Hi, I’m Matilda, a Young Advocate at Birmingham Hippodrome, and this year I applied for a placement supporting Birmingham Weekender, a family-friendly festival celebrating culture and creativity.

Young Advocates are a group of 14-22-year-olds who work with the Hippodrome to ensure young people’s voices are heard in the theatre industry.  Through the group, I was offered the opportunity to apply for a paid placement within various departments for Birmingham Weekender, and I chose to apply for the marketing assistant placement.

After a day of introductions, tours and settling in, the real work began. Ahead of the festival, a lot of planning and research was required. As a marketing assistant, I spent time researching current trends to increase audience engagement, took a deep dive into Instagram to get a sense of the Hippodrome’s brand identity, and created a schedule for the Hippodrome Instagram takeover, which I was organising. One particular experience I enjoyed most leading up to the festival was the opportunity to shadow Holly, the Hippodrome Produced Communications Manager, at BBC WM for a radio interview with Annalise McIntyre, Associate Producer at Autin Dance Theatre about their involvement in the festival – exciting!

On Saturday, the festival began! I worked alongside Annabel, the Creative Partnerships Co-ordinator, and two other Young Advocates, Harvey and Ava. Reflecting on my time at the festival, I couldn’t have wished for a better team to work with. The first day l was spent capturing footage of the plethora of performances and events taking place. We also got the opportunity to interview some artists, including members of Marshon Dance Company, Birmingham Poet Laureate Ayan Ayden, local graduate artist Layla Sadiq, and other Young Advocates on placement. On Sunday, the Young Advocates Takeover of the Hippodrome’s Instagram channel arrived! Much of the day was spent in the office editing footage from the previous day and posting content onto the Hippodrome’s Instagram story. Don’t be fooled, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds! This was our only day to post content, and following a mishap with microphones towards the end of the day, we frantically rushed across the city to re-record a tour of our Access Hub. But not to worry – all was recorded, edited and posted in time, and many laughs were had!

As I write this blog and reflect on my time on this placement, I truly can only say good things. Experiencing the festival as someone working instead of spectating, (I even got my own t-shirt and a lanyard!) it couldn’t have been more fun, rewarding, and chaotic (in a good way, I promise!). Being able to contribute to the festival in a professional capacity with people I   worked well with and had fun with, whilst having a brilliant time, really has been a memorable and enjoyable experience.

Thank you so much to everyone involved who helped make this experience so unique, entertaining, and lively. And in the words of Annabel Cook: “that’s so fine”. Special shoutout to Harvey and Ava for putting up with Annabel and I repeating “that’s so fine” at any available opportunity!