Agency Sparks has teamed up with the UK Creative Festival and Creative Circle Awards for the second consecutive year, to support and nurture young talent.
To kick off the festival and showcase the best of local creativity, Sparks will host The Margate Drop with welcome drinks at the Sea Shed on Margate beach tomorrow (July 9) from 3pm-5pm.
The event will feature Thanet artists and youth leaders. There will be ice creams, music from Pie Factory youth organisation alongside the UK Creative Festival’s inaugural sandcastle competition.
An unveiling at The Sea Shed will also feature a striking and thought-provoking mural created by internationally renowned artist and Margate local Louis Michel as part of the ongoing Rise Up Residency programme.
Now in its fourth year, Rise Up Residency brings together artists to tell ocean stories through large-scale public murals across Thanet. This piece confronts the growing crisis of ocean plastic waste, inviting viewers to look closer and reflect.
Louis Michel brings to life the tragic reality of ocean plastics with works showing a seal tangled in ghost nets; a sperm whale trapped inside a plastic bottle and the letters SOS filled with coral reefs and featuring a familiar orange clownfish trapped in a supermarket bag.
The aim is to highlight ghost netting and plastic waste in our seas in a visual call to action.
Louis said: “This mural is designed to spark joy, then reflection, and finally — redemption. It’s about the mess we’ve made, and the chance we still have to fix it.”
In the evening, Sparks will host a drinks reception at No 42’s rooftop bar to celebrate the emerging creatives recognised in this year’s Young Talent Awards with Creative Circle’s trustees and partners.
The UK Creative Festival and the free-to-attend Creative Careers Fair, led by the Creative Foundation, on July 9-10 provides opportunities and guidance to the next generation of talent from all backgrounds.
Students and young creatives get access to leading companies from across the creative industries, including creative agencies, production companies, leading brands, cultural organisations and Higher Education institutions, universities and performing arts schools. We are also pleased to have representatives from local businesses and grassroots institutions attending.
Tickets to the UK Creative Festival can be purchased here and Young Creatives looking can register to attend the event for free here.
On Thursday (July 10) Sparks will host a hands-on workshop at the festival’s free-to-attend creative careers fair, inviting 16–18-year-olds to explore the creative tension between traditional craft and AI.
The agency is also co-hosting the Young Creative Awards winners’ reception and is the headline sponsor of the Events and Experiential category at the Creative Circle awards.
The UK Creative Festival kicks off tomorrow with a series of fringe events across Margate. On July 10 the talks, panels, networking events, the careers fair and the 80th Creative Circle Awards will be held at Dreamland.
What is a “youth leader” exactly?
why does this site keep saying – you have entered the wrong captcha when clearly you have not – i think we know what 8 + 1 is
I’ve had the same problem several times. Kathy?
Sorry, not sure. The sum is to keep spam bots out but I don’t know the nuts and bolts of how it works