Aims

To celebrate the positive and highly unique creativity of the mentally ill (the mad) through a highly innovative and creative one day arts and music feast. The negative stereotypes are so part of our culture that discrimination thrives and impacts horribly not only on the mad community and on the disabled community but on the whole of society.
To be part of the catalyst to encourage community spirit by celebrating the acceptance of individuals and tolerance.
To promote better mental health, educate and disseminate information.
To promote campaigning as a powerful way to change the terrible human rights issues that plague the mad community.
To contribute to the regeneration of the neighbourhood.
To promote partnership working.

Jo Brand and BonkersFest! organisers talked about discrimination and the part language plays in this over a mad hatter picnic earlier this year:

R D Laing said madness is a sane reaction to a mad world. Well there is such a thing as normal - it’s a word in the dictionary. For some mad reason everyone wants to aspire to be normal but no-one ever does.
Bonkersfest and Creative Routes and Jo Brand challenged the Oxford English Dictionary on Balderdash & Piffle, BBC2 May 2007 - on the definition of normal - why? Take a look at the website

Us Bonkersfolks don't want to aspire to normality, we celebrate our individuality our right to be who we are, to be heard and treated with dignity and with the same human rights as everyone else. We are still battling for this. No other community has to put up with what we have to. We are still abused, are still made outcasts and scapegoats by government, psychiatry and the normals on the street, physically restrained and mind restrained through mind altering drugs, and this is because we are vulnerable and very individual.

Bonkersfest is the creative antidote to treat discrimination like a viral infection of shame and hate that insinuates its way into all parts of society. We are all here together communicating through creativity and this is how it should be because mental illness doesn’t discriminate so why should you?

So you see we have a duty to share our unique creativity and bonkersness with the world as madness facilitates an outpouring of immense and unique creative energy, tolerance and morality.
BonkersFest! is a partnership festival – Creative Routes, South London Gallery, Young Vic Theatre, Mad Pride, Shape, Attitude is Everything, Core Arts, Nomadic Collaborations and individual artists.

Take a break from normality, go bonkers today at BonkersFest! but remember to pull yourself together when you are yelled to by Bobby Baker.
What mad miracles can do is just miraculous.

Please treat these nuts as you would like to be treated....Bye now
the bonkersbabes/blokes

With such bonkers slobbery slurpy love hugs to Jo Brand, Arts Council England, to Bobby Baker and Jack Cole, to Jo and Philippa from Balderdash and Piffle, to all the partners, artists and hard core sloggers both bonkers and normals, to production management Continental Drifts, and Chris Tofu for the inspirational name Bonkersfest! to Project Manager Lis Ssenjovu, to Helen Maleed - PR and finally but just so not least our genius designer martin@laplandmusic.com

Management of BonkersFest!

BonkersFest! is planned through partnership working, the coordination of which is led by Creative Routes. Partners meet monthly at the ŒBonkersFest! Driving Group,‚ in which the planning, decisions, ideas, fundraising, mentoring and expertise are all shared.

BonkersFest! Partners Include:

Mad run groups - Mad Pride, Core Arts, Southwark Mind
Arts organisations - Young Vic, South London Gallery, Apples & Snakes
Other voluntary organisations - St. Mungo's
Disability awareness groups - Shape, Attitude is Everything
Statutory organistions - South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
Production Company - Continental Drifts Ltd
Individual artists and disabled people.