10th September 2026 -
13th September 2026
The 2026 festival theme was -That Other Place.
Drawing inspiration from the Isle of Portland’s proud oddness, the now-defunct Portland Fair, and local resident David Palmer’s extraordinary Fair archives.
That Other Place is about island-ness, otherness, and oddness as creative forces; new ways of seeing and living that can open up better futures.
In 2026, we brought this to life through artists and communities responding to the long lost Portland Fair alongside four ambitious, year-long artist projects rooted in the island.
Highlights of 2026 festival
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Find Us in the Slip Spaces by Ella Yolande
Photo by Finnbarr Webster
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Siren Song by Chloe Mantripp
Photo by Lily Barrett
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Lighthearted by Gavin Morris
Photo by Finnbarr Webster
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Out Out Party by Diverse City
Photo by Pete Millson
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Sea of Flags by LGBT+ group and Communities on Portland and in Nairobi
Photo by Zachary Culpin
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And So Our Shadows Dance by Light Space Color
photo by Pete Millson
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Plucky Dip by Helen Grant
Photo by Finnbarr Webster
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Island Beneath the Skin by Jamal Sterrett
Photo by Pete Millson
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Invocations by Jim Chuchu
Photo by Pete Millson
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Night Flowers by Liz Lake
Photo by Pete Millson
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Peculiar Arcana by Alexi Marshall
Photo by Pete Millson
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Fair Play by Jane Fox
Photo by Pete Millson
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Peculiar Arcana by Alexi Marshall
Photo by Pete Millson
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St Pauls and the Marbled White by Simon Lee Dicker
Photo by Pete Millson
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Ghosts of the Fair by Buried Giants
Photo by Pete Millson
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Portland Parade!
Photo by Pete Millson
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Portland Parade!
Photo by Pete Millson
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Carnivorous by Darcy Miller
Photo by Lily Barrett
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Tribe by Teatro Vivo
Photo by Lily Barrett
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Tales of Transformation by Felix C. Bill
Photo by Lily Barrett
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Siren Song by Chloe Mantripp
Photo by Lily Barrett
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Ball Run Palace by Carlos Cortes
Photo by Carlos Cortes
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Walls are Talking by Deborah Bowness
photo by Sandy Kirby
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Royal Mannerisms by Paul Le Keux
Photo by Lily Barrett
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Fair Play by Jane Fox
Photo Sandy Kirkby
b-side festival 2026 That Other Place Artists
SEE ALL ARTISTS
