The Jurassic Coast Earth Festival 2012 is a celebration of England’s only natural World Heritage Site. From May to September, coastal and gateway towns in Dorset and East Devon are hosting an exciting programme of events that fuse art and performance with science, giving us a new way of seeing where we fit into the history of time.
With the eyes of the world on the London 2012 Games, the Jurassic Coast provides a stunning backdrop to Weymouth and Portland’s sailing and windsurfing events. The Jurassic Coast Earth Festival is also part of Maritime Mix: London 2012 Cultural Olympiad by the Sea www.maritimemix2012.co.uk. It is also going to be a lot of fun!!!
The festival will have some specially commissioned Arts Projects, including:
Onboard – a low-carbon simulated flight on Jurassic Airlines; fly back 185 million years and ‘visit’ other natural world heritage sites
Pliosaur – an enormous cinematic, walk-in Jurassic lizard – big enough to eat a T-Rex
Celebration of Time – with surrealist singer songwriter Robin Hitchcock and poet John Hegley
26 and 7 Bones – stories and performance, engaging hands and feet, people and place, along the Jurassic Coast.
There will also be a range of co-produced Events including:
Lyme Regis Fossil Festival
Rock Around the Coast, along the length of the World Heritage Site
Durlston Earth Festival
Natural Seaton Festival
Natural History Museum and Jurassic Coast Exhibition at the Weymouth Bayside Festival
Exmouth Earth Festival, including Nowhere Island
Have a Go, stone masonry at Lulworth Heritage Centre
Jurassic Coast Activity Days, West Bay
The Jurassic Coast Earth Festival 2012 is led by the Lyme Regis Development Trust in partnership with Creative Coast, the Jurassic Coast Partnership, The Natural History Museum and the Regional Educational Legacy in Arts and Youth Sport (RELAYS). It has received funding from the Arts Council England, the Heritage Lottery Fund, RELAYS, DEFRA, Dorset AONB, West Dorset District Council, the Fine Family Foundation and many others. It is also an officially recognised UNESCO event.
Full details for all events can be found at www.earthfestival2012.org
