Down on the farm for NRC arts students

Getting ready for the visitors to Rosepark Farm

Performing Arts and Music students at Northern Regional College made a welcome return to Rosepark Fark in Ballymoney last week with their own unique spin on ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

‘Upside Down Wizard of Oz’ was the students’ fifth year down at the farm and their reputation for putting on an entertaining event to showcase their talent has grown every year.

With the 2020 performance cancelled due to Covid-19, tickets for this year’s Halloween ‘spooktacular’ were snapped up as soon as they went on sale.

Frankie McEldowney, Curriculum Area Manager for Creative Industries at the College’s Coleraine campus, said he is delighted to see the students back doing what they do best.

“This has been a very difficult time for anyone involved in the entertainment industry. We have established an excellent partnership with Rosepark Farm so this is a wonderful opportunity for our students to get practical industry experience of putting on a show and performing in front of a live audience.

“With performances over four days, it’s a very demanding schedule. Most of the students had technical roles to carry out behind the scenes as well as performing. A lot of hard work and effort went into making sure everything ‘was right on the night’.

“This practical aspect of the performing arts vocational courses at the College is what our students find really worthwhile,” he explained.

Gemma McAleese of Rosepark said: “We missed having the students last year, it was great to have them back. We have a great relationship with the College.”