This year’s Sensoria Festival is "especially flavoursome" – Here's a few highlights

The 15th edition of Sensoria kicks off this weekend, featuring film and music premieres, exclusive collaborations, photography – and a six-course tasting menu pairing music and food.

Known for celebrating left-field media with a particular focus on electronic innovation, the beloved film and music festival runs from 30 September to 8 October across multiple Sheffield venues.

The world premiere of QUADROS (Sat 8 Oct) will see I Monster, Pony Harvest and Neil Ridley play eight analogue synths over randomly-selected rhythm tracks, backed by specially-pressed vinyl records. The piece is inspired by Tristram Cary’s experimental Trios, which was determined by the roll of a dice.

Another unique event is Sound Bites, which sees Sensoria welcome its audience into South Street Kitchen at Park Hill “to explore whether ‘sonic seasoning’ can help enhance taste, over a six-course tasting menu, pairing food and music”.

Stroboscopic, a new exhibition by Tracey Welch and Rich Westley (1-8 Oct), modernises the techniques of pioneering Albanian-American photographer Gjon Mili to capture movement and explore the relationship between musician and instrument.

Film screenings this year include Patti Smith – Electric Poet (Tues 4 Oct), OTHER, LIKE ME: The Oral History Of Coum Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle (Weds 5 Oct), and The Subharchord – A Future That Never Happened (Sat 8 Oct), a documentary about an early synthesiser created by East German technicians in the 1960s, of which only three instruments still exist.

The programme also features Sensoria Pro (Fri 7 Oct), an industry event centred around the latest innovations in music and the moving image, and Synthfest UK (Sat 8 Oct), a showcase of synth products hosted in collaboration with Sound On Sound magazine.

Jo Wingate, Sensoria Director, told Now Then that this year’s programme is “especially flavoursome”.

“This will be a full-blown fifteenth birthday celebration, packed with surprises and showing our love for Sheffield and the city’s enduringly influential musicians, filmmakers and artists.”

Since its inception in 2008, Sensoria has hosted artists and musicians including Jarvis Cocker, Gwenno, Richard Hawley, Forgemasters, Sea Power, BEAK>, Chris and Cosey, Jlin and DJ Stingray.

It has become known for its unconventional event formats, like 3 Ring Circus, which saw three musicians give three performances at three different venues on the same night.