As we’re slowly stepping out of Summer, dragging our heels, I’m up on Dartmoor enjoying a rare day off but reluctantly still pondering work in the back of mind. We’re now edging into October and I can’t help but think that this time last year things were beginning to slow down. The holidaymakers were heading home, the streets were looking quieter and in general the pace was easing. For us, Artizan was looking forward to its final two exhibitions of the year and a handful of events that came with them, whilst beginning to think about plans for 2018.
The picture this year could not be more different. Our students from TTPL help us curate these articles and when I asked our current resident Italian, Emma, to get researching, I had nearly two pages of upcoming events returned to me! Looking at our own calendar, the story was much the same I realised, with overflowing exhibitions, pop-ups and performances to enjoy before we can even begin to think about 2019…
We’re definitely not complaining, it’s great to see such a strong showing of activity going into Autumn. It’s a follow on from an overwhelmingly busy Summer of activity as 2018 has seen a huge amount of energy put into new programming, with arts venues and creators across Torbay raising the bar.
And the range of activity in October is a perfect showcase for this with everything from Britain’s Seafood Feast visiting the three towns, through a diverse showing of performances at the Palace Theatre (including Shakespeare Oct-01, comedy with Harry and Chris Oct-06 and music with Wall of Floyd Oct-07), to the annual English Riviera Film Festival with a huge array of talks, exhibitions, workshops and screenings (join us at Artizan for a talk on “Torbay in the Movies” with Kevin Dixon Nov-01).
The list goes on as the energy to bring Torbay to life all year round with inspiring arts activity being boundless recently. I’d encourage everyone to get out there and enjoy what’s on offer and match this unbridled spirit from our local creative producers with an indulgent appetite not just for this month’s seafood, but for culture in all its shapes and forms.
