Joe GallopBournemouth’s Arts by the Sea Festival has announced the first wave of programming for the 2023 event, including the premiere of PORTAL (pictured) – a 15m towering art installation by design studio Lucid Creates.
Arts by the Sea, which takes place from 29 September – 1 October, is expected to attract around 120,000 visitors, with approximately 100 artists, performers and musicians working on the event.
The festival will also include projection mappings on the Civic Centre (pictured below) by The Media Workshop featuring a bespoke audio-visual performance by DJ Yoda, along with work by artist Annie Nicholson from Fandangoe Kid STUDIO, who is this year’s artist in residence.
The 2023 programme will follow the theme of ‘Moment’, where attendees are invited to connect to their own unique moment through a mix of large-scale spectaculars, interactive art, theatre, dance, and music.
On PORTAL, Lucid Creates said, “It is both a monument and a beacon of light and hope. Its vast, giant archway is lined with lights which move and shift to create a mesmerising and ethereal display of glowing light and patterns.”
Arts by the Sea was originally launched in 2011 by Bournemouth Council (now BCP Council), then grew to become an Arts Council England national portfolio organisation in 2015.
The Pop Up Skate Park will return to Arts by the Sea in 2023, hosted by the King Ramps skate events company. The festival will also feature digital, interactive installation Light Hearted, staged by Digital Funfair creator Gavin Morris. Also announced among the first wave of programming is Big Gay Disco Bike by the Birmingham-based queer performance company Fatt Projects.
