Ipswich opens up to a whole new world of art

Gaia, a giant globe featuring NASA imagery of the Earth's surface, is at Ipswich Town Hall until Sunday

An annual celebration of arts and culture has returned to a town for the first time since the pandemic.

Spill Festival features works across Ipswich by local and international artists, including a giant globe suspended in the Town Hall.

Artistic Robin Deacon said visitors gasped at Gaia, which is based on NASA imagery of the Earth's surface.

"It's that wonderful moment of realisation of seeing the world in front of you," he said.

Spill has been running since 2007 and has more than 100 events taking place until Sunday.

More than half of these are free, which Mr Deacon described as "super important" to make art accessible.

Edmund Ngai said he hoped Spill would change the perception of Ipswich

Among the attractions is Kids Build a Future, an activity space where children are encouraged to design a playground, which the festival hopes to bring to life.

"It's been phenomenal, we've had so many creative ideas from these very young kids," artist Edmund Ngai said.

"Ipswich has a reputation of being an old, industrial town.

"We want to evolve it into becoming a creative town - a place where everyone says 'yeah, I really want to go there, because it's really cool'."