Blog

Royal College Manchester students celebrated the end of the academic year in style at Shellstock 2015, with a day dedicated to art, music and working together. Students and staff worked together to decorate the archway, trees and festival area with ribbon streamers which blew merrily in the wind, and student festival-goers experimented with streamers, flowers and decorative hats to keep that party atmosphere going! Several small tents were also put up, giving students a quiet place and adding to the festival look – even if we weren’t going to keep the party going all night!

Canvases hung up between trees, and an old tree stump with an interesting texture, were installed for the student art project. Robyn was inspired by the tents, streamers and the bright colours of the festival decorations, as students added to the paintings throughout the festival, creating some truly collaborative and original artwork.

Attending the Forest School classes meant some students could show off their skills by the small campfire, and the toasted marshmallows went down brilliantly. Catherine was also working with other students as part of the festival crew, who made sure that the day ran smoothly. Their hard work behind the scenes made for a fantastic Shellstock, so a huge thank you to all our festival crew!

Of course, no festival would be complete without their performers – the college rock band, Shellshock, delighted their fans at the main stage (actually just one of the bigger tents), and musical instruments were passed out through the crowd for everyone to join in. Mickie, pictured using the diabolo, was eager to demonstrate his circus skills as well, and other students had a great time exploring the equipment and practicing their juggling skills to wow the spectators.

Seashell Trust’s CEO was even spotted joining in the festivities! Mark Geraghty kindly volunteered to man the Shellstock Seashell stocks, letting students (and the occasional member of staff…) take turns to pelt him with wet sponges, and was joined by other staff members and a few students looking to cool down. Now, that smells like team spirit!