You Are Here | Par

People.

Just going about the place, doing their thing.

But where have they come from? 

Where are they going? 

Sometimes it's amazing just to watch them.

But what if you could take a journey into their heads? 

Shine a spotlight on their hearts?

Eavesdrop on their dreams?

As the sun fades across Par Sands, come gather at the edge of the land and sea for a peek behind the curtain. Draw closer to a landscape stage and witness a few moments with a cast of characters from Par, Tywardreath, St Blazey and beyond.

Brought to you by SproutSpoken, You Are Here is an immersive outdoor experience, weaving people and place with words and space.

Featuring writers and performers from Par and surrounding area, together with a wider creative team from further afield in Cornwall, this one-off live event on much-loved Par Sands is not to be missed.

Following on from the first You Are Here which took place in Newquay in 2022, this event in Par is part of a duchy-wide project for 2023 - with events also taking place in Bude, Penzance and Looe. 

Our work is kindly supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and with the additional generous support of FEAST. We're also grateful to Cllr Andrew Virr who has been able to support the project via the Community Chest fund.

USEFUL INFO

You Are Here takes place outdoors in a space exposed to the elements with uneven footing in places, so please plan to dress accordingly. We recommend wearing wellies! Lasting around an hour, there is no seating available and you will be required to stand as well as walk around. Please note that there are no toilets. Unfortunately the experience is not practicable for users of standard wheelchairs. The precise location will be made clear on the night, so please arrive at the meet-point in good time.

Meet-Point: 

Please arrive by 8pm.

Par Beach Long-Stay Car Park (at the east end of Par Sands) near the ‘Cognitive Coffee’ truck. 

Age Guide: 14+

PLEASE DO READ IF YOU HAVE A FEW MOMENTS:

Buying 'tickets' and our approach to a broad definition of 'access'...

We've developed this event with the public realm in mind. As we see it, both those attending and taking part will, for a short while, simply inhabit a space that day-to-day is freely available to the public. And on the night of You Are Here, this will be no different. The place chosen has informed the creative process from the outset and will undoubtedly play a ‘main role’ in conjuring magic on the night. We hope it might invite you to consider it differently as a result. 

With this in mind, it did not feel right to have any barriers or gated entry or to 'sell tickets' for the event. As a piece of work about the local area, made with members of the local community and taking place in outdoor space freely available, we didn't want there to be a transactional exchange in order to access the experience. 

This approach also means that You Are Here is potentially extra-accessible for those in the locality who (1) might be passing/turn up on the night; (2) who might not be able to afford to come or want to risk limited resources on something like this; (3) who might not make up a typical audience for an event of this kind. 

However, we are still asking you to 'book tickets’. We're doing this so that we can keep you updated about the event and to help us learn more about who the You Are Here audience is. A ticket won't be a condition of entry but we would love the chance to 'check you in' at the event - just so we can keep track of our audience numbers and who came etc.

There is of course a cost to making work like this. When you 'checkout' you will notice that we have included an option for you to make a donation alongside your 'free ticket’. If you have neither the means nor the inclination - please disregard this. We certainly won't be judging... or indeed checking! However, if you wish to we would welcome your generosity - particularly if you consider yourself someone who supports the arts in Cornwall, or (someone who might still be reading at this point!) and can hear the heart behind our thinking. Whilst it might sound odd for us to be pedantic about the semantics around ticketing/access - we have felt it important to separate things out... a stake in the ground establishing our ethos and mission. 

Free outdoor arts in the public realm are often funded civically and sometimes in conjunction with commercial sponsors. Whilst we have received public third sector funding from Arts Council England and FEAST - we would usually be expected to ticket our events, sales of which would make up a percentage of the project’s budget. However, in line with what we've tried to express above ie. an emerging commitment to a long-term vision of other similar projects that animate the public realm - if you’re happy to run with our rationale of 'free access to You Are Here on Par Sands' but also want to show your support by donating towards production costs incurred (thereby helping us balance the budget) please do!