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To the lovely Lakeside Theatre @Uni_of_Essex on Tuesday lunchtime for a press conference to launch the spring Arts on 5 schedule. As we try and shake off what has been this wretched estuary winter, anything with spring in the title certainly turns me on right now.

With coffee and charming conversation added to the equation, my sense of arousal was only added, as I got to engage with my wannabe artistic alter ego. I may not ever get to play the great Dane, but don’t rule out a third rate panto Dame treading the boards.

Not much slapstick at Arts on 5, but plenty of worthy and invigorating public art – perfect for Wivenhoe locals who want to experience the true meaning of the Town ‘n Gown relationship.

The good Steve Goatman, the Arts Co-ordinator on campus, was our host for the afternoon presser. A quick coffee and cake with an assortment of journos, creatives and Wivenhoe locals, and soon it was time for Steve to sell the schedule to us.

There wasn’t really much selling to do, to be honest. There is an incredible diversity of events happening at Arts on 5 between now and Easter, covering theatre, art, films, comedy and a burgeoning children’s season of shows.

This was the first time that @Uni_of_Essex has formally launched the Arts on 5 season with a press conference – a sure sign that the buzz currently being created on campus and beyond is worthy of celebration.

Ah yes – about this beyond: Wivenhoe locals really should celebrate the opportunities that the Lakeside has to offer. This is a space that isn’t just for the campus crowd – non-students account for 50% of ticket sales.

Tickets are priced at under £10; free entry is offered for all exhibitions at the Arts Exchange space. With previous curators including Steve McQueen and Jake and Dinos Chapman, that’s quite a saving on your £25 train fare to London to take in the latest cutting edge art.

Steve explained how many shows transfer directly from the London stage to the Lakeside. A combination of our geographic location, and the buzz that the campus has created for arts draws in many leading productions.

I’ve blogged before about some of the schedule that I’m personally looking forward to over the coming months. Highlights picked out during the presser included Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald (who was responsible for the riffs on the Sugarhill Gang output – blimey!) Comedy Central Live (seen as a “training ground for comedians who then transfer to TV“) and the specially produced programme for children.

The Holocaust Memorial Week was also rightfully singled out as a very special event in the programme:

“We are very proud to be part of Holocaust Memorial Week since 2007. The University is highly supportive of this. The theme for this year will focus on the pink triangle as a symbol of resistance.”

A particularly welcome local addition is the portrait exhibition planned, showing photographs of local Colchester survivors of the Holocaust.

Steve also elaborated more about the intriguing Intimate Bureaucracies exhibition, which explores the artistic process of art in transit. This has direct parallels with the work that the wonderful @LloydDavis is currently putting into place. I have plans to personally bring Lloyd to the Lakeside, via @15QueenStreet…

Keeping it #hyperlocal, and for Wivenhoe folk, a couple of events in the schedule also stand out: Wivenhoe locals Joe King and Rosie Pedlow have curated Strange Lights. This is the story of UFO sightings in Suffolk, as told through a rich media experience.

And then we have @wivmovingimage, taking the Phillip Road family friendly schedule slightly over to the left, slightly over to the Lakeside for a very challenging and well thought out spring schedule.

With more coffee calling to complete the lunchtime launch, all that was left was for Pasco-Q Kevlin, the Artistic Director at Essex University to share his vision for the arts on campus and beyond.

“I’m am incredibly proud to be working within this town and region. This is most definitely not just a programme of events for the University. We have put together a schedule that will hopefully also benefit Wivenhoe and Colchester.”

Pasco then explained how he sees Arts on 5 sitting somewhere in the middle between the Colchester Arts Centre and the Mercury Theatre, Colchester. The spring schedule on campus draws in elements of the leftfield found at the Arts Centre, but can also accommodate the casual arts crowd that can be found at The Mercury.

Sitting right in the middle of course is Wivenhoe. This programme of events can most certainly accommodate our small little estuary town, with all its many offbeat characters and observations.

So yeah – if Arts on 5 don’t turn you on, then you ‘aint got no switches. I left the Lakeside positively beaming.