15.39°C The Colchester Arts Centre’s Youth Board has organised a new music event on Saturday 8th November, featuring some of the most popular and emerging young bands in Colchester, to generate funds for the Mayor’s charities.
The Board is made up of young people from the Sixth Form College Colchester and the Colchester Institute, who previously ran a successful music event, Mixed Frequencies, earlier this year, which was attended by over 250 people.
The second instalment of this new platform for local musical talent is called Mixed Frequencies II, and the Youth Board is proud of the gig’s tagline: “For Young People, By Young People.”
The headline bands at the event will be: Josef Harley, Pulse, KinoZolte, Syncopate and The Enquiries. These artists already have strong followings on Social Media and have released successful songs on Spotify.
Vijay Patel, an Associate Director at the Colchester Arts Centre, founded the Youth Board in 2024 and leads the programme. He said: “We’re pleased to be delivering our Youth Board’s second gig at the Arts Centre, plus continue our efforts to support youth arts and cultural engagement across the city.
“One of the driving forces behind us setting up this programme is the desire to establish a team of talented young people who can help us shape events for their peers, so it feels relevant to their demographic.
“The Youth Board gets involved with so many aspects of our organisation, including board meetings, event planning, youth engagement and marketing strategies. They’re a super talented group! They have all worked so hard to pull this event together, and we hope it will raise a substantial contribution for the Mayor’s charities.
“I’d like to thank the Mayor’s charities, the bands who will perform, MP Pam Cox and the Mayor for their support.”
The chosen charities for this year by The Mayor and Mayoress of Colchester, Councillor Michael Lilley and Alderman Lyn Barton, are: Open Road, The Underdog Crew, Level Best Enterprises, The Not Forgotten and the Colchester Foodbank.
Mike will speak at the event, alongside Colchester’s MP Pam Cox. The aim for his term in office is to encourage good health, well-being and happiness throughout Colchester, so he is very pleased this gig has been arranged to bring so much joy to young people in the area.
“When I knew I was going to be Mayor, I felt strongly about giving a chance for young people to perform and show off their musical talent in our wonderful city. This event epitomises that. I know some of these young people are good enough to make a career as musicians.
“So, I want to thank the Arts Centre for giving them a chance to shine. I’m also particularly delighted because they will be doing it to raise money for my charities, which do a great job in the city.”
Danny Nevill, who is the CEO of Colchester website company Universal Web Design, has also agreed to be the headline sponsor of the event. He said he is a big believer in supporting creativity and young musical talent in the city.
“We decided to sponsor this event and support the Mayor’s charities, as well as the young musicians, because we think it’s vitally important these talented youngsters have a platform to show the world what they can do.
“We also aim to give the Youth Board and other young people who are involved with the gig – either behind the scenes, or as audience members – opportunities for work experience at our company.
“As a successful millionaire businessman, with over 3,000 clients, I want to share our successes with these young people and give them a chance of a better future, as we know it’s tough out there.”
Esme Appleyard, who is a member of the Youth Board, is excited about the team’s three months of planning coming together to put on a night of entertainment for all involved.
“The main thing is for everyone to have a good time and feel fully entertained. Yes, we have worked hard to make it happen, but it has to be a joyous and fun occasion, as that’s what a lot of young people need right now.
“One night of escapism, like we are planning on Saturday, can have a long-lasting impact on the well-being of a lot of young people. So, we need more events like this in our city, and we are very grateful that the Arts Centre has given us the opportunity to pull it together.”
You can book tickets for Mixed Frequencies II here.
Colchester Arts Centre Youth Board members, Annalese Massey, Esme Appleyard, Ferne Weaver, Patricia Cotleau
