It’s back! Electric Medway is returning on 21-30 August 2021.

Building on the huge success we had in our first year, we are thrilled to be presenting an ambitious arts programme that will exist in different spaces, tell new stories and nurture digital creativity. 

Sign up to our newsletter and follow our socials to be the first to hear about our planned events and artist opportunities.

For the full programme of events, visit the Electric Medway festival website

Production team

Kevin Grist

Co-Curator​
​Kevin is a digital composer working with experimental music and recorded sound as a tool to tell contemporary stories. He is also Co-Director of SparkedEcho.

Janet Moore

Co-Curator​
​Janet is a practising visual artist and specialises in the use of colour, light and projection. She is also Co-Director of SparkedEcho.

Isabel Jaques

Arts Administrator
Isabel is a musician and digital composer, working within video game and film. 

2021: Synchronised

Synchronised is this year’s creative focus for the festival. Artists will be making digital work that explores how people, over the years, have built order in their lives at times of chaos. They will be telling stories we can all relate to; of life moving in, and out, of sync.

We will focus on these ideas:
- Repeated rituals - pattern, routine, reprogrammed behaviour
- Collective action - shared recovery, civic duty
- Disrupted reality - truth-telling, awake to injustice.

Synchronised is curated by Kevin Grist and Janet Moore of SparkedEcho. This is the second edition of Electric Medway.

Feedback from last year

/
Company

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Electric Medway celebrated how our digital worlds have grown and how creativity is an essential
part of our communities. I am particularly delighted that as part of our commitment to providing
Medway’s children and young people with opportunities, that Electric Medway specifically supported
young people with paid festival jobs and mentoring to develop their creative careers.

​

Cllr Alan Jarrett, Leader of Medway Council

Emily Peasgood
/
Composer

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
“It was great to be a part of Electric Medway. I enjoyed seeing different pieces of art coming
together. It was amazing to see its first year and picture how large the event could be! It was a great
opportunity for me to add to my CV and it was a lovely opportunity to network and make new connections with others in the arts.”

​

Lydia Bentley, Volunteer

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
“Electric Medway was a timely and positive event for Medway, both participating artists and audience.
It was a much needed focus for artists to present work publicly as well as to feel part of & connected to something wider. It felt very inclusive in a fresh way for the area. It clearly valued the strength, diversity and quality of artists work in Medway and Kent.”

Jane Pitt, Artist

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Electric Medway has been my first ever paid job, it has made me much more confident in my work, and has given me the experience of working with a range of different people. I had a fantastic time working with Electric Medway, it has been an amazing experience and a big thank you to the festival for giving me this opportunity.

​

Bracken Hake, Photographer

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
I enjoyed my short time volunteering and met some great people also kindly giving their time so others can enjoy the festival. As this has been an unusual year I think the festival gave people a real boost and was something they could either enjoy online or interact with at the venues and took their minds off current difficulties. I will look forward to any plans for another festival next year

Lesley Pick, Volunteer Steward

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
"I got to test co-creation by inviting the audience to choose where they wanted sky footage taken. I’m from Medway but not really exhibited in Medway so it raised my profile locally"
"I developed tech skills in visual effects, video, using a green screen. First time I’ve been part of a festival"
​"It was great for a young musician to be included in a programme of dynamic artists"
​

Artists' feedback

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
The whole festival was a great experience! I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely plan to come to Medway next year to see and participate in the live events. It was a wonderful thing to do and very reflective - it was a really nice way to help out! Thank you for putting on something so lovely and wholesome yet extremely engaging and captivating!
​
​

Samuel D. Loveless, Online Volunteer

/

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

Electric Medway is supported by Medway Council and
​Co-commissioned by Creative Estuary.

​A special thanks to Kent Community Foundation, The Dulverton Trust and Tesco Bags of Help.