GALLERY: Lismore Youth Week highlights young-gun talents

‘They’ve had their youth ripped away from them’: Why holiday fun workshops are giving youth a ‘crucial’ opportunity.

Maeve Genders and Lillybel Wolf hang out at The Lismore Quad.

The heart of Lismore has come alive with tunes, art and skating – all in the name of bolstering young creatives.

The Lismore Youth Festival was held over April 14,15 and 16 with a “diverse” kids friendly program designed to reinvigorate the youth art scene, according to Lismore Quad Placemaking Officer Marissa Snow.

She said the three-day festival was “crucial”.

“The backstory to this event is to provide a platform for young people to make work in the arts but also to empower them,” she said.

“It allow chances for young musicians to play because there’s really not many platforms for young people to perform or showcase any work.”

Anemoi and Nuwire perform at 2021 Lismore Youth Week.

With nearly all workshops booked out, Ms Snow said the community had jumped at the return of arts programming across the Northern Rivers.

“The response has been a lot of excitement from people to come together again to play music, hang out and upskill,” she said.

“ I think particularly for this demographic it’s been a really tough year and they’ve sort of had their youth ripped away from them.

“We were happy to support them and ease them back into it.”

Apart from exciting classes in manga, graffiti, claymation and more, the youth week activities had also given kids a chance to further their artistic ambitions with practical workshops in creative grants funding.

“We get asked all the time about grants writing by young people getting into the arts,” Ms Snow said.

“It really is a two-tier approach.”

GALLERY: Lismore Youth Week highlights young-gun talents