Blaze Festival 2012 was an explosive new festival of music, performance and urban art, programmed by a team of ambitious and creative young producers aged 16 to 21 from across the North West in a regional co-production between Blaze and Brighter Sound for WE PLAY Expo, the North West’s closing event for London 2012 at Preston Guild. The event was Livestreamed via the We Play Expo channel. The 2012 Blaze Festival featured work from local and global artists across three stages with headliners Kid British, Skittles Live Band, Riot Jazz, Strategy (Broke ‘n’ £nglish) and Natives. Programme and Event info: Saturday kicked off with an urban theme as Spearfish presented Urban Culture Jam: live demos and workshops in free running, skate boarding,  graffiti art and urban dance.  Young producers from Clayton-le-Moors presented the premiere of The Chase and Fallacy hosted live performances from emerging local bands.  Under the Town presented Fashion Off – accessories and outfits created and styled by young people from Blackpool – and Move Off – a performance piece that combined sport and dance, choreographed by Sarah Jane Lockwood.  Moradokmai Theatre Community from Thailand presented their brand new contemporary musical ‘Daddy! Is That You?’ followed by a participatory workshop. The urban culture theme continued into the evening with Estate Recordings, bringing Skittles and Strategy from Broke ‘n’ £nglish to the stage plus an exclusive screening of Bassweight – the History of Dubstep. Sunday’s flavour was eclectic, with Bandstand Marathon bringing together musicians from across the North West, featuring The Riot Jazz Brass Band, Get Up Stand Up, and our very own unique hip-hop/jazz collective the Boom Bike Big Band. Boxing met music, dance and film in the premiere of Punchline, plus we had a special presentation of Handbag, a celebratory gem of a performance directed by Geraldine Pilgrim.   Headliners on Sunday evening were Kid British, fresh from supporting The Stone Roses in Heaton Park, plus Natives a five piece rock band who burst onto the UK rock scene in early 2012, and The Colours, an up and coming new band from Blackpool. Throughout the weekend visitors relaxed to chilled out beats and acoustic sets in the Blaze Lounge, where Blaze Bloggers were in conversation with artists and performers and people joined in online as part of #media2012. There were visual art activities to inspire and delight, including ‘Sit and Knit’ and extraordinary hair art from Osadia. Plus Street Quest offered the chance to take part in a new interactive street game around Preston as adventurous folk became time travelers for the day. Download the Festival Flyer!