Jacksplace throws first festival since lockdown for young adults
Young adults at Jacksplace recently enjoyed their very own festival, called Jestival, alongside friends and family. Jestival is a special event for Jacksplace, which returned for the first time since before the lockdown in 2019!
Local artists, Calum Lintott (from Southampton), Rob Clamp (from Southampton), Helena Mace and Grant James (from Bournemouth) and Maddison Douch (from Winchester) all volunteered their time to play at the festival and spent time afterwards chatting with the young adults and their family and friends.
Carol Ransome, Head of Jacksplace, said:
Today we’ve had our very own festival, Jestival! It’s important that young people with all disabilities have the opportunity to experience what other young people can. It’s very difficult for our young people to access other festivals, and they may not feel confident to do so, so to create a nice, social, safe environment for the young people to have fun, is really important.
A highlight for me today has been having the opportunity to spend some quality time with all the young people and their families and friends, to catch up, have some fun, let our hair down and have a bit of a dance. I’d like to thank everyone that has volunteered; all the singers who gave their time, all the effort and hard work of the wonderful team I work with; the play team, the catering team and the care team, enabling the young people to just enjoy Jestival.
Calum Lintott said:
It’s been a fantastic day. It’s a massive honour and pleasure to be invited to come and play here – it’s such a heart-warming experience to see everyone smiling, dancing, and eating fajitas! The vibe and atmosphere has been lovely – way better than Glastonbury! I really appreciate being asked to come along, thank you.
Two young adults who attended the festival, playfully nicknamed on the day as ‘The Rainbow Girls’ due to their bright and colourful attire, shared their experience of Jestival:
Jestival is a super fun music festival at Jacksplace. It’s been amazing, we’ve loved all of it, particularly the dancing and candy floss! The fajitas and hot dogs were so good! We always love the food here. We love Jacksplace, and we’re so grateful to be involved.
The festival was held in the Jacksplace gardens, featuring a marquee for the live music, decorated in brightly coloured bunting, flowers and decorations, a massage tent, a BBQ hut, a treats station, a face painting station, a bar with playfully named mocktails, a photo booth and outdoor games. The young adults, families and staff alike fully embraced the festival theme; singing, dancing and dressing up for the occasion, with multicoloured costumes, glitter beards, hair flowers and bandanas.
