The great news keeps on coming for our favorite bay in the whole world. Shortly after BBC Countryfile Magazine announced Sandown Bay as the winner of the Best Beach in Great Britain Award we have yet more excellent news coming from this amazing place where we live and work.

International Artist Katie Paterson has selected our very own ‘Science Beach’ as the 5th venue for her superb touring participatory artwork called ‘First There Is A Mountain. Katie’s first national participatory project will travel to 25 UK beaches, from tiny islands in Scotland to crowded city beaches in Southern England. Though the landscapes may vary, the project remains the same: to build sand mountains made from moulds, themselves fashioned from biodegradable biostarch and formed around 3D printed scale replicas of some of the world’s most famous mountains: Kilimanjaro, Fuji, Uluru, Stromboli, and Shasta. Beach goers are able to build their own micro-geologies and watch the tide wash them away, highlighting that when it comes to time and tide, nothing lasts forever. As we know coastal erosion is something that affects UK seafront communities all over the globe.

Freelance writer Paul Graham Raven has written a very special poem commissioned by Katie for the Sandown Bay event, and we’re delighted to say that Paul himself will travel to Science Beach to recite his work in person on the day.

Sandown Bay Isle of Wight. Venue No5. First There Is A Mountain. 12th May 2019.

Hullabaloo organiser Sharon George said “We’re as happy as winkles in a rockpool that First There Is a Mountain will take place at Hullabaloo this year. The international spotlight has well and truly turned towards Sandown Bay and it’s fitting that such a prestigious touring art project should come to one of the biggest free art/science celebrations in the country”.