The Seaside Rocks! ^expired Free

Designer Wayne Hemingway amongst keynote speakers at international conference exploring the future of culture on the coast

Following three years of working in partnership with arts organisers and councils around the British coast SeaChange Arts are hosting a conference to explore some of the Coasters project’s achievements. The Seaside Rocks! will look at how artists, funders and arts organisations can continue to re-imagine and reinvigorate our coastal places through culture, especially circus and street arts. The conference will take place at SeaChange’s base in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk on 14 September 2018 as part of the Circus and Street Arts Professional Programme at SeaChange’s annual three day Out There International Festival of Circus and Street Arts.

The keynote speaker will be Red or Dead co-founder Wayne Hemingway whose company Hemingway Design were responsible for the design and rebranding of Margate’s historic and disused Dreamland complex. Now a multi-use amusement park and event centre, Dreamland, one of the Coasters partners, is playing a major role in the on-going regeneration of Margate’s seafront district into a world-class attraction for both local residents and tourists.

Supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund and led by SeaChange Arts, Coasters is a three year project bringing world-class circus and street arts work to coastal towns across England. It supports 11 partners to programme top quality UK and international circus and street arts into events and festivals around the coast.

Each partner works with their own local partners to build audiences among the lowest engaged and to increase visitor audiences to each location, helping transform perceptions of coastal towns. Over the first three years of the project around 1.5 million people attended Coasters events. A recent economic impact study showed that the Out There International Festival of Circus and Street Arts in Great Yarmouth directly contributed almost £1,200,000 to the local economy.

Now in its 11th year Out There has established an enviable reputation amongst performers from around the world. In turn this international flavour helps it attract an audience of 50,000 people, making it one of the biggest weekend events in the East of England, certainly bigger than Latitude Festival.

Joe Mackintosh, Director of SeaChange Arts said ‘Circus and street performance are part of the heritage of English seaside holidaymaking. The Coasters network looks to celebrate this but give it a contemporary perspective. Through performance and associated development projects in each location, we’re seeking to change people’s perceptions of culture on the coast, develop coastal town’s arts infrastructure and build lasting relationships with partners and audiences.’

Fiona Matthews, Creative Director of North Somerset based Theatre Orchard, one of the Coasters partners and another speaker at The Seaside Rocks! said ‘The support of Coasters has been invaluable to our work in places like Weston-super-Mare. It has enabled us to present outstanding work, helped us build lasting relationships with world-class companies and has encouraged us to pursue further outdoor arts programming with ongoing expertise, resources and support’.

Other speakers include Amy Vaughan, Director Touring & Cambridge - Arts Council England, Joe Mackintosh and Jenny Howard-Coombes, Executive Director & Joint CEO of Hull Freedom Festival.

The Out There Professional Programme also includes an international marketplace for artists and producers to meet, sell shows and forge alliances, and the chance to learn about the development of a long term reciprocal partnership between SeaChange Arts and organisations in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. OutdoorArtsUK will lead practical sessions to support outdoor arts practitioners including group sessions on practical matters, skills sessions, funding and practical one to ones and individual mentoring sessions.

Free registration for the Out There Professional Programme is open to everyone interested in circus and street arts and its potential to support and encourage economic growth and regeneration of coastal towns. Tourism professionals, those involved in Business Improvement Districts, local government councillors and officers, as well as circus and Street Arts professionals and those working in the broader arts sector are all encouraged to attend.




The 2018 Out There Professional Programme Friday 14 September – Sunday 16 September. Featuring
The Seaside Rocks! Friday 14 September 9.45 am – 2.45pm
Register at https://seachangearts.org.uk/out-there-festival-2018/the-seaside-rocks/