Having worked on the project since autumn last year, last night saw the culmination of months of work and it was great to step off the train at Milton Keynes and be greeted by the all the IF materials, posters and banners we had created! The whole city had been transformed, with weird and wonderful creations around every corner.

We were lucky enough to be visiting 3 of the festival highlights, Francois Delaroziere’s Magical Menagerie, Janek Schaefer’s installation ‘Asleep at the wheel’ and the amazing inflatable sculpture by Architects of Air. Off we went on 3 coaches, each group off to experience a different creation. The Magical Menagerie doesn’t disappoint,  but then it is the creation of Francois Delaroziere’s company, La Machine, who famously created The Sultans Elephant and the giant spider, La Princesse. From afar the Menagarie looks like an ornate carousel, but look again and you notice the significant difference…it’s square! Handing in our tickets we all run to get on one of the mechanical animals, up close they look even more amazing. As the carousel moves round, the animals move in different ways, handles and levers enable you to interact with the piece, move an ear of a byson or the head of an ant. It truly was amazing!

This was followed by a visit to an empty Sainsbury’s store to experience Janek Schaefer’s installation ‘Asleep at the wheel’, the vast empty space has been transformed to become home to three lanes of cars, dramatically positioned in the dark with their headlights eerily flashing on and off. In each car is a different sound bite and whether it was part of the installation or not, each car was accompanied by some interesting smells! The piece reflected how we’re constantly on the move, running out of road and resources. A little bit unnerving, but it certainly was an experience! It also makes you think about all the unused spaces we have in Newcastle and how they could be brought back to life.

Lastly we went off to the Architects of Air inflatable sculpture, but sadly high winds meant it had to be deflated for health and safety reasons! Such a shame after a month of glorious weather! It was a great night though, as we toasted the success of the festival, having worked with the festival marketing team for months, we had a well deserved tipple to mark the launch and toast to a successful 2010 festival, fingers crossed for a 2011 IF Festival!