THIS morning a towering alien spire has burst through a portal into central Brighton, and mysterious people from another world are about to emerge.

The ten metre tall multi-coloured structure has appeared on the The Level and throughout the day displaced travellers are going to start appearing as they clamber on ropes from an opening at the top.

But don't worry it's just a show.

This durational performance running all day today and tomorrow is Emerge/ncy, part of the Brighton Festival by theatre ensemble and charity Tangled Feet.

The spire has appeared overnight and from midday today the travellers will start materialising.

Nathan Curry, co-director, said: "People will start emerging every 20 minutes, and they have been on an unusual journey.

"They have been transported and they are not sure what to do, they are looking for help and support, they connect with one another.

"As they arrive they are embraced and brought into the new community, creating a ritualistic event which allows them to become part of the landscape and their society.

"The show is about the strange sense of otherness but also becomes something different."

The unique and alien production is in part inspired by the plight of the refugees currently pouring across Europe fleeing conflict.

The show runs for about seven to eight hours with various different elements and micro-performances happening through the day.

Mr Curry said: "When we started to the create the show the theme was all about people who have to leave their home.

"People who migrate because of the landscape of war and the economy.

"We wanted to bring some of those themes into the UK landscape. Because we are an island we are slightly disconnected, it's not as though these things are happening only down the road.

"We did not want to just make a 20 minute show because this problem is not just going away, this is the new normal, we wanted it to be a landscape shaping show and make this a new horizon."

The free performance is at The Level, Ditchling Road, from 12pm to 7.45pm, on Saturday and Sunday, and at 11am on Sunday there is a meet the artists event.