Birmingham-based festival moves online

Be Festival, an annual European festival of performing and visual arts, is set to go ahead on online platforms from May 7 to 16, and will be free for audiences to watch and participate.

Created by Be Festival directors, Isla Aguilar and Miguel Oyarzun, Be at Home Festival will explore how artists are able to present work within the context of the current lockdown.

The programme offers a mix of live performance in isolation including theatre for an audience of one, a circus performance from an artist’s living room as well as films and talks.

Audiences will be able to join in with the festival’s trademark communal dining experience in their own homes with special daily recipes and cocktail making classes plus an end of festival online party.

Artists set to take part include David Espinosa, Edurne Rubio, Maria Jerez, Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere, Squarehead Productions, Francesc Serra Vila and DJ Glynn Phillips.

Isla Aguilar and Miguel Oyarzun, directors of Be Festival, said: “In these uncertain times we absolutely wanted to keep the spirit of Be Festival alive.

"We wanted to continue to support our network of artists and still be able to bring together a programme of innovative art from across Europe that our audiences have come to expect each year.

“Although we are currently in lockdown online platforms present an exciting opportunity for artists and audiences to connect and engage.

“The Be at Home Festival will do just that, albeit on a smaller scale. Our ethos will still be at the heart of it but with the added potential to reach a much wider online global audience who might be looking for an inspiring diversion.

“In terms of what to expect, there will be intimate live performances, beautiful evocative films, an internet theatre challenge and a DJ party to end it all.

"We can’t wait to share the Be Festival communal experience online.”

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