledge in an industry context; explore Knowledge Transfer partnerships with industry and research professionals as well as arts and business organisations.
SparkFest is the largest project in Bath Spa Productions’ season of work. It is held annually across the months of May and June, and occupies a range of locations across the cultural and heritage city of Bath, as well as offering a platform for digital performance work.
OUR STORY
SparkFest grew out of the need to produce a range of showcase events for original student work across the School of Music and Performing Arts at Bath Spa University.
Its roots come from a traditional Fringe model, with the first festival being part of Bath Fringe in 2015, but as yet was not known by the title SparkFest. Each year saw the festival grow in size through the explosion of creative work that came from the School and growing audience engagement, until in 2018 the festival was partnered by Bath Festival and SparkFest was launched.
Since then, SparkFest has continued to develop and grow its activity. In 2020 the Covid pandemic cancelled our scheduled live festival, however, all adversity is an opportunity, so we adapted and delivered a digital festival to continue to celebrate the talent and creativity of our School’s work. This digital festival is now a developing feature of SparkFest and 2021 saw the first festival to include both digital and live performances.
OUR TEAM
SparkFest is programmed and managed by Bath Spa Productions Creative Producer Kerry Irvine and Assistant Producer Sam De La Torre. To deliver SparkFest, both producers work closely with a core team of marketing and content capture specialists as well as a pool of creatives, production managers and technicians.
SparkFest gives opportunities for employment for many of our graduates, often supporting their ongoing professional and career development. Therefore all these roles are filled by alumni of Bath Spa University.
Sam De La Torre
Assistant Producer
Louis Green
Graduate Content Producer
Phoebe Graham-Dobrowolny
Associate Producer
Niklas Aarre
Marketing
PREVIOUS ALUMNI
Throughout the years of SparkFest, various alumni have worked with the core team, and have helped shape SparkFest into the wonderfully creative and exciting festival that it is now. We thank you all for your work on the festival, and would like to give a specific mention to the following people for their support over the years:
Hannah Blair - Associate Producer
Kirsty Milne - Production Manager
Nigel Fryatt - Marketing
Matthew Clayton - Technical Support
Nicole Roper - Stage Manager
Alex Latham - Technician
