Play as a tool to unlock the imagination
Here is Hope Festival – Creativity, Connection and Reimagining Our Parks
On the weekend of 5th and 6th July 2025, Homestead Park in York came alive with joy, creativity and connection for the Here is Hope Festival – a free weekend of art, music, theatre, talks, and hopeful conversations beneath the trees.
The festival, created in collaboration between Wild Rumpus CIC and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), invited people of all ages to come together to celebrate imagination and collective action. Across two days, the park was filled with live performances, hands-on workshops, nature-based activities, delicious food and a real sense of community spirit.
Bringing Make Space York to the Festival
On Sunday 6th July, I was delighted to bring the Make Space York project to the festival, running a series of interactive, drop-in workshops exploring how we can create more inclusive parks and public spaces – especially for teenage girls and women.
Throughout the day, people joined in to moodboard, make zines, design badges and co-create a manifesto for welcoming, joyful parks. The sessions were a chance to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and imagine how our parks could better reflect the needs and creativity of everyone who uses them.
It was brilliant to see so many people of all ages getting hands-on, expressing their ideas and taking part in conversations about inclusion, safety and play. The energy and imagination people brought to the table showed just how much appetite there is for change – and how creativity can be a powerful tool for reimagining our shared spaces.
Talking About Play and Imagination
I was also invited to join a panel discussion on “Play as a Tool to Unlock Imagination – Who Gets to Play and Imagine?”, alongside Liz Pickering and Mikayla Sinead. The conversation explored the barriers that stop some people – especially girls and women – from fully engaging in playful spaces, and how we can design environments that invite everyone to join in.
It was inspiring to share perspectives, stories and ideas with such thoughtful speakers and an engaged audience. Together we reflected on how play connects to creativity, wellbeing and belonging – and how small shifts in design and culture can open up whole new worlds of possibility.
A Festival of Hope
The Here is Hope Festival truly lived up to its name – a weekend rooted in optimism, imagination and community. From theatre and storytelling to crafts, live music and meaningful conversations, it was a reminder of how powerful it can be when we come together to create and dream.
Being part of this festival and sharing the work of Make Space York in such an open, hopeful environment was an absolute joy. Thank you to everyone who came along, joined in, and helped reimagine what our public spaces could be.
