INCFEST

INCFest is our annual inclusive music festival, giving the chance for young disabled people in Gloucestershire to shine. 

INCFest has been running for over a decade now and growing from strength to strength.  The vision is simple: An evening of music where all of the special schools in the county come together and share their music with a packed theatre audience.  

“I have seen pupils who will not speak or take part in activities at school stand up at the front of the stage and play an instrument. Then when parents come to watch the concert, they cannot believe their child has had the courage to take part and are often brought to tears as they are so proud of what their child can do.”

About the festival

Each September, the year-long journey to realise the concert begins . In the autumn we ask the schools and their pupils to choose the songs for the performance, and work with the schools to discuss how we can put on a fully inclusive show. By December, The Music Works leaders will have created a digital songbook with learning materials for the year, including signing videos, audio and lyrics to learn from. 

From January, rehearsals begin, taking over dinner halls and classrooms for whole mornings at a time, introducing the songs & signing and evolving the repertoire based on the the enthusiasm and ideas of the young people. In June, after a year of hard work, more than 100 young people from 8 schools take to the stage with professional musicians and their teachers, to sing, play and amaze a sell-out crowd.

The schools then continue to teach the songs and we provide the any additional support needed to allow the students to find their voices, to overcome whatever barriers they face and be included in something truly spectacular.