East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Brief: To refresh our annual New Year's Eve experience for the people of Newcastle
After many years of creating an end of year New Year's Eve winter carnival on the streets of Newcastle, our challenge for 2017 was to come up with a completely different event in a new location that still retained many of the proven successful elements of previous years, in particular community engagement and some of dark and mysterious elements that are loved by both participants and the audience.
The year then, we have devised an exciting new piece of work. East of the Sun, West of the Moon is a bonfire build inspired by Norse mythology and local folklore which gradually emerged on Town Moor between Christmas and New Year.
Looking uncannily like a giant beast's lair, the bonfire was the centrepiece to the evening's unfolding narrative, which also featured a procession of community groups and a firework finale.
The event draws on many of the successful elements of our winter carnivals and also provided scope for lots of dramatic interpretation by participants.