So often festivals involve importing talent and entertainment into the region but Colchester’s Mercury Theatre want to establish an event this summer which is all about celebrating local creativity.

The Mercury Theatre, in association with the University of Essex, media centre Signals and the Lakeside Theatre are joining forces to launch a new Digital Festival, due to take place over the weekend of August 21-23 2020.

While the Essex based theatre’s doors remain closed, throughout lockdown the Mercury has been continuing to connect with artists and audiences through their Mercury Online digital programme, including workshops and creative opportunities for arts professionals and entertainment for audiences near and far.

The new Mercury Online Festival, due to take place later this summer, provides an exciting opportunity to digitally showcase some of the very best work from creatives from the East of England. This is an incredible opportunity for artists from East Anglia to find innovative ways to platform their work, test ideas, start a debate and get noticed. Audiences for each activity will be asked to make a donation, and all donations will go to the artists involved, further supporting the industry during these challenging times.

Entries to take part in the Mercury Online Festival are now open, with artists invited to respond with digital content, including theatre, children shows, dance and more. The Mercury is looking for work that will be either 2-10 minutes or 30-40 minutes in length. This can be pre-recorded or streamed live through Zoom or another digital format.

Submissions should be in the form of pre-recorded work, scripts with a description of how it will translate to a digital platform, or ideas artists would like to develop. The deadline for submissions is Friday July 3. More information on the festival and application process can be found at the Colchester Mercury website.