This October, Dreamy Place Festival returns to Brighton & Hove and Crawley, featuring high-powered lasers inside pyramid sculptures, captivating holograms, and an immersive light and sound installation in a normally inaccessible tunnel beneath Brighton Station. Over two weekends, the festival will showcase a mix of creative technology and arts, highlighting both local and globally renowned talent.
The majority of the festival’s events are free to attend.
“We’ll be transforming familiar spaces and lighting up hidden places,” said Jamie Wyld, Director of videoclub, the organisation responsible for producing the festival, previously known as Brighton Digital Festival, since 2023. “Dreamy Place is all about collective experiences and encouraging people to think about how new creative technologies can arouse curiosity and spark creativity.”
Guest Curator for Dreamy Place 2024, Lexi Zelda Stevens, added, “Many of the artworks in this year’s festival connect the ancient past with the future through playful use of cutting-edge technology. The artists’ interests span the contemplation and celebration of light in ancient civilisations, to magic, witchcraft, and collaboration – between non-humans and ordinary members of the community.”
Dreamy Place Highlights
- Crawley: Friday 4 – Sunday 6 October
- Vessels by Limbic Cinema: Pyramid light sculptures in Queens Square, featuring atmospheric lasers and smoke, offer a contemporary take on ancient monuments that drew people together to celebrate the sun. A rare opportunity to experience vivid 3D forms created by high-powered lasers up close.
- Dewiniaith by Megan Broadmeadow: Interactive holograms at Crawley Bandstand blend ancient magic with advanced technology. Drawing on Welsh folklore and song, Megan asks, “What happens when the old meets the new? What magic will we rely on in the future, and who will be practising it?”
- Dream World Creative Workshops: Young people can explore creativity using 3D pens and iPads, digitally drawing life forms and structures and embarking on imaginative space journeys.
- Artists’ Talks & Workshops: A series of workshops supporting artists and creatives, covering topics such as AI in art, project design, and funding.
- Outdoor Film Projections: A trail of works by local filmmakers projected onto Crawley town centre walls in collaboration with CFI Media, on Saturday 5 October.
- Brighton & Hove: Friday 25 – Sunday 27 October
- Ammonite by Collectif Scale: A light and music installation in the historic Cab Road tunnel beneath Brighton Station. The installation gives the illusion of organic movement, creating an otherworldly experience for visitors.
- V1: Content Aware by Felicity Hammond: This artwork, housed in a shipping container in Jubilee Square, connects geological and data mining. It is part of Photoworks Weekender and Dreamy Place, with future versions planned for London, Derby, and Edinburgh.
- Imagining Otherwise by Flexer & Sandiland: South East Dance presents an immersive digital dance performance exploring the infinite possibilities created by our daily choices. Saturday 26 October.
- Film Trails: Curated film trails across Brighton, in collaboration with Oska Bright Film Festival and Carousel, showcasing learning-disabled artists and filmmakers.
- Days of Wonder Weekender: A family-friendly weekend at Hove Museum, featuring hands-on experiments with optical toys and analogue technology.
- Transmission by Tewa Barnosa: An audiovisual portal at Gallery Lock-in, offering an immersive experience through AI and language, created by the Libyan artist Tewa Barnosa.
- Asian Futurism Talks: A discussion about how creative technology is being used to reimagine Asian heritage, on Sunday 27 October at The Old Market.
For more information, visit dreamy-place.com.
