A Musical Medley of Culture & Collaboration

At a glance

Chris Mitchell from Clear Sky Studios (and Music Box Productions), attended a Connect Reading networking event, sharing his vision for a festival to showcase Reading’s diverse range of cultures, sounds and tastes. Lorraine introduced him to Molli Cleaver from the University of Reading (UoR). She caught the vision, pushing forward a collaboration with Music Box and Reading  Borough Council. The Reading Global Festival Stage had its first outing at the Reading Waterfest!

Connecting during Covid

After Chris’ initial introduction to Molli, they met and he further outlined the idea behind the Reading Global Festival. Molli shared the University’s ambition of bringing the town and the University closer together. Subsequently, UoR hired Chris to scope the possibility of the festival being held on campus. Sadly, the pandemic was against them, but with continued the support of UoR, Chris #connected with Lucy Daniels at Reading Borough Council. Music Box booked 17 bands for the four stages at Reading Water Fest in June 2021.

In 2022, Lucy at Reading Borough Council re-contacted Chris and invited him to further develop Reading Global Festival. Chris booked all the bands for 2022 , adding an ever wider variety of musical sounds to expand on the rich heritage of Reading’s communities.

The Domino Effect of Connections

• After Reading Waterfest 2021, UoR linked Music Box Productions with their key contact about the development of Shinfield Studios
• That hyper-local connection of Chris (as a Greater Reading resident) means local creative freelancers have a link into the businesses landing at Shinfield Studios, a key link towards local employment for local people
• Chris used his local knowledge of local artists and musicians to ensure that the 2022 festival showcased even more diversity, reflecting Reading’s many communities!