AN exciting new arts event visiting Dorset this summer will see the moon come to earth.

Dorset Moon is organised by Inside Out Dorset, Arts by the Sea and b-side festivals, and is set to mark 50 years since the first lunar landing in 1969. The festival takes place at Nothe Fort in Weymouth from July 12, as well as Sherborne Abbey from July 5 and Bournemouth Central Gardens from June 28.

Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon installation will be the centrepiece for a full programme of free lunar-inspired events, called Under the Moon. Luke's creation measures seven metres in diameter and has been created from high definition NASA imagery of the moon's surface.

Accompanied by audio composed by BAFTA winner Dan Jones, the festival will offer an experience that is out of this world.

Under the Moon will have a different feel in each location, with some events the same at all three and others more site-specific. A Small Dream, commissioned by Inside Out Dorset and which combines outdoor dance and projection, will offer a unique show at each venue.

“Each part of the story is a stand-alone piece, but by viewing all three, audiences will be able to track the developing story of a tiny female robot on her perilous 400,000-kilometre journey from the Earth to the Moon,” explains Kate Wood, executive & artistic director at Inside Out Dorset. "The story of A Small Dream connects and contrasts the giant strides being taken by women in the space programme with the very traditional, but changing, view of Indian family life. As the robot travels into space she must confront her own dreams and, on landing, make sense of a new reality.”

A Small Dream is a collaboration between award-winning choreographer Hamabharathy Palani and R&D, an innovative interdisciplinary studio making films for projection and theatre. Palani will be dancing in person during the festival's visit to Weymouth.

The final weekend of Dorset Moon takes place at Nothe Fort between Friday, July 12 and Sunday, July 14. A full programme of events will be released shortly. For more information, visit www.dorsetmoon.com