Published at 11:59, Thursday, 22 May 2008

ORGANISERS of a Cumbrian art festival are looking for a Lakeland inn to take part in a unique twinning project with a pub in Germany.

By Nicola Park

The project has been dreamt up by two German artists as part of the FRED art festival, which is set to run from September 26 to October 12. 2008.

Kaspar Wimberley and Susanne Kedeilka will be choosing a pub in Bavaria to take part in the twinning scheme but are looking for help to find a suitable hostelry in the Lake District.

They decided to pick two pubs in Cumbria and Bavaria because the regions have a lot in common. Both are well known for their mountains and lakes, as well as having a reputation for good food and beer.

Mr Wimberley said: “We want to see how people interact when you bring pubs from different countries together in this way. How will our digital guests become a part of the local pub community?

“We’re hoping that people will share tales, jokes and local observations with their counterparts. Maybe a few lasting friendships will even be formed.”

The artists are calling their piece Regulars or Stammgäste and the unusual twinning arrangement will continue for the duration of the FRED festival. international experiment.”

If you run or know a pub that you think would be suitable for the project you can contact the festival organisers by emailing fred@fredsblog.co.uk or calling Hannah Stewart on 017683 71561 (on Thursday and Fridays) by June 2. The pubs should have access to a fast broadband connection and a mix of regulars and visitors. Mr Wimberley will visit the short listed pubs the following week to find the one that will work best in the twinning project.

During the sixteen day FRED art festival artists from the UK and overseas will take their work out of the confines of the art gallery and into the Lakes. Previous FRED events have seen work on buses, on fells, under lakes, in woods, at service stations, down the pub and around a mountain. For further information on FRED visit www.fredsblog.co.uk.

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk