Coventry City Council has announced the date of a festival for older people. The Coventry Older People’s Festival is to be held between 21-23 September 1999 and will celebrate the contribution of people over the age of 50 to the community.

It aims to dispel the notion of older people being a "problem" group who "mope and moan" and instead promote the activities of older people; make them more aware of opportunities available to them; provide entertainment and enjoyment; and to attract more older people to the city centre.

The festival will cover four areas of older people’s activity; arts, physical activity, educational opportunities and shopping.

The Arts festival will aim to focus the activities of arts providers in the City on providing events of interest for older people that week – and hopefully continue once they see their success. It will also give older people already active in the arts the opportunity to show their skills and recruit new members. It is also hoped to stage a film festival at the Odeon cinema, as well as concert parties, tea dances and other events in various venues across Coventry.

To promote the physical activity part of the festival, the Coventry better Government for Older People pilot has secured £5,000 which will be awarded to the national charity Open Gate who specialise in encouraging older people to maintain active lifestyles. Activities taking place will range from encouraging people to walk regularly by having Green Badge Guided Walks around the city centre, to the possibility of an inter-generational fun run/walk where older people and teenagers can run or walk together.

The education part of the festival will celebrate those older people who are already involved in learning, help providers of learning opportunities to attract older students, inform those who are keen to re-start learning what is available, and to give "have a go" taster sessions in city centre locations. Coventry University’s Learning in Later Life Co-ordinator is working with a group of older people to co-ordinate this part of the festival.

When consulted, older people have told that they feel the city centre is not for them, because too many shops focus on the youth market at the expense of older shoppers. The prospect of the festival drawing large numbers of people into the City Centre for the festival will be an opportunity for retailers, leisure providers and transport companies to look at the way they target their services and concessions. It is also hoped that a "smart card" system could be introduced that offers reductions for older people for city centre shopping.

Chair of Coventry City Council’s Older People Policy Team, Cllr Tom White said;

"I am delighted that this festival is going ahead. It shows that getting older can be something to celebrate, and will prove to younger people that older people have much to offer society. I hope it will also encourage older people to come forward and realise their potential, in whatever part of the festival they chose to take part in."