by Lesley Bellew

The Electric Lantern Festival is all set to light up Tunbridge Wells in a nine-day arts event.

The festival is a unique platform for local artists, performers and producers to highlight their talents.

It covers a broad spectrum of the arts including film and video, photography, sculpture, music, comedy, drama and literature.

Film-maker and ELF director Sam Marlow, from Pembury, is the brainchild behind the event and has worked tirelessly to get the festival off the ground. ELF has grown from his original Lantern Festival which ran from 2007 to 2010.

Sam said: “Film and art should be accessible to all.

“We have talented professionals working alongside keen amateurs to offer a fantastic programme of events.”

“An integral part of the festival has been the creation of a feature-length film The Tunbridge Wells Movie, made up of a number of shorter stories. The finished article will be shown on Sunday, September 11, at the Trinity Theatre – the culmination of eight months’ work.”

The Trinity will also host art exhibitions, video and live performances.

In addition, paintings, sculpture and installations will feature at pop-up exhibitions in The Corn Exchange in The Pantiles, where there will be an Art and Craft market on Saturday and Sunday, September 10 and 11. The bandstand will feature music and performance with a six foot square artist’s pad and materials, available for artistic audience participation.

Young artists – and adults – should enjoy Splat Mob. A giant canvas and paint will be set out in front of the Museum and Art Gallery and members of the public will be invited to reveal their Picasso or Pollock aspirations.

The Sussex Arms will host two comedy nights in its vaults. Scott Kingsnorth will be producing a live sketch-show The Kingsnorth Lobotomy Live, and Comedy Night at The Sussex will feature emerging and established talent on Thursday, September 8, at 8pm.

Puppet show Baba Yaga will perform at the Trinity on Saturday, September 10. Based on the Russian fairy tale of a witch who eats children, The Rubber Souls Theatre Company has put its distinctive stamp on the tale. Baba Yaga is portrayed by a masked performer, with the tale’s heroine Sonja played by a puppet.

Among the films to be shown at the Trinity from Friday, September 9 to Sunday, September 11, include Venus and The Sun, written and produced by ex-Skinner’s students Reuben Grove and Andy Brunskill.

It is a warped, witty reimagining of the Venus and Adonis myth, transporting the essential elements of Ovid’s classical tale to 21st century, celebrity-obsessed London.

Africa United, directed by Debs Gardner-Pattison is the story of children who travelled their continent to watch the World Cup.

For the full programme of events from Saturday, September 3 to Sunday, September 11, visitwww.electriclanternfestival.co.uk