WonderGround festival for Lincoln’s unsung creatives starts this week

By Amelia Cosgrove

 

Every city has two cultural versions of itself and Lincoln is no different.

There’s the city that visitors see - the cathedral, the castle, and the cobbled streets. 

Then there’s another side that even local people don’t always see.

The art made on bedroom floors. 

The poetry written in a haze on the way home from their 9-5. 

The dancers, the makers, the musicians. 

In Lincoln that second city is about to surface. 

WonderGround – a LocalMotion Lincoln Project – is a week-long celebration of culture and creativity running from May 21 - 27

Every creative in its programme lives and creates in Lincoln. 

This is not a festival that has been brought to the city - it has grown out of it.

 

The Person Behind It All

Georgia Preece (pictured above) - artist, poet, writer, facilitator, researcher, community collaborator, and producer of WonderGround has been a part of the city’s creative scene since she arrived as a University of Lincoln student in 2014.

Georgia stayed in the city drawn in by the community she found here, channelling her own personal experiences into poetry, building a practice she describes as sitting at the intersection of research and activism.

Over recent months, Georgia has been having conversations across the city. 

Not about CVs or credentials, but about the real stuff, what people do when they’re not at work and they do for themselves. 

The same theme kept surfacing - extraordinary creative talent, going under the radar. 

So, Georgia took action.

Attending events and workshops across Lincoln, head hunting through having real conversations about not what someone does for work, but for who they are outside of their traditional 9-5.

And from those conversations, the festival found its people.

Building a festival around people with day jobs came with its own particular rhythms. Georgia can't reach her contributors during working hours - which means the organising happens in the gaps: evenings, weekends, the spaces in between. Rewarding, she says. But relentless. She never truly switches off from it. But then, passion doesn't clock off at five pm.

 

Why WonderGround?

The name came out of a workshop at the Usher Gallery. 

The group wanted something that captured the spirit of the festival lineup, and as Preece admitted ‘underground felt a bit too edgy for Lincoln’.

Someone landed on ‘wonder’, rooted in the idea that some of the most extraordinary things are usually found beneath the surface – and so from here, WonderGround was born.

 

The Lineup 

 Opening Night Celebration at The Blue Room 

Thursday, May 21, 6-8pm, free – booking essential. 

Tickets via the link WonderGround’s Instagram bio. Paid parking available nearby.

Live music, poetry. Consider this your invitation to show up, be creative, and celebrate the people who made this week happen. 

  

Live Music on City Square – featuring The Star Family Duo

Friday Saturday May 22-23, 12-7pm. 

Two full afternoons of live music on City Square - Lincoln's talent, out in the open where it belongs. Among the performers is The Star Family Duo, active musicians and volunteers at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Lincoln. Exactly the kind of act WonderGround was made for.

 

Slam Poetry at the Green Room, Lincoln Hotel 

Friday, May 22, 7-11pm.

Three poems, one stage, and a room that's ready for you. Dedicated to poet, writer and former Hykeham Town Football Club manager, Steve Cawte.

 

Emerging Creatives Makers Market, Cornhill Market, Lincoln

Saturday, May 23, 10am onwards

Immerse yourself in the company of Lincoln’s emerging creatives, including Jury of Bees (artwork below)

 Art-chitecture Exhibition & Origami Making Workshop

Sunday, May 24, 2–5pm, The Terrace, Lincoln

Pouya Nasr's MA thesis project asks what a workplace might look like if it was actually designed with people in mind - inclusive, ADHD-friendly, and long overdue. Pair that with an origami workshop and you've got an afternoon with the theme of taking a flat surface and folding it into something extraordinary.

 Parkour on Cornhill 

Tuesday, May 25, 11am–3.30pm, Cornhill, Lincoln

Staged by the YMCA (bottom picture) – you can find out more at the post choregraphed performance workshop.

 Campfire Circle 

Tuesday, May 26 5.30–7.30pm, Mint Lane Café, Lincoln

The campfire, an indoor gathering for those who want to share their own story or simply sit and listen, this cosy, ‘open-hearts night’ welcomes everyone. 

 

Sunset Boogie 

Wednesday, May 27, 6.30–8.30pm, South Common, Lincoln.

£12 per person, booking essential.

South Common at golden hour (pictured below) with wireless headsets pumping ecstatic rhythms directly into your ears while you dance completely free in the open air. Let your body do the talking.

 

Macramé with Mini Me 

Wednesday, May 27, 10.30–11.30am, Cornhill Market.

£10 per pair (one adult + one child). Suitable for ages 7+. All materials included.

A relaxed, friendly macramé session designed for you and your mini you to create side by side. Something a little different for half term.

 

Macramé Wall Hanging Workshop 

Wednesday, May 27, 12.30–1.50pm, Cornhill Market.

£15 per person. Suitable for ages 9+. All materials included. Under-18s must be accompanied by an adult