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Electric Medway Festival to return to venues in and around Chatham this October

A weekend of film screenings, art exhibitions and virtual reality games is coming to Kent.

The Electric Medway Festival is a celebration of all things digital and features a programme of unique activities taking place in and around Chatham.

Electric Medway Festival will return for 2023. Picture: Bracken Hake, Rikard Österlund, Tyler Austin and Tom Griffiths
Electric Medway Festival will return for 2023. Picture: Bracken Hake, Rikard Österlund, Tyler Austin and Tom Griffiths

The festival, which began during the pandemic as a mostly online event, is now in its fourth year and welcomes in-person visitors to experience art, technology and light projections all over town.

The flagship exhibition at this year’s festival is Electric!, a month-long display that opened at the start of October and will be available to visit until the last day of the festival.

The exhibition displays a selection of Electric Medway’s digital artwork dating back to 2020 and includes an arcade and gaming zone.

Visitors can drop into Sun Pier House from 10am until 4pm to see the exhibition.

The festival features art exhibitions, VR experiences, music and projections. Picture: Bracken Hake, Rikard Österlund, Tyler Austin and Tom Griffiths
The festival features art exhibitions, VR experiences, music and projections. Picture: Bracken Hake, Rikard Österlund, Tyler Austin and Tom Griffiths

Fans of virtual reality can also stop off at Chatham Library to experience Tales from Soda Island, an animated VR series created for Meta Quest.

The storytelling adventure takes place inside the headsets, which are free to use and suitable for ages 7 and over.

The VR experience will be open on Thursday, October 26 and Friday, October 27 and, although it’s free to join, it’s advised that visitors book their slot online in advance here.

The festival will also boast a screening of the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla at the Historic Dockyard Chatham, a digital screen printing workshop at Intra Arts and live electronic music popping up throughout the weekend.

The festival’s stunning finale will see light projections and an after-dark lantern parade taking place at Melville Court and the Second Chance Community Centre in Brompton.

The parade will start at 5pm from Melville Court and will last until 7pm on Sunday, October 29.

The full range of festival events from Thursday, October 26 to Sunday, October 29 are free to join and open to all ages, although some activities are suitable for older children only.

You can find the festival programme on the Electric Medway website.

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