Mortal Fools covers Hadrian's Wall heritage in Fools Fest: Tyne Valley

Fools Fest: Tyne Valley was an evening of performance and revelry, staged on Saturday, December 10.

The festival was attended by 130 people (Image: Mortal Fools)

Tyne Valley young people worked with theatre, drama and creative learning company Mortal Fools to theme the event around pagan Roman festival Saturnalia's tradition of role reversal.

Young people hosted the event (Image: Mortal Fools)

The sold-out festival held at Highfield Middle School in Prudhoe brought together 130 people celebrating creativity, heritage and fun.

The festival incorporated music and performance (Image: Mortal Fools)

Various mini performances co-created with artists were showcased, performed by Tyne Valley young people through theatre, film, improvisation and music.

Fools Fest: Tyne Valley was a sell-out show (Image: Mortal Fools)

Saturnalia was well-known for role reversal. The social and worker hierarchy was swapped, as servants became kings for the day and entered spaces they wouldn't normally be in, in an entertaining way. 

Young people shared their opinions on heritage (Image: Mortal Fools)

Where adults often get the chance to speak and take up space and young people don't, at Fools Fest young people fronted the festival, hosting and curating the festival's content.

Performances were at Highfield Middle School (Image: Mortal Fools)

Young people helped write the funding bid, shared thoughts on Hadrian's Wall and what it means to them and created performance content shared on the night. They contibuted to design work, curated audience experience and designed pre-event activities.

Audiences at Fools Fest (Image: Mortal Fools)

The festival explored Hadrian's Wall from the perspectives of young people living along it. The festival celebrated Hadrian's Wall from: 

The perspective of four unlikely insect friends living at Hadrian's Wall.

Perspectives of Northumberland villagers discovering a time-travel telephone enabling a community to jump to moments of history, the present and future, connected to the Wall.

Perspectives of the present Tyne Valley community and people along Hadrian's Wall.

Young people's perspectives were shared in the festival (Image: Mortal Fools)

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The festival was supported by funding from Community Foundation, National Lottery Community Fund and Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Hadrian's Wall 1900 Community Grants, and made possible with the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Young people involved in the festival (Image: Mortal Fools)

Mortal Fools creative producer, Helen Ferguson, said: "It was fantastic to be a part of the Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival; this commissioned event gave us the opportunity to co-create something really special with children and young people in the Tyne Valley for the community.

Young people involved in the festival (Image: Mortal Fools)

"It enabled Mortal Fools to celebrate Hadrian's Wall rich heritage with a contemporary twist and explored what it means to be a young person growing up along the Wall."