What you notice when you stop looking.
The place you arrive at which you never set out for.
The eureka moment… when you’d given up.
Below the radar, behind the scenes, above your head.
From left of field. (Or right)
The story, painting or song you made (Out of all the stories, paintings and songs you couldn’t make.)
Everything in your peripheral vision. (When you are completely focussed ahead.)
The ideas you have… that you have no idea of.
Your thinking, when lateral.
Your wisdom, by accident.
The life you came upon while you had set out on another one.
The faith we have that we didn’t know about.
The divine vision we glimpse in unexpected places.
The art of looking sideways.

Sometimes when you strive too hard to see the face of God, you can miss God altogether. And yet, when you least expect it, an unusual event, a strange occurrence, can bring you into the presence of the maker without you even trying...

At the Festival this year the Art Of Looking Sideways will be reflected differently across the programme. From unusual collaborations between unexpected disciplines, to doing something old but in a new way, having the unexpected in unexpected places, to inviting artists and performers who work in unusual styles, contributors who have a sideways take on their area of expertise, to gathering festival goers to work in sideways ways themselves.