Food, drink, friendship and flag making at Mpulla House, Nairobi.

This summer, Sea of Flags has been stretching far beyond Portland, creating a colourful connection between communities in Dorset and Nairobi, Kenya.

Sea of Flags emerged from a desire to reclaim flags as symbols of care, solidarity and imagination. Created through LGBT+side, a family of LGBTQIA+ people based on the Isle of Portland, the project offers a hopeful and joyful alternative to the ways flags can sometimes be used to divide us.

As part of the project, creative flag-making packs travelled from Portland to Nairobi, where communities connected with Creatives Garage and NGLHRC Kenya, alongside individual participants, were invited to add their own ideas, designs and stories.

At Mpulla House in Nairobi, people came together for food, drink, friendship and an evening of flag making. The resulting flags will travel back to Portland, joining contributions made by local communities to become part of a growing installation at b-side Festival 2026.

It’s a creative exchange across thousands of miles – connecting people through making, solidarity and the idea that a flag can stand for something generous: welcome, belonging, pride, friendship and hope.

See the Sea of Flags at b-side Festival

Sea of Flags will be on display throughout b-side Festival, 10–13 September 2026, and it won’t be finished when the festival begins.

Visitors can add their own contribution during free flag-making workshops in Victoria Gardens on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, 11am–12 noon.

Come and make a flag, add your voice and help the Sea of Flags keep growing.