Radar: Hacky Birthday – FACT celebrates 10 this weekend

It’s a FACT milestone this year, and they sure as hell aren’t doing things by halves. This weekend (23rd February) is ten years to the day when the audio-visual-arts-and-everything-inbetween hub flung open its doors. To celebrate, they’re laying on a day of packed birthday activities, all with FACT’s typical inquisitive, fun, inspiring slant.

If you’ve been following the great ‘Bats & Bleeps’ installation (a table tennis table fitted with triggered samples, which creates a reactive musical piece as you play your best pingy pongy skills), its Battle Of The Bands championship is reaching its climax this weekend (5.30pm). Local acts have been battling it out over a number of weeks, and this Saturday sees Clinic go head-to-head with All We Are for the trophy. As well as that, Clinic will be DJing, All We Are will be playing live and electronica chap Afternaut will be presenting a special composition based on the piece. Phew.

Before all that, it’s also the final day to check out the impressive, tesla-coil-tastic Winter Sparks exhibition, and there’s a special performance by the DS Orchestra (2.30pm): a group of pupils from Holy Cross Catholic Primary School who’ve been working on Nintendo DS consoles and software specially created for FACT by bleepy bloopy musician Pixelh8. Sounds intriguing.

Elsewhere across the day there’s a number of typically off-the-wall birthday celebrations: a pass the parcel game, pin the tail on the donkey, bouncy castle, birthday cake and crazy golf: but all with a hacked, fun twist. We’d expect nothing less from the north west’s best multimedia institution. Long may it reign.

Hacky Birthday at FACT
Wood Street, Liverpool
Saturday 23rd February
Free, from 10am
(Open to all ages, but hacked crazy golf suitable for ages 5+ only)