GIFT is an artist-led festival celebrating contemporary theatre that takes place in & around Gateshead, connecting the culturally regenerated Gateshead Quayside with the commercially redeveloped town centre.

Founded in 2011 to address a specific gap in the cultural offer, GIFT brings artists & audiences together in a unique festival setting encouraging dialogue and exchange. GIFT presents performances you couldn't see anywhere else in the region & strives to offer professional development for artists & to develop criticality & risk taking among audiences.

An explosive line up of events is in place for GIFT 2017, but we urgently need more support in order to make it all happen.

"GIFT is such a good thing for Gateshead" (Audience)

GIFT’s offer in the region is unique.

There is no venue in North East England dedicated to presenting experimental theatre & performance, nor is there another festival that places artists at its core in the way that GIFT does. GIFT’s contribution is distinctive & vital for maintaining & retaining a vibrant, energised community of artists in the area & for satisfying adventurous audiences.

Over the last 3 years, in an increasingly difficult funding climate, GIFT has struggled to secure sufficient funding to realise a full festival, but by hosting hugely popular one-off events, GIFT has demonstrated that demand remains.

This year GIFT is running from 28th – 30th April across Gateshead's streets & venues & will welcome some of the most exciting artists from across the UK & Europe to perform alongside the most distinctive theatre makers in the North East.

However in order to make this happen, we desperately need to raise additional funding...quickly!

We aim to raise £2000 towards making this brilliant event part of our cultural calendar again, so please, give whatever #giftforGIFT you can & we look forward to welcoming you to #GIFT2017.

www.giftfestival.co.uk
https://vimeo.com/album/3515158