Bathing Beauties 08

The Bathing Beauties Festival is a new arts festival based on the Lincolnshire Coast in Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea.

The festival arose from an international competition created by artist Michael Trainor to design new beach huts for the 21st century. www.bathingbeauties.org.uk

A number of new huts were commissioned and installed on this stretch of the coast and the festival was devised as an extension of the competition.

Mantle was commissioned to run the festival in 2007, programming a range of unusual and interesting artwork, performances and installations in beach huts, on the promenade and on the beach. The festival saw an unprecedented number of visitors to the coast and was extensively covered in the media.

In 2008 Mantle managed the festival for the second time, creating a more ambitious event which included a procession created with local schools, Saturday fireworks and music on the beach as well as a wider range of performances and artwork during the day.

The Festival was supported by the Coastal Action Zone and Lincolnshire County Council.