We are delighted and honoured to announce that following their successful training camp at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, the Russian Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastic Team will be holding an open training session on Saturday August 4th at 1.30pm.

The session will be free to enter but will be limited to 2,000 people for safety reasons.  The team will also be joined by other national teams and individual gymnasts from Korea, Japan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The session is being held in the Motorpoint Arena and doors will open at 12.30. Although this event is free it will be ticketed.

You can now book your tickets CLICK HERE. Do it fast, they will go quick!

Welcome to Sheftival – from the Festival Director

What would happen if Tramlines did the Olympics?  Okay, so I’m the Festival Director of Sheftival but our music arena is hosted by Tramlines.  This seems a strange question,  it took us a few weeks to get our heads round the idea.  Once we did, we knew it had to be a winner, especially when our partner was Sheffield International Venues (SIV) – home to 1 in 7 of the Olympic athletes and some incredible training facilities.

Let me talk you through the process of creating Sheftival.

The last event held on Don Valley Bowl – The Arctic Monkeys, converted the bowl into a cute little mini festival site – and it worked.  So the Tramlines Arena was obvious for Sheftival – packed with great music, food, drink, fairgrounds, markets, stages and sports.

The Olympic Games free viewing screen at Sheftival had to go in Don Valley Stadium – that was a no brainer.  It’s going to be packed with a dizzying array of sports activities to watch or join in with.  SIV also operate the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield  (EISS) and Ice Sheffield, so we wanted to encompass these into the festival site too.  With the superb facilities on offer at the EISS we decided to add in even more ‘have-a-go’ sports activities, and iceSheffield would offer free ice-skating to all ticket holders.

And then we walked the rest of the Don Valley site.  It’s beautiful, packed with nooks and crannies, a jetty, picnic spots and acres of space where our ‘town centre’ will boast markets, bars and a nightclub/dance tent.

When Tramlines takes over Sheffield City Centre, we measure its success in two ways.

Firstly,  by the mood it creates seeing the whole community come out, join in and smile.

And secondly, by how well we get people wandering the site, discovering new things, and falling in love with previously unknown bands.

Sheftival is the same in my opinion.  But now we are transported to a beautiful edge of town sporting facility with endless amounts of space.  It should be a bit less hectic than Tramlines, a bit less crowded and a bit more family friendly, but at the same time it will still cater for  the Tramliners.  Once again, we expect the people of South Yorkshire to show the world why we have the warmest, friendliest parties.

What other way could this amazing region celebrate the Olympics?  A wandering, goodwill festival to pay homage to our own sporting heroes like Jess Ennis, bringing home Gold.

That is what would happen if Tramlines did the Olympics.  See you there!

Our top tips:

• Arrive early and stay late.  There’s loads to do!
• Wander the site. Its jam packed with hidden treasures and weird and wonderful things.
• Make sure you see at least one band you have never heard of and if you can, take a trip on the Buskers Barge.  Check out the Jetty Side and the Jamaican Jerk BBQ.
• Double the time you think everything will take and don’t stress about missing stuff.
• Check out the sports activities – there are tournaments to watch and stuff to try, whether you are the world’s least or most active person.
• Cheer on Jess in the stadium – her last event is at 8.40pm on Saturday, it should be a nail biter.
• Check out the food on site – there is a wide range of cuisine at affordable prices.
• Join the carnival parade on Sunday, and get ready for it in the Sharrow Festival Family Village by creating your own costume.
• Try out the drummers’ workshops, get in the boxing ring and spar with a pro.
• If you are feeling really brave, then join the foam party in iceSheffield
• Leave your glass and booze at home and support the traders.  They have invested in the festival, which is how the ticket price is so low.
• Be nice to people.  As our favourite Tramlines sign had it last weekend.

Regards,

Dave Healy

There’s over 25 sports to take part in at Sheftival. To make sure you all make the most of them we’ve created the Sheftival Activity Passport. You can print out the activity passport in advance or collect from the site during Sheftival.

We’ve selected 15 activities available at the festival. If you participate in an activity, you get your passport stamped. If you do the first 5 activities you get entered into the Bronze prize draw, do the next 5 and you go into the Silver draw. If you complete all 15 activities you’re entered into all 3 draws including the Gold draw with a massive prize!

We think this is a great way to encourage everyone to try out the huge range of activities on offer at Sheftival.

Prizes

Bronze Draw – Family Skate Pass / Family Swim Pass / VIP tickets to Tramlines 2013 / Tickets to ‘Mowtown’s Greatest Hits’ (City Hall)

Silver Draw – 1 year’s free membership to Fitness Unlimited + 2 tickets to Real Radio’s next ‘Intimate’ gig

Gold Draw – £500 worth of shopping at ASDA

Download the PDF here  - 44221 – SIV_Sheftival Passport V2 A6 6pp PROOF5

ALTERNATIVE transport fans can walk or cycle to Sheftival and gain a discounted ticket.

Riders from the Road Safety group are leading a six mile cycle ride from the Hilton Hotel on Victoria Quays to Sheftival’s Jettyside Live area at Don Valley on Saturday (4 August) at 11am.

Alternatively take a walk to the stadium via the Five Weirs Walk from 10am and gain £5 off your ticket.

Anyone taking the Supertram, City Taxis, East Midlands Trains and Great Northern Trains will be entered into a draw to win an exclusive photograph of Olympic gold medal hope and Sheffielder Jess Ennis.

The discounted cycling and walking offers are part of a deal to encourage Sheftival fans to not take the car  to the two day festival and to offset their carbon footprint on their route to the festival. Ennis’ sponsor BP is providing a similar scheme for the Olympics.

So let the world know you are #notdriving, and come and enjoy the festival. If you want to win prizes, tweet us your #notdriving mileage, follow @sheftival, post on our facebook page or visit http://www.sheftival.com/imnotdriving.php

Aspiring athletes can follow in the footsteps of Jess Ennis at a series of Sheftival ‘Have a Go’ sessions at the home of the Sheffield heptathlon star.  Top coaches will be hosting masterclasses in javelin, running, hurdles, long jump, high jump and shot put as part of the Sheftival of Sport at the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield (EIS Sheffield) – the training ground of Jess Ennis, on the weekend of her heptathlon Olympic final.

Sheftival have partnered with Asda as part of the retailer’s Community Life programme. They are hoping to inspire many more local people to get involved with athletics in The Asda Active Athletics Zone as part of the sporting line up for the event.

Asda is providing the athletics elements to the sporting ‘have a go’ sessions as part of the event’s passport scheme to get people active and to try new sports. The passport scheme encourages every visitor to try a whole range of activities which normally wouldn’t be seen together from Table tennis, rugby, boxing and judo are just some of the other sessions on offer where participants with a collector stamp and entry into a gold, silver and bronze prize draw.

Family tickets admits four – day ticket £40 / weekend £70; Under 18s – day ticket £10 / weekend £15; Over 18s – day ticket £12 / weekend £20; Under 6s free. Buy online at www.arenaticketshop.co.ukor from the Arena Box Office, City Hall and SIV venues or call 0114 256 5567. LifeCARD holders receive discounted tickets. Admission to Don Valley Stadium is free.

For further details visit www.sheftival.com, www.twitter.com/sheftival or www.facebook.com/sheftival.

We’re really pleased to announce that Sunday headliners, Dodgy will play an extra special intimate set on the Buskers’ Barge.

The barge with this performance will leave the Jetty Side Live area at 3pm on Sunday. If you have a Sheftival wristband you will be eligible to sail on this 40 min journey, it will be a case of first come, first served so get down early to avoid disappointment.

Check the line-up page for a full list of bands performing on the Buskers’ Barge and follow @BandsOnTheMove on twitter for detailed information.

With only a few days until Sheftival, tickets are selling really fast now. Get yours booking fee free from Don Valley Stadium, City Hall, The Harley, Ponds Forge or any SIV venue. You can still buy online to collect on the day (Click here) and you can buy on the day too.

See you there!

Upgrade at Sheftival with our VIP packages. You can get VIP Hospitality on the Terrace at the Hilton Hotel, Sheffield

Package 1 inc. Hilton Hotel & Buskers’ Barge

Including;

Breakfast and Pimms
Set Sail 10am from Victoria Quays to Sheftival, Lower Don Valley
Intimate Artist Performance
Exclusive Opportunity
Limited Places
VIP  Treatment at Sheftival
Families Welcome
Daily Package: Adult £55, U18 £45, Family £140

Weekend Package: Adult £65, U18 £55, Family £185

Please note: Weekend Packages only incorporate x1 Outward Sail on the Barge

Package 2 – Onsite VIP package

Upgrade your Daily and Weekend Tickets including;

- Exclusive access into VIP Lounges
- Access to hospitality Bar adjacent to the Main Stage
- Refreshments Available

Weekend Ticket
Adult  £45,  U18 £35, Family £150

For Further Information and Bookings – Call Now: 0114 223 3841

We still have a few places left for the Sheftival Business Games

Featuring

- It’s a Knockout-Style Challenges
- Team Building and Networking Opportunity
- Fun, Light-hearted Competitiveness

Enter a Team Today – minimum of 6 per team
£200 +vat

Proceeds go to Charity

Please call 0114 2233481 or 0114 2018888

Starting from 5pm tonight, Don Valley Stadium is screening the Olympics on a huge 40m square screen. You can visit the stadium all week (times below) and cheer on GB hopefuls in various sports.

The highlights will come on Friday and Saturday when Jess Ennis competes in the Heptathalon, she is one of our best chances to win Gold and will be cheered on by her home town at the stadium where she trains. Don Valley Stadium is a special place for Jess, she visited an open sports day as a young girl and took an interest in sports. Whether she wins gold at Olympics or not, she is already a huge national hero and representative of Sheffield’s huge sporting heritage.

You can come and view the Olympics for free all week and all through Sheftival. Check the times below.

Monday to Thursday: 6pm – 9.30pm

Friday: 9.30am – 10pm

Saturday: 10am – 10pm

Sunday: 10am – 10pm

With just under a week to go until Sheftival and the Olympics under way, we’re still adding more features to the event.

We’re very pleased to announce that Aerial Extreme have partnered with us to offer Sheftival wristband holders a 20% discount for their climbing centre (next to IceSheffield). This offer can not be booked in advance and will operate on a first come, first served basis.

For more information about Aerial Extreme, check their website. It’s a great experience and now yet another thing to enjoy at Sheftival.

Tickets are selling fast for Sheftival now. You can beat the queues by buying online (via the Arena or Skiddle) and you can beat the booking fee as well by buying in person at The Arena, The City Hall, Ponds Forge, The Harley or any of the SIV venues.

www.aerialextreme.co.uk/page/Sheffield