By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead

A date for your diary – Saturday, October 19^th.

It might seem a long way away now, but try telling that to the organisers of the Ageing Well Torbay annual festival who started work in earnest as soon as the last one finished.

For them, it is less than eight months away and to get it right to ensure the event at the Riviera Centre in Torquay is their best yet, there is a lot of work to do, and it goes without saying that to do that, they need your help.

It is not easy coming up with something different each year – particularly when you have been organising them for a few years, and the Riviera Centre is a big place to fill.

But, as the saying goes, big is beautiful and the Riviera Centre, accessible as it is from everywhere around the bay, with ample parking thrown in, is an ideal venue for the fifth annual Ageing Well Torbay Festival.

The festival is a celebration of ageing and seeks to promote firstly fun but also healthy living and longevity and once again the theme this year will be Love, Live, Laugh and Learn.

With those key four words in mind, the festival committee is looking to build an event that showcases the talents interests and skills of the over 50’s from Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

Once again there will be an Ageing Well Got’s Talent to show off the performance skills of over 50’s – and that could be anything from storytelling to poetry, from singing to dance – anything that will entertain.

Less than ten people form the core of the festival organising committee, and they have already been meeting to organise it from the moment the doors closed on the 2018 festival last October.

Their job is to ensure they find the cream of the bay’s talent and assemble the best information available on everything from health to diet and from hobbies to financial advice.

And that is where you come in. What would you like to see at this year’s festival – what little gems have come across in the bay that you would like to share with your peers?

Or is there a self-help group that you have used that has made a big difference in your life? Don’t keep it to yourself; the festival committee wants to know about it so that they can potentially share the knowledge with everyone.

Music will feature heavily in this year’s festival, but rather than featuring a single decade this year; it will be a heady mix of everything from the 1950s through to the 1980s. If you know of any musicians that you would like to see performing, then please do let us know (contact details are at the end of this column).

There will, of course, be lots of talks on a whole variety of subjects, but again we are looking for speakers that have inspired you – perhaps one you have seen at one of the many clubs that meet every week in halls and rooms across the bay.

Finally, we are hoping to bring a cornucopia of information to the event around the subject of super ageing. It works for a lot of people, and we want to bring the best of it to you.

Super-ageing covers a wide variety of subjects and themes including positivity (say yes more often), exercise (of course), volunteering (Torbay Community Development Trust can help you with that), ways to change your life, learning new things and taking care of how you look.

Fashion for the over 50’s is another thing we are looking at – perhaps a boardwalk fashion show featuring the very best in what the high street, as well as the local boutique, has to offer as well as tips on grooming, hair and makeup.

So once again the plans are ambitious, but if previous years are anything to go by, that is nothing to worry about. On the contrary, it is something to be excited about. Put the date in your diary – Saturday, October 19^th and think of what you can do to help us make it ever better.

If you have any ideas you want to share or want to get involved, please contact us using the contact form on the festival page (click here), phone us on 01803 212638 or email ageingwell@torbaycdt.org.uk