Sunshine brought out the crowds for this year’s Sidmouth Sea Fest, and the organisers, Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, have been inundated with messages of appreciation.
The Friday Night Fundraiser on May 19 was followed by a day of free events and entertainment, with the theme Driftwood & Thrift.
This provided inspiration for community groups, artists and musicians. Sidmouth in Bloom planted a special starfish display which created a focal point for the festival and has now been moved to the Triangle.
The Sea Fest Crew built a new installation – a kinetic sculpture called the Clamship, an interpretation of the bivalve mollusc. It made entirely from found materials, up-cycled into a multi-sensory event and arts space; it doubled as a DJ booth, lighting up at night. The event's young DJs included 12-year-old Mat-Gee, Emme and Tallula.
The live music included The Naughty Steps, a young trio from Sidmouth, and up-and-coming Ottery band The Kabins. Other local bands the McSmiths, the Adders, the Jurrasix and Kula played to big crowds in the main marquee and the Sea Side stage.
Performances by Bicycle Ballet, Street Heat samba band entertained the crowds along the Esplanade with the ever-popular Sea Fest community choir led by Tess Bisson, singing with Sidmouth Primary School.
Louise Cole, director of Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, said: “We are delighted that so many local groups were represented and so many enjoyed the day. Sea Fest is a free non-commercial event for and by the community.
“It was fantastically well supported, with the money raised paying for the event along with the help of all our sponsors and grant funders and providing a seed fund for next year’s event. We run on volunteer power, paying only for production suppliers, so we are reliant on people coming along to support whether as contributors, buying a drink or a T-shirt or a raffle ticket – it is effectively crowd-funded in this way and supports our ethos to provide a free community celebration accessible and inclusive of all.”
Sea Fest T-shirts are still available to buy for anyone who missed out and would like to continue to support Sea Fest; contact info@sidmouthcoastalcommunityhub.org
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