If you’re looking to attend the best anxiety counselling Cheshire has to offer, one area you may struggle with is the idea of going to a big public event – that’s why this new festival dedicated to the topic of anxiety is particularly interesting.

Though anxiety may not manifest itself in these symptoms, the idea behind The Big Anxiety Festival, running in Sydney, Australia, for seven weeks, is to use art to get the public to talk about mental health, as well as using the visual arts as a therapy of sorts for those suffering from these illnesses.

The festival is the idea of Prof Jill Bennett from the University of New South Wales according to The Guardian, who says the link between mental health and art is one that’s never heavily exploited: “There’s a lot of evidence that art has a lot of impact when it comes to mental health. It’s not just a diversion – there is evidence that it impacts on mood and wellbeing,” she says.

The festival, she continues, is something that she wants to be connected to evidence based research – crossing arts and the health sector. After all, she says, there is no matter of fact cure for mental health issues  – and while the likes of counselling and therapy can greatly help, it relies on a huge range of external factors to manage the symptoms.

The approach of the festival is to cast a wide net, using anxiety as a catch-all to attract interest from those who may not even consider themselves as having mental health issues. Mental health campaigns aren’t seen as fun or for those who are undiagnosed, while this festival aims to be an enjoyable time which opens up discourse about living life with the likes of anxiety and depression.