Plymouth Art Weekender

Plymouth Art Weekender returns to the Melville Building from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October, running 11am to 4pm each day. It's a city-wide celebration of Plymouth's independent creative scene that's been going since 2015, bringing together artists, organisations, spaces and audiences across the city.

This year it's part of Artober, the Royal William Yard's own month-long contemporary art festival, which is back for its third autumn there. The Weekender sits inside that, so the Melville Building is one of the main hubs for the weekend, but the whole thing reaches well beyond it. Over the three days, the programme gathers homegrown talent alongside artists visiting from further afield, with exhibitions, performances, workshops, screenings and talks filling galleries, artist studios, homes and unexpected spaces across the city.

Because it's city-wide, you're not just sticking to one spot. You can start at the Melville Building and then follow the trail to other venues, from proper galleries and working studios to people's homes and a few places you wouldn't normally think of as art spaces. It's as much about the people behind the work as the work itself, with the workshops and talks giving you a chance to hear from the creatives involved.

If you're planning to make a day of it, the Melville Building is open Friday 16, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, from 11am to 4pm each day. It's part of the wider Artober festival running throughout the month at Royal William Yard, so there's plenty more to see around the Yard if you're in the area.