Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival 2011 brought “intriguing, spectacular and (sometimes) down-right curious arts experiences to our seaside town. ” It included dance, theatre, visual art, literature, film and more, across various places and spaces in Bournemouth; with over fifty exciting events open to everyone, many of which were free.

It warmed up through the summer with three festival pop-up events, which complemented the town ’s existing arts programme: Seasaw – an innovative dance theatre trail on the seafront; the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Firework Proms; and the Pavilion Dance Summer School.

The main festival programme kicked off on the 3 September and ranged from the more traditional, such as a special Grand Tea Dance with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to the surreal – the Grand Grotesque Parade; from vintage fayre – the Vintage Mobile Cinema and a late-night Vintage Market – to the contemporary; award-winning choreographer Yael Flexer recreating sections of her work The Living Room, as an outdoor performance; The absolute unexpected – Electric Hotel, to the moving and fragile – The Paper Cinema and the participatory – a mass sing-in of the Halleluiah Chorus on the beach in a Random Act of Culture.

Moving into October came a feast of horror, with Horrorlitic, Bournemouth ’s first horror literature weekend, the world premiere stage production of Misery, the British Horror Film Festival winding-up the Arts by the Sea festival with a Zombie Walk!

A pivotal part of the Arts by the Sea Festival programme was the Light Night, a feast of nocturnal arts events that threw new light on the town centre. Inspired by the ‘Nuit Blanche ’ the annual all-night arts festivals which take place in cities across the world, including Paris, St. Petersburg and Berlin, which turn city centres into de facto art spaces, many of Bournemouth ’s night time venues were also be involved.

The dates of the 2012 Festival are due to be announced soon. Please check back or sign-up to the mailing list to keep informed.

http://www.artsbournemouth.org.uk/festival/about-the-festival

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