Beach of Dreams flags

Beach of Dreams event paves way for next year’s nationwide festival

On Saturday 31 August, MSL Hastings will unveil a spectacular display of Kinetika’s 500 naturally dyed pennants, planted on the West Hill, high above Hastings old town and beach. The event is part of the town’s annual Coastal Currents festival and marks the launch of MSL’s part in Kinetika’s 2025 national Beach of Dreams festival. Kate Hodges writes.

The Parade 10.15am
The celebrations will begin at the Old Bathing Pool site in west St Leonards at 10.15am. A flag-bearing parade will make its way along the seafront to St Leonards, follow the promenade to the Old Town, and then up to Hastings’ West Hill. MSL are looking for local people to take part in the procession; please contact Helen (projects@mslprojects.co.uk) if you or your group are interested in joining us.

The West Hill 11.30am-3pm
A programme of free events on the West Hill is open to all:
Meet Anders Lustgarten, the Hastings-based, internationally acclaimed writer, who is writing a play for the Beach of Dreams project based on the stories of people who live, work and play along the stretch of coast from Dungeness to Bulverhythe. We’d love to tell your story; come and share your memories, family history, tales and thoughts about your local shoreline.

Design your own mini-pennant: take part in a creative, family-friendly drop-in workshop run by Radiator Arts and Ali Pretty, artistic director of Kinetika. Artists of all ages will create their own small-scale version of the Beach of Dreams pennants on hand-dyed seed paper, which will then join dozens of others fluttering on our imagined ‘beach’.

Take some time out to conjure up your fantasy shoreline and add it to our Beach of Dreams collection to inspire Anders and other dreamers around the country.

Enjoy sea-inspired musical performances and experience the breathtaking spectacle and fluttering sounds of the pennants, and the view of the town and coastline.

Everyone is welcome; see MSL’s social media channels for updates or contact Kate or Emma on emma@mslprojects.co.uk.

About MSL Hastings
MSL Hastings is lead regional partner and creative agency for Beach of Dreams activity along the 30-mile stretch of our coast from Dungeness to Bulverhythe from the eve of 29 May 2025 in Hythe, culminating in a twilight finale in Bulverhythe on Sunday 1 June 2025. It forms part of Kinetika’s national Beach of Dreams Festival.

MSL is a Hastings-based creative agency that celebrates individual creativity, community and place. It has been creating performances, exhibitions and installations regionally that engage and inspire people, and transform communities for twenty years.

About Beach of Dreams and Kinetika
Produced by arts organisation Kinetika, Beach of Dreams is a UK-wide coastal arts festival celebrating and exploring the unique heritage, cultures, and climate futures of our coastlines, which takes place across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland from 1 May–1 June 2025. 
Kinetika is a charity and a National Portfolio organisation of Arts Council England. It unites communities through exceptional silk-based designs and public spectacles that inspire social action and enrich local environments. Its methods engage and empower diverse communities, enhance social cohesion and foster a sense of pride and belonging.

Flagship projects include En Flag as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the Paris Olympics (2024); Thank You Dance for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant (2022); Silk River, a British Council commission for the UK/India Year of Culture in (2017); T100 Festival, a walking, talking and making outdoor arts festival in Thurrock, WOMAD, the Olympics and Cultural Olympiads (Atlanta, Athens, Beijing, London, Paris).

The Beach of Dreams Silks is a dynamic national artwork by Kinetika, set to tour the UK next year as part of the nationwide coastal arts festival Beach of Dreams. This captivating installation features hundreds of naturally dyed hand-woven silk pennants. Designed to be mobile, each pennant tells a unique story, representing an individual’s dream intricately connected to a specific part of our cherished coastline. Collectively, these dreams weave together a national tapestry of hope and inspiration for our shared future.

Anders Lustgarten, commissioned writer, on the beach at Dungeness: Image Credit: Ali Pretty

About Anders Lustgarten
Hastings-based writer Anders Lustgarten has been described as ‘our most exciting political playwright’. He has recently published his first novel, Three Burials, and is working on his second, which has been optioned for film. His play Lampedusa (2015), a definitive story of the refugee crisis,  has been performed in forty countries. He won the Catherine Johnson Award for A Day at the Racists and won the Harold Pinter Playwriting Award for If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep.

Prior to becoming a writer, Anders was an international 400m runner and activist.

The Anders Lustgarten commission is a contemporary ‘pilgrims tale’ focusing on the stories of people who live, work and spend time on the shorelines from Dungeness in Kent to Bulverhythe in East Sussex. Created in collaboration with MSL Projects Hastings, the piece will focus on the region’s fascinating history, present and future. It will explore the changing coastline as well as the interlinked flow and displacement of people within the UK and globally.

Also in: Community Arts