17 February - Calling all musicians ...

Calling all musicians - get played on the big screen!

The Movie Bus is going on tour here on your doorstep, as part of the North Devon Festival. The bus is a unique 1967 mobile cinema, a retro-futuristic vehicle which is going to be screening a series of archive films of the local area. Boring old archive films? Think again!

So far the project has uncovered some rare and exciting footage, such as the Lynmouth Lifeboat day in the 1930’s - back when the lifeboat still had sails, and the boys would compete to stay dry while throwing soot and flour bombs from the unstable footholds of rowing boats. Can you imagine what Barnstaple Carnival and Old Fair was like in 1935? In the tradition of local celebration (and we’ve long known how to celebrate up here in North Devon), this and a whole host of other events from our past are being edited into a film about our local festivity heritage which will be launched as part of the North Devon Festival.

This film is one of eight compilations that will be a mixture of footage with and without sound, and the project is looking for contributors to a musical soundtrack for each film, which will help to tell the story and provide a cohesive link between the scenes.

Instrumental music would be particularly suitable, but whatever it is you play or sing, get involved and you might just find yourself in a very unusual cinema this summer with the surround sound system playing your tunes!

In the spirit of the Festival, which hosts events across the whole of our rural idyll from coastline to moors, the bus will roam the local area and visit communities far and wide. If you're trying to get your music out there and heard, then this could be a great opportunity to get your work on the big screen.

The bus will continue to tour after the Festival flags and streamers have been packed away for another year, screening these films at schools and community events, so your music might just reach that extra audience you’ve been looking for. For more information, see www.moviebus.org.uk or contact Emma Giffard on 01271
346747 or emma.giffard@northdevon.gov.uk .

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