The Big Draw Festival returned to our Hitchin campus during half term!
This was the third year that North Hertfordshire College has hosted the event. The Big Draw Festival brings the local community together and celebrates the transformative power of art to develop creativity and inspire.
North Hertfordshire College’s Big Draw Festival delivered an immersive experience, offering a diverse range of creative activities aligning with this year’s national theme of ‘Drawn Together’. All activities were led by volunteer students from the College’s Creative Industries, Travel & Tourism, Early Years and Hospitality & Catering departments.
This year the festival included mask making, face painting, chalk drawing, VR headset experiences, gingerbread decorating, and the opportunity to decorate a sustainable ‘Happy Town’ from re-used cardboard boxes.
The event also hosted Coding with the Library Service as well as Exploring with the local Museum Service. What If Craftivists also joined us to help guests use art to understand their role in supporting our environment.
It was a big hit with our young visitors, who enjoyed the variety of activities on offer at the free event. Some of the children in attendance told us:
“The gingerbread was so fun. Sprinkles were yummy!”
“Got to try a VR headset and robot coding, so cool!”
One parent said: “My daughter loved gingerbread making, art from the museum and also decorating masks and creating sustainability houses. She didn’t want to go home!”
Another added: “What a beautiful thing for the community!”
This year was the biggest Big Draw Festival that North Hertfordshire College has hosted. Over 380 visitors joined the event, creating over 200 gingerbread designs, loads of masks and flags and a giant collaborative cardboard town which will be on display at the Hitchin Campus. Plans are now in motion for next year’s event, which aims to be even bigger!
Melissa Caneppele, Schools and Community Engagement Executive at North Hertfordshire College, said: “It was amazing to see so many families enjoying the event, there was a real buzz of activity as our students led creative activities. We are really proud of the effort of our students from across curriculums – it was great to see our students engaging so wonderfully with the public and gaining real life work experience here at college, looking forward to running the event again next year!”
Here’s to next year’s event!