Arts on the beach at Watergate Bay
17th August 2023
Head to Watergate Bay on the 9th and 10th September for a free family weekend of theatre, aerial performance, dance, music and craft workshops inspired by the ocean. Arts on the Beach 2023 is a celebration of creativity, community, imagination and ocean culture, set against the mesmerising backdrop of Watergate Bay.
Discover roaming sea giants and sailors’ love songs, mermaid’s tales and shoreside silent discos. This event, new to Watergate Bay for 2023, is brought to you by the team behind Polo on the Beach
and the Watergate Bay events calendar.
Book a retreat in Watergate Bay to experience the weekend in full.
The programme
Mirroring the many moods of the ocean, September’s line up will ebb and flow against its dramatic backdrop – from a lively programme of dance troupes, aerial performance, live music and interactive theatre, to getting hands-on with bubble bikes, lantern and willow building, sea-themed arts and crafts, and dancing workshops. Expect large-scale puppetry from Autin Dance Theatre, dance and parkour from Prodigal UPG, roaming ‘land based synchronised swimming’ from Cscape’s Bathing Belles, aerial shows, stilt walking captains and inspired choreography born from the sea. Workshop sessions will see beach-goers making a giant willow sea turtle with City of Lights, creating mermaid tails with Beach Guardian, pedal-powering bubble bikes and getting stuck into sea crafts with Blystra Arts. As the evenings draw in, the beach will light up with silent disco headphones on Saturday and the Old Time Sailors’ stirring sea shanties will echo from the cliffs on Sunday. The programme is brimming with imaginative performances and runs throughout the day from 11am on Saturday – then all over again on Sunday.
It’s set to be a lively, fun-filled and exciting weekend. Will Ashworth, Watergate Bay Hotel founder and executive director, said about the event:
“We’ve always loved creating inclusive events on the beach for our wider community, as well as visitors. Thanks to additional support from Visit Cornwall, being able to provide this exciting new event for people to come along to for free means everyone can be part of something special.”
Line up
Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 September
From 11am
Performances
• Out of the Deep Blue by Johnny Autin Dance Compan –
puppetry/dance
• On the Strandline by Prodigal UPG – dance/parkour
• Sea Dogs by Prodigal UPG emerging ensemble – dance
• Hall for Cornwall Youth Dance Company present DAWN choreography by Rob Mennear
• Bathing Belles by Cscape – dance/performance
• Tipping Point by Off the Wall – aerial show – Saturday only
• Captain O’Goldie/ Detrius of the Deep by Hotch Potch Theatre –
roaming on stilts
Participation workshops
• City of Lights – two-day build of a willow sea turtle and end
performance
• Blystra Arts – two days craft tent with four artists offering sea/
eco-friendly activities and pedal powered bubble bikes
• Beach Guardian – beach clean and mermaid tail workshops
• Watergate Bay Kids’ Zone Beach School
Music
Saturday 9 September, 5-7pm – Silent Disco
Grab an LED headset and be part of one of the UK’s largest silent
discos at this unique dancing venue right on the beach.
Sunday 10 September, 5-8pm – Old Time Sailors
A merry band of musical marauders, ready to lure audiences back
in time on an immersive journey of dance, song and 19th-century
knees-up shenanigans. 17 musicians playing over 30 songs, will be
roaming the tide line.
Find out more about the event here. We’ll see you on the beach!
Fancy a long weekend packed with oceanside entertainment and creativity? Book a self-catered retreat by the two miles of beach and enjoy two days of sea-themed, sustainably minded festivities.
