Today is a day for celebrating theatre and I would like to extend that to all of the performing arts. East Sussex has many theatres, literary festivals and music festivals. There are also many concerts, often in local churches.
Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion hosts top performers throughout the year. Some people travel from London or further afield for these concerts. I had some guests from Sweden who went to see their favourite band at the De La Warr! The Izzard theatre at Bexhill College puts on some quirky shows. I saw The Addams family there, performed by BLODS, and it was fantastic. Look out for outdoor theatre in the summer too, often in The Manor Barn gardens. The newly-restored bandstand on the seafront has been hosting quite a few events too. Check out their 'current bookings' here. Hastings has the Stables theatre and the White Rock theatre. There is also an annual book festival. There are many pubs, like the Jenny Lind in the old town, which have regular live music. Eastbourne has the Devonshire Park theatre, the Congress theatre, and the Winter Garden. See what's on at those venues here. There is also the Royal Hippodrome theatre and Under Ground theatre (located under the library!) The town of Rye (30 minutes' drive/train ride from here) has an International Jazz & Blues Festival in August, and an Arts Festival at the end of September. Chiddingly (30 minutes' drive from here) has a music and beer festival every year called Chiddfest. This year is their tenth! Charleston (40 minutes' drive from here) hosts a literary festival every year which sells out very quickly. Last year I saw Annie Ernaux, the French author who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2022. I was thrilled as I read her books when I was living in France in my twenties, and they are now on university syllabuses. She writes about her everyday life experiences and I enjoy her pared back, evocative style of writing, and was thrilled to chat to her briefly whilst she signed one of her books for me. Annie, however, was not happy to have won the prize as it stopped her flow and she was unable to write! I hope she is back in her writing rhythm now. 16th Century Smallhythe Place (Ellen Terry's house) has the lovely Barn theatre - see their events programme for 2024 here. It is nearly an hour's drive from here but worth it for the atmosphere. I'm sure I've missed out a few places or festivals, but this gives you an idea of what's on offer in this area.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Cathy Larkin
Owner and manager of Nab Cottage B&B. Archives
September 2024
Categories |