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Anthony Quinlan who plays Gilly in Hollyoaks took part in a Q&A for Â鶹Éç BlastÌýin Salford. "It was brilliant and it was great to get involved," he said.

"I never got this much insight when I was growing up and I only wish Â鶹Éç Blast had been around when I was growing up. I think the young teenagers got a lot out of the experience. It was a pleasure to be involved."

Blast events

The Â鶹Éç Blast Learning Festival offers teenagers an opportunity to explore a variety of free workshops and showcase events and is jam packed with activities, from multi-media to music and dance.

Some of the exciting events on offer over the four days include:

Tom Hingley

• Sound and Fury: Hip Hop Shakespeare with Akala
• Songwriting masterclasses with Inspiral Carpets’ Tom Hingley
• DJ workshops with Radio 1Xtra
• A chance to meet one of the Hollyoaks cast and discover what its like working on an award-winning soap
• A question and answer session with film-maker and Eastenders director Matt Bloom

The fun-filled programme also includes stand up comedy, film-making, fashion, stage combat and animation workshops. There’ll be a chance to try micro fiction workshops with Gill James and performance poetry with Mike Garry, as well as the opportunity to find out about jobs, education and training at the Progression Routes Fair.

It’s not just about learning: it’s also about showing off the talent that you have, as three showcases give participants the chance to demonstrate their skills to the public.

On Friday, a Music and VJ Showcase will see the Salford Youth Orchestra playing alongside Salford University students, while on Saturday, young stand-up comedians will compere a showcase of the new films that were created during Blast and the closing Blast Talent Showcase will see the best of Salford’s young live bands and fashion take centre stage.

What’s more, there’ll be hands-on workshops by staff from the University in fashion, design, stand-up comedy and film and everyone will get the opportunity to find out about University life with interactive tours and meetings with present students.

• This is the last leg of the tour which ends on Saturday 25th October before it resumes in April 2009.