Bristol's Simple Things Festival has announced Simple Things EXT. – an extended programme of unique performances, talks and art installations supported by Arts Council England in the week preceding the main festival.
The festival will partner with At-Bristol Science Centre to present Planetarium Sessions, a series of three audio-visual performances in the intimate surroundings of the projection-mapped planetarium dome, from October 17-19. Acts will include The British Paraorchestra, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Dopplereffekt. Panel discussions will be held at the Watershed over the weekend of October 21-22.
"Extending the festival beyond the main Saturday event is something we’ve wanted to do for many years," Simple Things' Luke Sutton (pictured) told Music Week. "In 2014, we introduced the first Opening Concert with Caribou, and the next natural progression was to make Simple Things a week-long event. With the help of Arts Council England, we’ve been able to make that a reality.
"The overall vision was to include an element of art, some exclusive performances and talks, and to make Simple Things a week-long event of exciting art and music. We wanted to take the booking policy and vision we had for the festival and extend it across a full week of programming.
"The panel discussions held at Bristol’s iconic Watershed is something I’m very much looking forward to personally. We’re going to be addressing some key topics in the current musical climates including how musical creativity can be financed in the modern digital era and whether UK festival lineups are all looking a bit similar to each other, which is something I’m sure we’ve all noticed. We’ll have an interesting array of moderators and panelists from Boiler Room, RBMA and Gideon, who co-created my favourite Glastonbury venue The NYC Downlow."
The Simple Things Festival takes place across various venues in Bristol on Saturday, October 22 with artists such as Kano, Warpaint, Death Grips and Nina Kraviz.
"The hope is that the Simple Things EXT. programme expands the appeal of the festival beyond the one-day event and we have people coming away from the week having a good time but also got a better idea of what we are trying to achieve with Simple Things as a whole – celebrating contemporary music, art and culture and trying to push the envelope for Bristol," added Sutton.
