MoonFest, a nine-day astronomical extravaganza, has now blasted off at Midlands Arts Centre to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings!
MAC Associate Company Little Earthquake is joining forces with Midlands Arts Centre and the University of Birmingham to deliver MoonFest, a carefully curated programme of space-tacular exhibitions, screenings, performances, and artist-led activities. Audiences of all ages will have a special chance to enjoy entertaining and thought-provoking ways to connect with this landmark event.
To officially open the festival, Little Earthquake will be screening a specially commissioned online film at precisely 1.32pm Co-ordinated Universal Time – exactly 50 years after Apollo 11 blasted off to the very minute. The film is part of the Launch Intervention event, welcoming audiences to the festival programme and what lies ahead.
Throughout the nine-day festival, attendees are also able to touch base at Mission Control, a hub of information for all things MoonFest-related, open Tuesday 16 – Wednesday 24 July.
Noctium’s sonic experience, Hymns for Robots, is brought to MAC’s Foyle Studio on Thursday 18 July. Exploring the fascinating tale of Delia Derbyshire – the unsung genius behind the Doctor Who theme tune – this event combines strange sounds, weird wobbulations and unique storytelling.
On Saturday 20 – Sunday 21 July, Clayground Collective invites visitors to use their imaginations and take part in sculpting an epic lunar landscape from two tonnes of clay! Crater Formations will transform MAC’s terrace into a massive moonscape, complete with planets, asteroids, spaceships and astronauts.
MoonFest producers Gareth Nicholls and Phil Holyman said: “For nine special days, we want to make Birmingham a place for looking back at a dramatic period in human endeavour and looking ahead at the future of our place in the universe. MoonFest is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to capture, commission and celebrate local responses to this iconic global event.”
Families can also enjoy a marvellous DIY Zoom-in Cinema experience on Saturday 20 July with FAMALAM. The event gives attendees the chance to build and decorate space vehicles using scrap and crafts, before setting off on an inter-galactic parade to MAC’s Cinema, where a space-themed film will be hitting the screen!
Little astronauts can discover the delights of experimental music during the MoonFest edition of Supersonic Kids Gig, taking place on Sunday 21 July. With disco lights, doilies, fancy dress and xylophones, this event promises to be a wildly adventurous voyage into the unknown realms of music and art.
For the final day of MoonFest, Exit Productions Ltd will be hosting The Mission: Occupy Mars – a live immersive game taking place on Wednesday 24 July, in which players must work together to survive a hostile landscape as the Earth tears itself apart. With a chance to implement a new world order, what will players decide to do?