'Our Woods' is a festival of over 40 exciting, varied events in Corby’s woodlands that have taken place from September 2016 through to May 2017. It is a new and ambitious outdoors arts project inviting people to come together and celebrate the magic of our woodlands through song, dance, light, art, story-telling, walks, talks and so much more.

The classes have been working with local artists John Bell and Iris Bertz for eight weeks to create the wire sculptures for the magical creatures to help make the invisible woodland creatures visible. They worked in teams and researched information on the woodland eco system and creatures found in the woodlands before starting the project.

The artists Iris and John have worked together for fifteen years on many varied projects, they said ‘We have both worked extensively in the UK and abroad helping people to explore their creativity, learn new ways of doing things and make wonderful work with simple materials, colour and light. We have really enjoyed working with everyone on “Deep Roots Tall Trees” to help tell the story of the woods of Corby.’

The finale of the ‘Our Woods’ project will run on three consecutive nights 5th, 6th and 7th May 2017. The same performance will be repeated each evening and will consist of a multi-disciplinary song, light and dance performance at the Core Theatre, Corby. This will be an hour-long performance after which the audience will be invited to walk through the woods, lead by a pied piper to experience the woods at dusk. The sculptures that the students have made will help light the way down to the Corby boating lake where a pop up café and a variety of other events will be on offer for all to enjoy.

Teacher Ms Jenny Strydom said ‘The students loved being part of this community project and worked extremely hard to produce their woodland creatures. We are all looking forward to seeing them lit up and on display in the woods during the ‘Our Woods’ finale in a few weeks time.