Almost 1500 people visited Firstsite in Colchester on Sunday 26 September to celebrate its 10th birthday with a huge, free party.
Visitors enjoyed delicious complementary food from a variety of different community group stalls offering cuisine from around the world. Outside the iconic building, a Ferris wheel on the beautiful Berryfield lawn took people for a free leisurely spin in the air, giving them a chance to admire Firstsite, the surrounding gardens and Colchester’s other landmarks. Live music performances took place throughout the day, and inside the building there were free shows to enjoy including the brand-new Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021 exhibition and @background_bob, and his amazing friends – guess who’s back!
Firstsite Director Sally Shaw MBE says “This was an amazing event to celebrate Firstsite, its building, the exhibitions we have staged over the years– and of course a chance to share our recent ‘Museum of the Year’ win with our brilliant community. It was also a chance for everyone to reconnect, relax and just have a really fun day out. There’s so much to celebrate, not only the successes of Firstsite but also the resilience, determination and positivity in our [A group of people standing on a stage Description automatically generated with medium confidence] community – especially over the last 18 months and this was the perfect opportunity to bring everyone together safely to just enjoy socialising in our inspiring building and outside spaces.
It was also a chance for us to say thank you to the community for their support over the years, we are so grateful to all our visitors, funders and supporters, especially during the pandemic when so many generous people gave donations to help us continue our work, even when our building was closed.
There was such an incredible atmosphere throughout our building and on the beautiful Berryfield Lawn where people could enjoy live music, delicious food from our fantastic community partners and take a spin on the Ferris Wheel to enjoy views of Firstsite and Colchester from above – it was wonderful to bring so many people together to enjoy art and food, and to have fun and relax.”
