Compass Festival: Reconnecting in 2021
Compass Festival is bringing life back to Leeds with free interactive art pieces to make you think, feel, and smile.
Compass collaborates with local artists and community organisations to create poignant and joyful art pieces in unusual settings – from shopping centres to phone boxes, and even the streets themselves.
The biennial festival was due to take place last year, but of course the pandemic played havoc on everyone’s plans. Even still, the Compass team felt they had to find a way to pull off the festival and reconnect with the people of Leeds in 2021.
“We were determined to support the artists we've commissioned, and to be a part of the gradual process of inviting people to be playful again in public spaces,” says Annie Lloyd, co-director at Compass.
So, Compass Festival is back, with events spaced out over the course of the year, allowing for Leeds locals to connect to culture once more in a safe and socially distanced way. This long, “slow” approach is a major departure from the busy 10-day programme of Compass Festivals past.
“We’re calling it a ‘slow’ festival this year,” says Annie. “It's slow out of necessity because we recognise that many people will need time to adjust to going out again. That said, we are really excited about being able to share the events with people in real time and real space.”
The festival kicked off in March with Pick Me Up (& hold me tight), a collective listening experience reaching audiences through the working phone boxes dotted all around Leeds. You’ve missed your chance to dial in to this one, but you can hear about the creation of the incredible project on the Compass Podcast.
Coming up in May, lovers of 80s pop culture will want to check out Anxiety Arcade, a full-sized arcade machine at Trinity Kitchen. Much like Pick me Up (& hold me tight), this interactive installation explores themes of isolation and mental health.
For Annie, live art is a valuable way to communicate about the issues surrounding mental health, because it connects with audiences in ground-breaking ways. She tells me that the Compass team consciously chooses to work with artists who prefer interactive mediums and are engaged with social issues.
“It's interesting that many of our projects this year explore mental health and isolation,” she says. “They've been in preparation since before the pandemic. It’s a reminder that these concerns were prevalent well before COVID-19.”
One event that may make you nostalgic for pre-pandemic times is One in, One Out: Leeds’ Smallest Gay Bar. This live art experience by Lucy Hayhoe is a playful homage to gay bars – sticky, vibrant, and sometimes contentious spaces that nonetheless offer familiarity and a rejection of queer isolation.
With events like this, Compass Festival is pioneering the post-pandemic art scene, bringing back Leeds’ incredible creative culture while remaining sensitive to everyone’s ongoing recovery. Those who are still nervous about leaving lockdown will be glad to hear that most of the Compass Festival experiences take place outside. They can be explored alone, in small groups or from home - so you get to choose who’s in your festival bubble!
Meanwhile, Annie is cautiously optimistic about the city’s re-opening. She says: “We’re wishing all our art colleagues the very best as we all strive to bring back arts and culture. There's only so much Zoom a person can tolerate after all.”
This is just a glimpse of what’s to come at the festival this year. To find out what’s in store for June and beyond, check out Compass Festival online.
Photography by Lizzie Coombes. Connect with Compass Festival on Instagram and Twitter.
