This Summer, We’re Making Space For Joy

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This Summer, We’re Making Space For Joy

How Zest’s summer 2025 programme is bringing public space to life for young people

This summer, we’re going big. The Zone is going on tour – and Sound Board, our brand-new, genre-bending show, is hitting the road too. But this isn’t just a programme drop – it’s a response to a world that too often tells young people they don’t belong. So this summer, we’re offering platforms for unity and creativity – for communities to come together, to have fun but also grapple with the big stuff, for young people to lead, and for connection to grow. We’re making space – with young people, for young people – and building it with the communities we serve.

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Zest Wins Best Product Design of the Year at We Are Creative Awards

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Zest Wins Best Product Design of the Year at We Are Creative Awards

Zest is celebrating a major win at the inaugural We Are Creative Awards. The company proudly won the prestigious Best Product Design of the Year award, marking a significant achievement for the Lincoln-based team and the young people they support. Zest Theatre was recognised for creating The Zone, a bold and inclusive pop-up space where young people can thrive. The Best Product Design of the Year award celebrated The Zone’s innovative approach, developed in collaboration with AirClad, whose modular structures transformed public spaces into vibrant, welcoming environments where young people can chill, create, and be themselves.

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Zest Wrapped 2024

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Zest Wrapped 2024

This year, Zest hit all the right notes: epic partnerships, bold new artworks, youth-led brilliance, strategy in action, and unforgettable moments on the road. We launched innovative pop-up youth arts spaces with The Zone, and made our mark in new locations and beyond to reach a massive 401,000 people! Ready to relive the highlights? Let’s dive into Zest Wrapped 2024.

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The year we went BIG

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The year we went BIG

What a year 2023 has been! As we lock up Zest HQ and head off on our well-deserved festive holiday, join us as we reflect on the last 12 months: an epic year of graft, changes, and growth. A year that saw Zest go BIG, reaching over 424,000 people with our work! Let’s look at our 2023 best bits…

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Announcing Camp Phoenix - Zest's first production in 4 years!

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Announcing Camp Phoenix - Zest's first production in 4 years!

For the first time since the pandemic began, Zest is back with a brand new show!

Written by Bush Theatre’s Young Company Director, Katie Greenall, with new songs by Loop Artist Koko Brown, Camp Phoenix is a show packed with adventure, new music, and vital life lessons, featuring a dynamic cast of professional performers and local young people who helped develop the show.

This new show has been commissioned by Lincoln Arts Centre, Barnsley Civic, and ARC Stockton and will be our first touring production since becoming an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

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Exploring the Future of Lincoln

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Exploring the Future of Lincoln

Zest is spending the first 3 months of 2022 facilitating an ambitious new research project with over 1,000 young people across our home city!

Commissioned by city-wide partners in Lincoln, Zest will meet 1,250 young people between January and March 2022. Over 50 workshops will be delivered in schools, colleges, and community groups, making space for Lincoln’s children and young people to share their vision for the future of the city.

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The Year of the Unexpected Pivot

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The Year of the Unexpected Pivot

2021 has been another interesting one, right? For Zest, it’s been a year of big highs, big lows, and many unexpected pivots. We’re still here, we’re still open, and still thriving for the communities we serve. But it seems that unexpected pivots create unexpected results.

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Announcing Refresh Lincoln

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Announcing Refresh Lincoln

Zest is taking over Lincoln! For 8 weeks this summer, Zest will unleash 80 vibrant artworks on posters, banners, and billboards around every corner of the City Centre. Today we’re announcing the full details!

Refresh Lincoln is set to reclaim the city centre for young people, placing their voices at the heart of Lincoln’s re-opening and recovery following a year of being in and out of lockdown.

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New work for Spring / Summer 2021

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New work for Spring / Summer 2021

The last 12 months have taken their toll on Young People. They are facing a mental health crisis. Young people need culture and creativity more than ever before. Zest, therefore, has to respond with impactful work that can happen despite the pandemic, whilst serving the needs of Gen-Z. We’ve always worked outside the box, fearlessly pushing preconceptions of form and what a small-scale company can achieve. This new work for Spring / Summer 2021 is no different. This is the beginning of our response.

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Future proofing Zest's 12 Maxims

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Future proofing Zest's 12 Maxims

At Zest, our Maxims underpin everything we do. These short statements share our key values and shape the work of our trustees, staff, creatives and performers. In December 2020, we asked Future Proof what they thought our maxims might be. As participants, they had never seen our maxims document before. The thoughts they shared were solely based on their experience of working with us. We soon realised there were 4 reoccurring themes that we hadn’t recognised as being key components of the Zest experience. Together we set about re-writing Zest’s Maxims.

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A Year Like No Other

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A Year Like No Other

Well, 2020 has been quite a ride! It’s definitely not been the year we’d planned. At times we’ve cried about the projects we’ve lost, whilst at other points we’ve relished the opportunity to experiment and try new things. 2020 may have been the worst, but there is still so much for us to celebrate. So here goes…

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We Deserve Better - Letting Young People speak for themselves

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We Deserve Better - Letting Young People speak for themselves

Our second week of Youthquake research and development brought us to Hartlepool. The young people in Hartlepool had a strong sense that the system is stacked against them and apathetic to their needs. Within these stories, however, there was a determination that the narrative of deprivation in Hartlepool would not be an endless cycle. Not all young people want to leave their home city for something better – they wanted to solve the problems and change their home for the better.

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Keys For Change: Unlocking Unheard Voices

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Keys For Change: Unlocking Unheard Voices

What do we do when all our artistic experience and knowledge is challenged? On a recent participation project, Zest had to rethink everything they knew about making theatre, shaking the foundations of their process to its' core. What we discovered about ourselves and our participants has changed our practice for the better.

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