Liverpool Psych Fest announce major launch event
Psych Fest have revealed details of An Opening Dispatch, the launch event for this year's festival which will take place across several venues and involve virtual reality, art, DJs and live performance
'VR adventures, digi-grit noize and print explorations' will take over FACT, Bold Street Coffee, Ropewalks Square and the Black Lodge on Friday 26 August, as Liverpool Psych Fest 2016 gets off to a suitably PZYK start.
'An Opening Dispatch' runs from 4pm and comprises a virtual reality workshop and demos, an exhibition, DJs and a live performance from Bonnacons of Doom.
The workshop (at FACT, 4-8pm) will preview Perambulator v.1 – a virtual reality artwork bringing together Super Furry Animals illustrator Pete Fowler, the band's Huw Bunford and Liverpool’s own art wizards Draw&Code, which has been commissioned for this year's Psych Fest with support from Arts Council England. Participants will be able to get an insight into the artists' creative process, and view a showcase of the several virtual reality works that have been commissioned for this year's festival. Tickets are free but booking is required (and you can do that here).
The party then rolls on to Bold Street Coffee (7-11pm) for the opening of a month-long PZYK exhibition, combining noise and psych sounds with large-scale print and moving image. At 9pm, Ropewalks Square (between Bold Street Coffee and FACT) will play host to a live performance from Liverpool drone crew and PZYK house band, Bonnacons of Doom.
Finally, festivities end at the Black Lodge, where PZYK DJs will be spinning until the early hours and attendees will be able to get a taste of the festival's own beer, PZYK Guruguru Brain IPA, courtesy of the Black Lodge brewers.
Psychedelia in Film programme at FACT
A Field in England
Also heralding the start of this year's Psych Fest is a programme of Psychedelia in Film at FACT Picturehouse.
Inspired by the festival, FACT will screen four films of a psychedelic bent: cult classic Holy Mountain, psych thriller Enter the Void, Ben Wheatley's visceral period trip A Field in England and Věra Chytilová's 1960s masterpiece Daisies.
The screenings take place each Wednesday from 31 August to 21 September. FACT will also be presenting a programme of artist-made short films at Psych Fest itself (programme to be announced ahead of the festival).
The full programme of screenings at FACT is as follows:
Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky), 31 Aug, 6.30pm, The Box
Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé), 7 Sep, 6.30pm, The Box
A Field in England (Ben Wheatley), 14 Sep, 6.30pm, The Box
Daisies (Věra Chytilová), 21 Sep, 6.30pm, The Box
Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia 2016 takes place at Camp and Furnace, Blade Factory and District in Liverpool on 23 & 24 September. See full details of the line-up and buy tickets at liverpoolpsychfest.com.