Junction Arts is developing and delivering its first Chesterfield Children’s Festival which will take place at the end of July 2023 at Queen’s Park and in the town centre. The festival is planned to continue in 2024 and 2025, with the aim of becoming a key annual event in the charity and town’s calendar.

The Chesterfield Children’s Festival will be an outstanding festival of arts and culture for children of all ages with themes of childhood and play. The festival will also encompass an outreach element working with schools in Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire District and Bolsover District.

The festival will be a vibrant mix of artforms with performances and activities suitable for children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. This includes all activities and the festival itself being free entry.

Junction Arts wishes to contract an experienced arts evaluator to effectively capture the impact and insights of the event on participants, audiences, partners, Chesterfield and wider North East Derbyshire.

The Evaluator will:

• Work with Junction Arts to devise a methodology to evaluate the Chesterfield Children’s Festival, supporting the collection of quantitative and qualitative data, and SROI
• Observe the outreach activity, attend the festival and talk to attendees, contributors and partners involved in the project.
• Produce a draft and final evaluation report for wide dissemination. The evaluation report should assess how the festival impacts both the town and attendees as well as the local economy. We also want the report to highlight any learning and recommendations for future years.

The ideal candidate will be an experienced evaluator with a good working knowledge of outdoor arts, participatory arts and the wider cultural sector within the UK. They will also be familiar with Arts Council England’s Let’s Create strategy and how Junction Arts sits within the local cultural landscape.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. Please note that the successful applicant will require a DBS background check and to adhere to Junction Arts’ safeguarding policies and procedures.

Total fee inclusive: £4000.00

To apply for the commission please send the following to info@junctionarts.org, please be aware applications are anonymised before shortlisting:

• A cover letter explaining why you are suitable for this commission
• One example of previous evaluation work
• Your CV and contact details
• Confirmation you are available for interview on 25^th April date and for the proposed Chesterfield Children’s Festival on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 July 2023

Timetable

• Deadline Monday 3^rd April 9am
• Interview date 25^th April
• Contract May 2023-August 2023