Many aspects of life in Burnham-On-Sea will be on show this summer when the town centre holds its first Flag Festival.
Burnham-On-Sea artist Juliet Farnese, pictured, who is the artistic lead on the project, has been working with four local schools to create artwork for the flags.
Juliet – who created Burnham’s ‘you are here’ map boards in the town centre last year – says the new project aims to showcase many local groups and make Burnham-On-Sea more colourful and vibrant at the height of the summer season.
The 2016 Flag Festival takes place between Friday 29th July and Monday 5th September.
Burnham’s Town Centre Manager Bev Milner Simonds, who is overseeing the project, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We will be flying 31 new flags for the month, turning the streets into an open-air art gallery.”
“The artistic team have worked with four local schools – Churchfield, St Joseph’s, Burnham Infants and St Andrew’s to develop images that describe what Burnham-on-Sea means to them. We have taken these and created 27 flags with images of Burnham-On-Sea life and 4 that showcase the drawings from the children.”
“The process of making the flags encouraged art making, learning new skills, sharing, enjoyment, and social exchange. This first year has been successful, and if it is repeated I would like to see it involving a wider cross section of the community at workshops to develop more flags.”
Juliet added: “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with the excellent schools and the very wonderful, imaginative children of Burnham-On-Sea & Highbridge.”
“We are lucky to have such amazing young children in our town, and I feel very proud of them.”
“It’s been a lovely job to do and only possible with the expert help of my colleagues, Helen McGinty, Mike Price and Ignite Somerset.”
The team has developed a flag finder trail around Burnham-On-Sea that is available from BiARS, the Post Office, Hurleys Newsagents, the Toycupboard, the Library, banks and many cafes and hairdressers.
