Artists, musicians, photographers, writers and film-makers have all come together to start turning the idea of having an Epsom arts festival into reality.

More than 30 creative minds attended the first brainstorming session at Bourne Hall in Ewell Village on Tuesday evening.

Artist Sarah Dewing, who started calls for an arts festival in the Epsom Guardian, said it was “really quite amazing” to have so many people present and many others also giving their support.

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Opening the meeting, Ms Dewing said: “There’s got to be a lot of people who would like to be involved in this.

“We have a lot of potential in Epsom, but there’s not the focus in terms of arts, other than the Epsom Playhouse. It would be really nice if we could do something about that.”

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Paul Taylor, who co-organised the meeting and runs community Facebook page What’s On In Epsom, suggested the idea of a week-long festival to coincide with a choral festival next summer.

He said he thinks the council is “on board” in terms of providing venues. But he added: “It’s you guys we want to get on board more. You’re the talented people.

“I want it to be a people’s festival. It’s got to be everyone in the borough enjoying it.”

He said Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom Playhouse, the Ashley Centre, the University for the Creative Arts and Nescot college have all expressed support, although none of them could make the meeting.

Film-maker Adam Plowden suggested a fashion show and a battle of the bands, adding creative arts also span into programming and web design.

He said: “By hosting exhibitions, workshops and showcases, that’s a way to bring them all together.”

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Art teacher Ruth Shepherd said it would be good to find ways to involve the elderly in the arts festival as well as schools.

She said: “It’s easier to involve children in many ways, but this community does have a massive divide.”

Lucy Oulton, who is interested in the literary side of life, told the meeting: “We have to be careful we don’t have a brick wall around our community. We want people to come from outside.”

After the session, she said: “I think the town could do with celebrating its arts. It would be great to put Epsom on the map.”

The next step is to form a committee.

Your Local Guardian:

Sarah Dewing

Councillor Clive Woodbridge, chairman of the Residents’ Associations group on Epsom, said: “The idea of an arts festival is an excellent one in principle and I am sure the council would like to be as supportive as it can be.

"We look forward to hearing more about the plans and I will be discussing potential involvement with my fellow councillors over the coming months. 

“However, we have to accept that our resources are limited and so direct financial support is unlikely at this stage.”

If you would like to take part email epsom@whatsoninmytown.com and s.dewing@ntlworld.com