Beat Carnival is delighted to announce being the Northern Ireland regional partner in Beach of Dreams, a UK-wide Coastal Arts Festival taking place from 1 May – 1 June 2025. The festival is the culmination of a year-long creative exploration of the UK coastline, during which artists and communities across the UK will come together to create new artworks in response to the coastal environment and climate emergency.
Beach of Dreams, supported by Arts Council England, will be delivered by Kinetika and partner organisations across the UK, including Beat Carnival. Arts Council England is supporting eight unique artistic commissions that will engage local communities in the festival’s themes. In Northern Ireland, this will be realised through Beat Carnival’s exciting new project, Our Siren Song.
Our Siren Song will be based on the Ards Peninsula coast, offering creative programmes that engage local artists, performers and communities in meaningful activities to highlight the beauty, heritage and ecology concerns of our coastline. The project will culminate with a community arts event at Millisle Beach on 17th May 2025 during the UK Beach of Dreams festival. Programme activities on offer include:
- art workshops inspired by the coast including pennant and puppet making,
- story-gathering during coastal walks and with community groups,
- song and music workshops,
- carnival celebrations,
- environmental appreciation and exploring ways to protect the coastline.
Beat Carnival is aiming to build collaborations to extend the programme in other areas of Northern Ireland’s coastline, from South Down to the North Coast.
Ali Pretty, Artistic Director of Kinetika and Beach of Dreams, visited Beat Carnival and the Ards Peninsula coast this week. She met with the Beat Carnival team to find out more about Our Siren Song plans, participated in coastal walks and attended a public meeting in Millisle hosted by Beat Carnival and Millisle Community Association.
Ali Pretty, Artistic Director, Beach of Dreams and Kinetika, commenting during her visit, said:
“I am deeply inspired by the passion and creativity of the Beat Carnival team and the vibrant communities along the Ards Peninsula. Our Siren Song is a powerful initiative that not only highlights the stunning beauty of this coastline but also brings people together to address the pressing environmental challenges we all face. It’s exciting to see how this project will unfold and contribute to the larger vision of Beach of Dreams.”
David Boyd, Founder/ Director at Beat Carnival said:
“We are thrilled to be part of this incredible nationwide initiative. Our Siren Song offers a unique opportunity to celebrate our beautiful coastline and connect with the wider Beach of Dreams vision across the UK. We previously worked with Ali and the Kinetika team on occasions during the past 20 years and are very much looking forward to doing so again. We are excited to work on artistic creation and on environmental concerns: the scope of the project’s theme requires collaboration with community organisers; ecology, culture and heritage experts; arts and outdoor activity lovers.
This week public discussion began for programme planning and the response from individuals, community groups, Ards and North Down Borough Council staff and representatives has been tremendous. We could not have had a better start, together bringing the spirit of creativity and community to life through this wonderful project”.
Our Siren Song will compose and perform a song with the people who make their lives on the coast and will inspire a call to action, to preserve this precious resource for future generations. A Siren sculpture will be created for the beach finale next May. This carnival celebration will mark the achievements of all involved and will reinforce the ongoing relationship between the people, their stories, and the coastline we all cherish.
To find out more about Our Siren Song and how to get involved, visit www.beatcarnival.com and/or follow on Facebook www.facebook.com/BeatCarnival and Instagram www.instagram.com/BeatCarnival
Find out about the UK-wide Beach Of Dreams project at https://beachofdreams.org
