Lyme Regis ArtsFest 2011

What a treat there was in Lyme and its surrounding area over the past 10 days, a surfeit of arts, crafts, exhibitions and workshops. There are over 60 ArtsFest artists who showcase their work in collaboration with local businesses. These include an exhibition of children's art, painting, poetry, drumming and dance workshops, interactive drawing at the museum, busking by young musicians and a Big Draw event at the Aquarium on the Cobb.

The whole festival included two major group exhibitions at the Town Mill Galleries and the Baptist Church Hall, open studios where you could meet artists in their environments and view their work and an art trail around the town where artists' work was on show in shops, cafes, pubs and other businesses.

A tremendous amount of work went into the organisation of the whole event which has been an important date in the town diary for the last eight years. What was so great about it was that even if you didn't want to take part in the workshops or found visiting an artist's studio on your own a bit daunting, you could just walk up and down the main shopping streets and take in a wide variety of artistic and photographic work. The Art Trail enabled artists to place their featured work in local shop windows which gave them access to an audience which might not normally go to an exhibition. It was truly amazing, and it all happens again next year, wow!

http://lymeregisartsfest.com/