Come to CAST to explore and play with shadow and light and make art and animation throughout the summer holidays!
Lightbox is a festival of free activities and entertainment for families, hosted in a specially constructed light box projection space.
Tuesday Lightbox
Drop into Helston Museum any time between 10.30am and 2pm to make shadow puppets, props, miniature worlds and wind up theatres. Then, take your creations up the road to CAST and bring them to life in the Light Box animation studio. Free admission, no booking required. Please be prepared to wait if sessions are particularly busy.
31 July: Wrecked on the rocks!
Investigate maritime triumph and misadventure around the museum. Make shadow ships, puppets and props and bring them to life (and disaster!) in the Lightbox shadow theatre.
7 August: Beasts on the loose
Make your own silhouette mask inspired by the weird, mythological and exotic creatures at the museum. Dress up and perform with your friends and family in the Lightbox shadow theatre
14 August: Henry the parrot
Explore the story of Henry the Parrot, sole survivor of a shipwreck at Cadgwith cove. Make your own winding crankie and reimagine his adventures in pictures. Then narrate and film your story as it unwinds in the Lightbox animation studio.
21 August: Things that go
Investigate the many ways cogs and wheels are put to use around the museum, from rolling the horse-drawn fire engine to squeezing the enormous cider press. Make a collaged machine with wheels and let it roll at the Lightbox Stop Motion Studio at CAST.
28 August: A world in your hand
Imagine a world in miniature and create it in a jam-jar lid, complete with tiny inhabitants. Bring it to the Lightbox animation studio at CAST and see it projected and transformed in scale on the big screen!
Saturday Lightbox
Drop into CAST between 10am and 2pm where there will be opportunities to explore light and shadow play spaces, dress up and pose for old-fashioned portrait photography sessions or have a go on the magical camera obscura portrait drawing machine. Free admission, no booking required.
Lightbox Cinema
Watch children’s classic animations from around the world every Saturday afternoon throughout August. Animated shorts 3pm, feature 3.45pm in the Lightbox cinema, with popcorn, drinks and a range of snacks available from CAST Café. Free admission, no booking required. Weekly film listings and times to be announced.
Story Telling
Special events by The Story Republic will take place on Wednesday 15 and Wednesday 22 August.
Little Story Seekers: 10am – 11am
Story telling and song for pre-school-age children. Free admission, no booking required.
Story Adventurers: 11.30am – 1.30pm
Interactive sessions for five to eight year-olds, based on well-known fairy stories. Free admission, booking information to be announced.
The Lightbox festival is funded by the Garcia Family Foundation, Feast, Little Parc Owles Trust and Arts Council England and is part of Groundwork, a season of exhibitions and events in special locations across Cornwall, organised by CAST in partnership with Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Kestle Barton and Tate St Ives. Lightbox is created by Lucy Grant of Heads & Hands, commissioned by CAST and hosted by CAST and Helston Museum.