Entertainment extravaganza in Weymouth and Portland for Olympic Games (From Dorset Echo)

Entertainment extravaganza in Weymouth and Portland for Olympic Games

11:00am Friday 10th February 2012 in News By Laura Kitching

IT MAY be six months to go until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games but the party will be starting much earlier in Dorset.

From March 9 until September 9 a festival of more than 80 events will be taking place across the south coast – with the bulk of activities centred in Weymouth and Portland.

The best aspect of the Maritime Mix, the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad by the Sea, is that 95 per cent of its activities will be free to the public and there are lots of opportunities for residents and visitors of all ages to get involved.

World-class outdoor theatre, open-air mass choir performances, visual arts, multi-media arts festivals, earth science, panoramic video projections, participative music, dance and street celebrations are literally being thrown into the ‘mix’.

Massive investment and support from Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and local authorities including Dorset County Council, the borough council and local tourism partnerships aim to put local artists on an international stage and to inspire public participation.

Among the big events coming to the borough are Coastal Voices choral project, b-side and Inside Out festivals, Battle For the Winds epic three-day theatrical performance, the Chalk Legends music, dance and multi-media extravaganza, The Giant Wall art project and Dinosaurs Not Allowed youth Morris dancing.

The Moving Tides children’s procession, which has just secured £34,300 from the Arts Council, will see 600 children parading through Weymouth ahead of the Olympic Torch Relay evening celebrations on the beach.

Alan Rogers, cultural coordinator for the Weymouth and Portland 2012 Operations Team, said: “I hope the Maritime Mix gives people a feel for the scope this incredible creative celebration and I hope it helps to make Weymouth and Portland truly proud to be hosting the 2012 Sailing events.

“Things are really going into turbo-charged mode with the planning of the ‘Maritime Mix’ – London 2012 Cultural Olympiad by the Sea programme.

“We’ve been working on this ambitious creative celebration for the last four years and I can’t believe that we are weeks away from our first event.

“It will be truly amazing to see such a diverse range of creative talent performing and exhibiting in Weymouth and Portland, celebrating the area’s involvement in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

He added: “The great thing is that over 95 per cent of the events are free and we’ve tried to include something for everyone: visual arts, music, choral performances, outdoor theatre and circus, earth sciences, sound installations, video projection, dance and participative street celebrations.”

The Maritime Mix website is now live, visit maritimemix2012.co.uk, follow the festival news on Twitter @MaritimeMix2012 or find the group on Facebook by searching for MaritimeMix2012.

COUNTY TOWN TO CELEBRATE Olympics

PREPARATIONS are underway to celebrate the Olympics and Paralympics in Dorchester.

A joint project by Dorchester Chamber of Commerce along with Alistair Chisholm the Town Crier, Dorchester Town Council, Dorchester BID (Business Improvement District) and other companies in the town has formed a steering group and is looking to get support and funding for the ‘welcoming the world’ themed events.

The project is still in the early stages of development but ideas include decorating the town with flags and holding music events.

Dorchester Town Councillor David Taylor said the idea was to welcome the world to the county town and showcase Dorchester to its fullest potential.

He said: “We want people to come and see us. It will be a world class event and Dorch-ester will deliver.”

The idea is that the flags will be put up in strategic places around the town from July 1, so that the county town will be dressed for the Olympics and Paralympics.

Town Crier Alistair Chisholm said: “The town should look decorated and like its taking part in the event, a significant part of which is taking place in the county only eight miles away.”

He added: “When visitors come it should be obvious we are joining in the celebrations. It needs to be something people can see a realise we are part of the Games.”

Other events across the summer will include a World Event Weekend, on Saturday, August 11. The plan is to have street performers and on Sunday, 12, there will be a music event in the Borough Gardens.

The organisers are looking for help with donations and anyone wanting to be involved should contact Dorchester Chamber of Commerce on 01305 250808.

ARE YOU THE FACE OR BODY OF THE B-SIDE FESTIVAL?

THE search is now on for the face – and body – of b-side Festival 2012. Do you use your body to the extreme? Would you like to be immortalised in paint and feature in this year’s festival as part of the Olympic Games celebrations?

Following the success of the b-side bus stops ‘ad’ campaign last September featuring local community heroes from Weymouth and Portland, this year b-side Festival organisers are looking for a model for another very special portrait.

London-based artist Wendy Elia has been commissioned by b-side and Sherborne House Arts to paint the portrait of a local person who explores the extremes and limits of their body – this could be a diver, sailor, surfer, climber, weight lifter, dancer, rower, fisherman, an acrobat, a street dancer or someone with tattoos and piercings.

The free b-side multi-media festival will take place in Weymouth during the Olympics, from July 27 to August 12 and on Portland during the Paralympics from August 29 to September 9.

This is a unique chances to have your portrait painted and reproduced on large posters. The selected model will need to be able to travel to London for a maximum of eight sessions in Wendy’s studio between February and May this year.

If you are interested in applying please email a recent full body photograph of yourself and a short paragraph outlining why you think you should be the face and body of b-side 2012 to producter@b-side.org.uk by Monday, February 13.

MARITIME MIX TIMELINE

• March 9 to July 27 – Coastal Voices open-air mass choir performances, including the Twin Sails bridge opening, Poole and events at Lyme Regis, Beer Quarry Caves, Lighthouse theatre, Poole and Weymouth beach ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony.

•May 4 to September 9 – The Jurassic Coast 2012 Earth Festival, encompassing the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, Coastal Voices performance and John Hegley and Robyn Hitchcock Concert, plus Weymouth’s Pliosaur and On-board projects and 26&7 Bones in Weymouth and Portland

•May 18 to 19 – Chalk Legends, a large scale music, dance and multi-media project culminating in a spectacular presentation at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy

•May 24 to November 10 – Plastics for Gold, an exhibition that celebrates the use of the materials in sport at the Museum of Design in Plastics, the Arts University College at Bournemouth

•June 21 to 25 – Red Ball UK, Weymouth, large-scale public art project that invites you to look twice, to explore, to play and to think ‘what if?’ about your town

•July 12 – Moving Tides children’s procession to welcome the arrival of the Olympic Torch and celebrate with a show on Weymouth beach until 9pm

•July 13 to September 8 – Big Dance, the world’s largest festival of dance that will bring to life buildings, public spaces and unusual places to life, encompassing Desert Crossings, Landance and the A Dance a Day projects

•July 25 to August 3 – Nowhere Island, Furzy Cliff and Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth, a floating island sculpture by Alex Hartley made from material originating from the Arctic.

•July 26 to 28 – Battle for the Winds, Weymouth and Portland, a unique theatrical event to mark the opening celebrations of the 2012 sailing events, which will start in May, 2012 in Lyme Regis and travels throughout the South-West before ending with a climactic three-day performance on Weymouth beach and High Angle Battery, Portland

•July 26 to September 9 – the ICCI 360 arena, Weymouth Pavilion, live music, theatre and dance performances, 360 film presentations, high resolution photography and digital media, film and animations and interactive gaming events

•July 27 – Welcome Songs, Weymouth beach, bringing communities across the UK together for a celebration in song of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

•July 27 to August 12 – b-side multi-media arts festival takes place in Weymouth, underwater performances, ‘misguided’ tours, telepathic drawing experiments, sound installations, film programmes and interactive signage.

These will be sited in pubs, churches, alleyways, swimming pools, car parks, bridges and the ICCI 360 Arena.

•July 27 to September 9 – Our Sporting Life – Sailing for Gold, captivating anecdotes, photographs and keepsakes of 112 years of Olympic and Paralympic sailing history.

•July 27 to September 9 – Exploratory Laboratory (ExLab), which includes Proboscis; Hive Beach, Burton Bradstock; Simon Ryder, Portland; Mat Chivers, Purbeck & Bournemouth; Zachary Eastwood-Bloom, Durlston Country Park; Walford Mill Crafts and Simon Callery, Sherborne

•July 27 to September 9 – Creating the Spectacle, a self-propelled underwater wheelchair, with footage shown at the ICCI 360 arena, Weymouth and demonstrations at Osprey Leisure Centre, Portland from August 29.

•July 27 to September 9 – Legacy Trail, Weymouth and Portland, new and engaging ‘waypoints’ are being created to raise awareness of the special natural environment and encourage further exploration

•July 28 – Breathe, Weymouth beach, outdoor performance of circus, dance and cabaret where people who cannot walk will fly, wheelchairs will float, those without voices will speak and all will soar high above Weymouth

•July 30 to August 12 – The Boat Project, a visit from a remarkable 30ft seafaring vessel made from donated wooden items and crafted by a fearlessly adventurous team of professional boat builders and volunteers as a living archive of people's stories

•August 13 to 18 – The Compass Festival, Weymouth College, promoting local small and medium sized touring theatre companies on an international platform

•August 29 to September 9, b-side multi-media arts festival in Portland, which includes Simon Ryder, The Ganzfeld Project with Ailie Rutherford

•September 7 to 8, Dinosaurs Not Allowed youth Morris dancing performances at the ICCI 360 arena at Weymouth Pavilion and on Weymouth Esplanade

•September 8 – Teenage Rampage, Weymouth - The best new and emerging young bands from around the region gather to perform in a Maritime Mix finale

•September 9 – Bandstand Marathon, Weymouth, more than 500 events in bandstands and other open spaces happening across the UK

•August 31 to September 9 – Inside Out Dorset, extraordinary events in extraordinary places, which includes Harmonic Fields, Portland, Schraapzucht, Wimborne and Mobile Homme, Poole Quay.