Manchester-based Liz West and Elisa Artesero will be showing works alongside Yoko Ono and 2006 Turner prize nominee Mark Titchner at this year’s LightPool Festival in Blackpool.
Part of Blackpool’s illuminations, The first LightPool Festival is celebrating light and fire with more than 30 installations, sculptures and performances.
Internationally-renowned artists such as Yoko Ono, Bob & Roberta Smith, Mads Christensen and Mark Titchner, as well as upcoming talents such as Liz West, Emma Allen, Ithaca Studio and Elisa Artesero will illuminate and transform Blackpool town centre with their installations, many of them being specially commissioned, marking the penultimate weekend of Blackpool Illuminations.
There will also be performances each evening on St John’s Square by leading performance artists such as French Compagnie Bilbobasso and Les Commandos Percu from France, Kazimier Productions from Liverpool, as well as The FireWorks Collective, who represent the UK at the Burning Man festival in the USA.
In Blackpool style there’ll be illuminated canine extravaganza Lumidogs, with special performance by Britain’s Got Talent finalist Trip Hazard and Lucy Heath. Free to attend and supported with public funding from Arts Council England and the Coastal Communities Fund, the new six-night festival will celebrate Blackpool’s unique relationship with light from Friday 28 October to Wednesday 2 November 2016.
During the festival there will be a number of special performances
Friday 28th October, 19.30pm – Kazimier Productions: Captain Kronos return to Planet Earth
A flying spaceship, pyro and rousing soundtrack, as well as illuminated procession and parade involving up to 100 people. Originally created to celebrate the closure of cult venue The Kazimier in Liverpool, Captain Kronos: Return to Planet Earth is next level performance appropriate for the launch of the LightPool Festival. Created in partnership with Walk the Plank and Blackpool & Fylde College.
Saturday 29th October, 20.00 – Compagnie Bilbobasso: Polar
Direct from France, Compagnie Bilbobasso come to Blackpool with Polar, a fable of fire and tango. With a hypnotic fire performance and an exploding piano, this breath-taking performance skirts on the edges of thriller, dance and silent film.
Sunday 30th October, 18.00 – LumiDogs Final starring Trip Hazard and Lucy Heath
LumiDogs is a mass illuminated dog-walk and an extravagantly staged event featuring a star-studded cast of special guests, including the one and only Trip Hazard from Britain’s Got Talent. In advance there are workshops for dog lovers to create tailored illuminated costumes for their dogs.
More here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lumidogs-workshops-tickets-28216617663
Monday 31st October 19.00 and 21.00 – Mr Wilson’s Second Liners
A rabble of mischievous Northerners, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners form a traditional New Orleans funeral brass band. But this is no sombre occasion: Mr Wilson’s pay homage to the die-hard days of the Hacienda, 90s club culture and its greatest hero, Mr Tony Wilson, getting audiences dancing wherever they play.
Tuesday 1st November, 20.00 – Les Commandos Percu with The FireWorks Collective
Percussion, fire, lights, motion and pure energy: Les Commandos Percu are the pioneers of street fire performance, with 30 years of experience and performances across the world. For their first outing in Blackpool they bring Interventions Mobiles, an explosive procession of fire and sound.
Joining them are The FireWorks Collective, who represent the UK fire performance community at the Burning Man festival in Nevada US each year.
Wednesday 2nd November, 21.30 – Spark!
The original LED drummers and renowned for their ghostly appearance, Worldbeaters Music bring Spark!: a unique, captivating show. Exclusively for LightPool Festival, they will be working with 3rd year Musical Theatre Degree students from Blackpool & Fylde College to create new sections for the show. Pyrotechnic virtuosos pa-Boom will join the finale with an explosive, percussive accompaniment to conclude the LightPool Festival.
