Enjoy a late summer at the beach – Waterbeach, that is
The Waterbeach-based arts festival Summer at the Beach is back again this year, a bit later than usual.
This year’s event will be held from 10am to 5pm during the first three weekends in September (2-3, 9-10 and 16-17) in the ‘Terraces’ space of the former Waterbeach Barracks – used by the military as hangars for fire engines in the 1940s and then as a storage and vehicle maintenance area.
Summer at the Beach celebrates local artistic and creative talent, with this year’s exhibition showcasing ceramicists, milliners, textile artists, painters, photographers, filmmakers, sculptors, installation artists and printmakers.
This year’s event will also feature a new audio art venture in one of the terrace units on September 9 and 10. Experimental electronic artists from Sound Lab 103 will be interacting with the industrial architecture to create live and interactive sound installations that respond to the building, its history and the sonic properties of the space.
Alongside the art exhibition, Summer at the Beach will also be staging a range of cultural and creative events for all ages and interests, including poetry workshops (September 3), printmaking and clay modelling workshops (September 10), and a Ceilidh Night (September 16 – tickets, priced £3.50 per person, are available from EventBrite).
There will also be a creative space available throughout the exhibition, with free art materials to encourage budding artists to create their own unique pieces of artwork.
The Repair Café will also be back, by popular demand, at 11am-2pm on September 9, while the Pop-up Café will also be back again this year, serving a range of homemade cakes, snacks and refreshments each weekend during the event.
Gideon Pain, local artist and event co-ordinator, said: “We’re delighted to be back at Waterbeach Barracks this September for our Late Summer at the Beach.
“As well as some old favourites, we have some exciting new talent to showcase as well as lots of events and activities to inspire enthusiastic amateurs and the next generation. We can’t wait!”
Fiona Reardon-Rose, from the Waterbeach master developer Urban & Civic, added: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Summer at the Beach back again this year.
“The team puts in so much work to transform the Terraces into an amazing backdrop for this event, which is a great showcase for the talent of artists living in the area, as well as a chance to inspire the next generation and get everyone’s creative juices flowing.
“In this transformative year for the former barracks, as we prepare to welcome the first residents later this year, we’re so pleased to continue to support this important part of the area’s cultural calendar.”
All events and activities are free of charge and on a drop-in basis unless otherwise stated. For more information, visit facebook.com/people/Summer-At-The-Beach/100093268291018/.
