Take a Festive Spin at Firstsite

Ferris Wheel at Firstsite

Enjoy rides on our Ferris wheel in the fresh air from 3pm to 9pm each day from Saturday 17 to Friday 23 December. Tickets cost just £3.50 per person and can only be purchased on arrival.

Come along to enjoy a ride with your friends and family – then warm up inside with a hot drink or snack in our café – open until 9:30pm.

There’s also the opportunity to feed your imagination over the festive period too with a visit to one of the fantastic free art exhibitions. Currently on display are…

Denis Wirth-Miller: Landscapes and Beasts – Before his death in Colchester aged 94, Wirth-Miller’s work had been shown in London’s leading galleries and acquired by the Queen. The self-taught painter was both a friend and collaborator with Francis Bacon. This critically acclaimed largest retrospective of his work to date, includes over one hundred paintings by this influential artist, with many artworks from private collections that have never been seen in public before.

Mehdi Jalalaghdamian: Art In Exile – Currently living in temporary accommodation in Bournemouth after being moved from Colchester, Iranian rug maker Mehdi Jalalaghdamian is seeking asylum in the UK. Art in Exile features three rugs that illustrate a part of his journey from Iran to the UK. The pain-staking method of making each piece is a metaphor for Mehdi’s journey to establish a new life far from his home in the city of Tabriz, one of the centres of the hand-made carpet industry in Iran.

Reena Saini Kallat: Leaking Lines – Reena Saini Kallat is an artist who lives and works in Mumbai, with an interest in ideas of citizenship and national belonging. Leaking Lines includes ten diptychs which use line, a primary artistic tool, to represent contested boundaries of land and borders in countries around the World, together with images of the landscapes which they divide.

Sally Shaw MBE, Director of Firstsite says: “We hope our Ferris Wheel will provide a great opportunity to bring the whole of Colchester together to celebrate, relax, refuel and socialise.  At Firstsite there really will be something for everyone this festive season, so come along with friends and family to enjoy time together, explore your creativity and meet new friends inside and outside our friendly and inclusive gallery.”