Fresh Fest

Context

Fresh Fest began as my response to the barriers charities faced at the official Freshers’ Fair, where high fees and commercial focus limited their ability to reach students. I initiated the idea, advocated for it within UWE, and developed it into a standalone wellbeing event centred on student support rather than giveaways.

What started as a plan for a free STI clinic quickly grew into a collaborative festival involving sexual health services, mental health organisations, substance misuse charities and local community groups.

Focus

The focus was to create an accessible, stigma-free space where students could meet support organisations, access free sexual health testing and learn about wellbeing resources in a relaxed, open environment. Fresh Fest balanced education and community support with entertainment, food and performance to create something far more human than a traditional freshers fair.

Approach

I led the event from the ground up — securing permissions, handling licensing, sourcing funding and forming partnerships with local venues, charities and businesses. The event included a performance stage, inflatable activities, food stalls, wellbeing tents and a full day of free STI testing run by Terrence Higgins Trust.

Although I initiated and produced the event, Fresh Fest was powered by collaborative effort: charities, volunteers, students and community partners all contributed to making it possible.

Themes

• student wellbeing and sexual health

• accessible community outreach

• collaboration across charities and organisations

• empowerment through information

• alternative event design

Outcomes

Fresh Fest drew strong engagement and created a meaningful point of contact between students and support services. It offered a welcoming alternative to the commercial Freshers’ Fair and later influenced how the university approached outdoor fairs and wellbeing programming.

The event continued for several years after my presidency, carried forward by the society and later absorbed into wider SU activity.

Reflection

Fresh Fest was my first large-scale event and a defining early moment in my practice. I took the idea from concept to reality with little experience, learning how to navigate licensing, partnerships and logistics along the way. Looking back, it represents the confidence I was starting to develop, creating something purposeful, practical and community-centred when the existing systems weren’t serving students. It remains a project I’m proud of.