FESTIVAL EXCITEMENT springs into Exeter this week with Exeter City Council announcing the official UNEXPECTED 2013 Festival line-up that will transform the cityscape this September 15-22.
The City Council's ground-breaking new Festival takes art and performance out of traditional venues into thrilling, unexpected indoor and outdoor locations, nurtures exciting local talent, and enhances the city as the cultural hub for the South West.
The Unexpected 2013 programme features music, performance, dance, circus, digital work, visual arts, sport, heritage buildings, city centre spaces - with powerful combinations of all these.
For starters, the free opening Family Funday (Sunday 15 Sept) has canoeing, rowing, biking and athletics during a day devoted to family fun on the Quayside, with have-a-go sessions for anyone wanting to try and imitate all those medal winners.
Music, a salsa workshop and fireworks should make this a memorable afternoon, but there are plenty of surprises to look out for throughout the week.
The Last Supper (Fri 20/Sat 21 Sept (ticketed), set in the ancient Exeter Guildhall, has been heavily praised by leading theatre critics for its subtle, atmospheric appeal, inviting a small audience to be regaled by tales of the famous and infamous during dinner with the performers.
Pyramids Leisure Centre is the Unexpected venue transformed by sound and light for Wet Sounds by New Toy (21 Sept, ticketed) – an underwater listening experience that requires its audience to jump in to experience a surreal soundscape.
A range of venues in the city centre will have their stories told through Theo Simpson's special exhibition, Lesser Known Architecture (16-23 Sept). The piece has been partly informed by four local museums and galleries, including the award-winning Royal Albert Memorial Museum and the audience are invited to pick up a guide and follow the trail .
Throughout the Unexpected Festival week, Art interventions will pop up where you least expect – a cinema under the stars and unscented flowers are just a couple of the 'Surprise' plans for more than 250 points around Exeter.
Blind Ditch ask their audiences to experience life in This City's Centre, Part 3 Here Now (17 – 21 Sept) from an entirely new angle – from the privacy of other people's homes. Devised with local residents this brand new performance event, part 3 of a digital triptych, will use live video screening and digital interaction to explore public and private space in Central Exeter.
The Tour of Britain passes through the High Street on Friday 20 September although the cyclists might not be able to keep up with local buses, which will be portrayed in an illuminating new light via wry asides, games and commentary by The Public Transport Appreciation Society, popping up on buses and at train stations throughout the week and who are determined to enlighten the public's journey.
From Monday 16 Sept Princesshay Square is the place to head to for spectacular entertainment at lunchtime, be it promising young musicians or street theatre companies ready to show off their masterful skills or the theatrical playfulness of Tangled Feet (Fri 20 Sept), who will be making everyone laugh with 'Inflation' a show featuring music, drama and comedy on a bouncy castle.
The festival builds to climax with Circus Sunday (22 Sept) four sites across the city of free family entertainment running from 12 noon – 4pm and promoting the best in contemporary circus and street theatre. Whatever their age, the temptation for adults and children alike might be to take to the boards themselves, and Bristol's School of circus, Circomedia, and aerialists Above and Beyond are in town to provide just such an opportunity with an incredible set of 45-minute workshops for all ages followed by a professional aerial display.
Princesshay Square showcases the best in upcoming circus and acrobatics with companies such as Joli Vyann and Mattress Circus, opening with a stunning performance by Bicycle Ballet.
Fools Paradise the Exeter-based, well known street theatre agency run the Paradise Stage in Exeter Guildhall with some of the popular street theatre acts on their books, expect laughter and mayhem.
Devon Carousel in Rougemont Gardens and RAMM offer a range of circus-themed arts activities and a Museum of Circus for families and younger children to try out art and movement.
The festival finale by Extraordinary Bodies, on the Cathedral Green, will transport you to the skies with exquisite poise from its flying dancers and singers (Sun 22 Sept) - their world premiere piece 'Weighting', has been especially commissioned by Unexpected with support from a prestigious Arts Council England grant.
Extraordinary Bodies is the UK's first fully integrated circus company and the performers come from the internationally-acclaimed Cirque Bijou and Diverse City and are backed by the harmonious sound of Exeter's finest community choirs.
Whatever takes your fancy, Unexpected 2013 will end the summer in an electrifying, exciting way.
Cllr Rosie Denham, Exeter City Council, said, 'Arts Council England data reveals that for every £1 invested in arts & culture up to £6 is generated for the local economy.'
'Unexpected 2013 will build on the city's Olympic and cultural legacy, raising the profile of Exeter as the South West gateway for the arts and as a desirable destination for visitors of all types.'
The Festival is produced by Exeter City supported by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts, Devon County Council and a range of city-based sponsors, without whose support, the Festival would not have been possible. These sponsors are: Cornerstone, Exeter Canal & Quay Trust, Exeter College, Guildhall Shopping Centre, Mercure Southernhay, Princesshay Exeter, Stagecoach South West and University of Exeter Arts & Culture.
