TENS of thousands of people are set to flock to Bournemouth from tomorrow when the town’s biggest arts and culture festival Arts by the Sea gets under way.
The three day event, delivered by BCP Council in association with Arts Council England, is free to attend and will feature a carnival procession, interactive entertainment, live music and a host of other events to keep all the family entertained.
Whether you’ve never been before or are something of a veteran, here’s our guide to everything you need to know about this year’s arts extravaganza.
When does it take place?
Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29. The festival, now in its ninth year, kicks off tomorrow evening with Ignipotens by Pyronix Production, a medieval show full of battling, juggling and fire manipulation at the beach at 8pm
When is the carnival procession?
The Shademakers carnival procession calls on us to Save Our Seas. The procession starts at 3pm on Sunday from Horseshoe Common and will see the streets of Bournemouth filled with an array of fabulous, custom-made water creatures and deep sea characters including an eight-metre long whale shark that will take centre stage.
What are the highlights?
Hôtel d’Illusions by Iluminos is a bespoke, site-specific spectacle which uses projection mapping technology. The façade of Bournemouth’s Town Hall will transport audiences back to the Victorian era featuring magic, science and hypnosis, all popular themes of the time. There will be various performances taking place from 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.
BeachHuts. Winner of Artist Open Call 2019, Andy McKeown, showcases a bespoke piece of work titled BeachHuts, a Bournemouth inspired, outdoor light-art installation that beat 40 other entries to be commissioned. Using new media, light, sound, image and video projection, BeachHuts is described as a mesmerising, visual display of footage captured from the local area which can be seen in the Middle Gardens from 5pm on Friday, and from 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday.
Cocoon by Ithaca Studio. A festival-first for guests who sometimes need their own space. Enter a personal pod and be enveloped in an immersive cocoon of sound and light, in a unique and innovative experience available from 5pm in the Lower Gardens tomorrow and 12 noon.
Colour Curve is a mind bending, large-scale light installation created exclusively for Arts by the Sea by Artist Open Call 2018 winner, Jack Wates. In celebration of one of Bournemouth’s strongest assets, 120 coloured streetlights will be lit along Bournemouth Beach creating a ‘frontier’ between land and sea. From afar you’ll witness a magical, changing river of coloured light, while up close, you’ll experience this spectacle as a single colour of light. Prepare for familiar objects likes clothes, foliage, beach huts and sands to continually alter as you move through the space from Sandbanks to Southbourne. The display runs from 7pm until dawn on all three days of the festival.
The Actual Reality Arcade in the Middle Gardens is a life-sized, interactive zone by Matthew Harrison, inspired by classic arcade games where you play for real. Dodge barrels and lasers, build Tetris walls, shoot aliens or even become Pac-Man.
What is this year’s theme? This year’s theme is Mind Matter and as part of the festival’s focus on mental health there will be a Mind Matter Hub on the Dance Pavilion Terrace hosting a variety of workshops, talks and installations. The aim will be to explore and challenge current attitudes towards mental health and spark conversations through artwork and installations inspired or influenced by mental health issues and experiences.
What is the Roundabout theatre?
It's the world's first pop-up theatre provided by festival partner, Lighthouse Poole. You’ll be seated in-the-round, close to the action with three new plays to choose from by Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd productions including Daughterhood by Charley Miles which explores the breaking of family bonds; On The Other Hand, We’re Happy by Daf James, a tender, funny and hopeful play about being a mum when your name is Dad; and Dexter And Winter’s Detective Agency by Nathan Bryon, a mad-cap family adventure story from one of the writers behind CBeebies hits, Rastamouse, Apple Tree House and Swashbuckle.
Is there any live music?
There will be live music in the bandstand from 12 noon on Saturday including Love Soul Choir, The Bomo Swing and Funky Little Choir.
What’s going on for kids?
All the events are family-friendly, but the VR Playground by Thrill Laboratory in the Lower Gardens from 12 noon to 7pm on Saturday and Sunday will be a particular highlight for younger visitors.
Wearing a VR headset, you’ll be propelled through colourful abstract virtual worlds, each driven by you boarding a playground swing. Scoot through the metropolis inside a mono-wheel, leap tall structures in a single bound, and undulate upwards to escape the deep abyss in this swing-powered adventure.
* For more details, see artsbythesea.co.uk
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