As part of Festé, returning on the 27th September, QUAD are excited to be celebrating their 17th Birthday with a venue wide party.

As part of Festé, returning on the 27^th September, QUAD are excited to be celebrating their 17^th Birthday with a venue wide party. The building will be jam packed full of things to do including curated films, exhibitions and drop-in activities for children, as well as live music.

The celebrations will begin at 12 noon with the opening of two exhibitions in the QUAD Gallery. Both Henry Driver: Waterportals and Tracey Meek: A Celebration in Colour are free to explore; along with a special curation of QUAD and Metro Cinema’s history along the Montage Gallery.

The Participation Studio on the ground floor will be relaunched shortly after, following a refurbishment; this space will now serve as a permanent drop in space for families to engage in art and play. The space will also include a showreel featuring archival Q arts material.

Similarly, the downstairs foyer will play host to family friendly games along with the highly anticipated raffle with generous prizes provided by: Derby Museum, Moorways Sports Village, Suds and Soda, Third Window Films, Arrow Films, Otaku World, Derby County Football Club, Derby Cricket Club and Vaillant Live.

Elsewhere in the Bar & Lounge there will be live music from local artists curated by Dubrek. QUAD have adapted a classic to create the Birthday cocktail; The Metro Mule and have also teamed up with Shiny Brewery to create a branded beer for the occasion.

Upstairs in the cinemas, QUAD will celebrate being 17 years old with a one-off screening of teen classic ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’ (12A) at 1pm. Next up at 3:15pm, QUAD will lean into its Metro Cinema past with a one-off screening of ‘Cinema Paradiso’, screened at the Metro Cinema previously. To end the Birthday film programme, QUAD will host a special preview of ‘I Swear’ at 6pm. The preview will follow the official ribbon cutting ceremony to launch the Metro Cinema screen; formerly known as Cinema Two.

The Metro Cinema screen and archive corridor represent QUAD looking back at its roots in such a pivotal time for the charity. The archive corridor will serve as a permanent reminder of those who shaped the organisation as it continues into the future. Alongside the official Metro Cinema screen launch, QUAD’s Head of Film Adam J Marsh will introduce the preview. This will also mark the beginning of the QUAD ‘£17 for 17^th’ fundraiser to raise money to go towards building refurbishments such as those completed in the Participation Studio; relaunched previously that day.

The Birthday celebrations will come to a close in the Bar & Lounge with a DJ set from QUAD staff members from 8pm until late.

QUAD CEO Eleanor Thornley says: “We’re delighted to be celebrating 17 years of QUAD and looking to the future while showcasing what made us who we are today. We’re equally as excited to be doing this as part of the Festé fringe programme. Festé is a huge day for culture in the city so it’s great that we can be a part of that”