New performing arts festival in shipping containers comes to Lubbock

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) - Those who visit the Lubbock arts district are no strangers to combining shipping containers and art as those containers that are part of the Charles Adams Studio Project are the backdrop for every First Friday, block party, and more. However, it is unlikely they have seen shipping containers used as performance spaces.

With The Outside In Festival coming to Lubbock, that is changing. They will now have the opportunity to attend world-class performances that creatively utilize these unique spaces for their stage.

Originally slated to debut in 2020 but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Outside In Festival is coming to Lubbock this spring from April 29-30. The festival will be held in the lot behind the Charles Adams Studio Project’s 5&J Gallery at 408 Avenue J, and most performances will take place in shipping containers throughout the lot.

The setting is unique, but so is the work. Inspired by the Over Het IJ in Amsterdam, the festival will expose the community to various inventive modalities of artistic expression by offering original non-traditional 15- to 35-minute performances. The work on display will span across the performing arts, including dance, theatre, performance art, mime work, and more. Performing this work in shipping containers not only lends itself to the downtown aesthetic, but also encourages the artists to be even more creative in their approach.

“We are providing both a platform and a new audience for these artists but also providing Lubbock an opportunity to see work that they may not normally have the chance to see,” Artistic Director Cory Lawson said. “Our hope is that audiences will come and discover something that blows their mind and has them thinking even days after the festival has ended.”

The festival also fosters cultural exchange by bringing together international, national, and local artists to perform.

“We have so many wonderful artists here in Lubbock, and this festival is going to not only give them an opportunity to showcase their own work, but also to meet and experience artists from around the world and to exchange ideas,” Lawson said.

Additionally, the festival will highlight the Lubbock community through the inclusion of local artisans and vendors, food trucks, musicians, and more on the festival grounds.

The Outside In Festival is a free event. For more information, visit outsideinfest.org or find The Outside in Festival on social media.

This program made possible in part through a grant from the city of Lubbock, as recommended by Civic Lubbock, Inc.

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