There is little over a month left of the Folkestone Triennial and there is still lots to see. Chris Price took a free tour.

Lying dormant and vanquished in a sparse room at Folkestone Library is The Sea Monster. The part horse, part snake, part wallaby “discovered” by Charles Avery takes your breath away before whisking you to an imaginary island created by the artist.

On the walls of the room are drawings of scenes from the isle, a map of it and a small piece of paper detailing how the mysterious beast was “found”.

The library is the meeting point for the weekly Folkestone Triennial Friday tours run by local art and history experts. The choice of venue could not be better.

It is hard not to feel sad for Avery’s creation, regardless of whether you accept it doesn’t exist. Its ability to open your emotions in this way is why this is the ideal place to start any tour of the town’s three-month art festival.

The tour is being led by the Pavement Pounders, who share the duty of guiding the tours on alternate weeks with Folkestone resident and art critic Pryle Behrman. The Pavement Pounders walks weave local history and the town’s second Triennial together.

“This Triennial has more emphasis on local involvement this time,” said walk leader David Lay. “It gives us more reason to incorporate local history with it.”

A prime example is our next destination, Paloma Varga Weisz’s Rug People. The five-headed sculpture sits on the disused tracks at the former Folkestone Harbour railway station. Its forlorn and stranded appearance is aimed at mirroring that of the station itself, a shadow of its former self which has been left to decay. It carried First World War soldiers to the harbour to embark for France and was the terminus for the Orient Express until 2008.

“It doesn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to get a local history link with all of the exhibits,” said David.

No two Pavement Pounders tours are the same so real enthusiasts could happily go along to each of the walks and learn something different each time. However, they all end with a talk from a guest speaker, a role which falls today to artist Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen. The Dane is the man behind the 55 minute film Promised Land about the migrant camps at Calais. The film can be seen on Marine Parade next to Club Onyx.

In his chat, Nikolaj reveals he was inspired to create the piece after spending time working in the United Arab Emirates. Here he witnessed what he called “disempowered migrant workers” who he felt were badly treated by the local population.

After reading an article in a newspaper about the migrants based at Calais, Nikolaj knew where his Triennial project would take him.

“The way they thought people lived in England was so incredibly over the top and utopian,” said the 39-year-old.

“I thought it would be interesting to make a portrait of Britain through the vision of people who have not been there but are on the last frontier before they get to the country.

“As I got more and more into their community the film became more about treating these people like human beings and not like a number or statistic.”

While the walk gives an insight into how Folkestone links with the Triennial, no one can take in the entire festival in two hours. In truth, visitors need a day to make their way across the town to see all the 19 commissioned pieces for this year’s event and part of the fun is stumbling across pieces by yourself.

Yet the tour gives focus to the mammoth task of getting around all the exhibits and provides a poignant local context to many of the artworks.

“It has shown us a lot of the town we wouldn’t have visited,” said Andrew Tweed from Hertfordshire, who was in Folkestone for a weekend away with his wife.

“This has raised the town in our estimation. Often you only hear of Folkestone through negative headlines about immigration, as shown in Nikolaj’s film.

“But there are so many aspects to the town and the Triennial.”

Two-year film is a labour of love

It took more than two years for Nikolaj Larsen to make his film for the Folkestone Triennial.

During the five months of editing sometimes Nikolaj took the cameras back to Calais to capture better shots. It is shown across three screens and in surround sound.

“When I went there for the first time I found a village community which they call the Afghan Jungle.

“Some parts of the film are like a heist movie, where the immigrants are plotting their attempts to try and try again to get into the country.

"Also there is a love story, as one guy was travelling to England to follow a woman.

"My reason to make the film was to humanise them. My reason is to say these people are people.”

Folkestone Friday Tours run every week from noon. They take up to 15 people and last about two hours. There are also Saturday and Sunday tours led by various art experts. There are two tours per day starting at 10.30am and 2.30pm. All the tours are free but must be booked on 0845 202 0190 or at www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk. The Triennial runs until Sunday, September 25.