Countdown to Hailsham Festival of Arts and Culture

Hailsham is gearing up for a varied line-up of talented regional artists and a feast of music, dance, drama, literature and street entertainment as the town hosts its next Arts Festival in September.

The Hailsham Festival of Arts & Culture, one of the highlights of the town’s events calendar, attracts a cross-section of artists and performers from the South East and further afield, and offers a wide variety of exhibits and performances to suit all tastes.

The 11-day series of events will take place at various locations in and around Hailsham from Thursday 14^th September to Sunday 24^th September and is being organised for the eleventh consecutive year by the Arts Festival Committee and the team at Gallery North.

The Mayor’s Opening Concert in the Parish Church will feature musicians from the church as well as a performance by Hailsham Choral Society. Young talent will be represented with performances by students from Hailsham Community College, the East Sussex Music Service’s Eastbourne Area Concert Band and Irish music and dancing during the Showstopper final concert.

Other performers announced for this year’s festival include Beatles tribute band The Electric Beatles and esteemed UK soul artist Joel White.

There will be performances of Alan Bennett’s comedy Habeas Corpus at Summerheath Hall, presented by Hailsham Theatres, as well as a Folk in the Yard event at the Hailsham Livestock Market site – back for its fourth consecutive year and sure to be a crowd-pleaser again – and Hailsham Community College Orchestra, Ensemble & Brass Band will be performing at Hailsham Pavilion.

The program will also feature a MiniVille town-building creative workshop at the Square Youth Café, a pop up art gallery at Gallery North, an audience with renowned TV gardening presenter Tom Hart Dyke at Lime Cross Nursery, as well as a ‘3-Minute Flix’ film competition and an awards ceremony at Hailsham Pavilion as part of the line-up.

Town Mayor Councillor Nigel Coltman said: “Hailsham and the rest of East Sussex has such an amazingly rich seam of arts and culture. There is an amazing wealth of artistic talent and it will be an honour for me to be part of this year’s festival and invite the community to put the festival dates in their diaries.”

“Alongside new events, old favourites will return to keep residents entertained and bring visitors from across the region to our fantastic and vibrant town.”

Deputy Town Mayor and Vice-Chairman of the Town Council’s Communities Committee Councillor Amanda O’Rawe, said: “I’m sure festival organisers will surpass all expectations again this year with events, activities and workshops for all the family.”

“On behalf of the Town Council, I’d like to thank those community groups and individuals in the town for all the hard work and generous support given to organising this year’s festival.”

“A vast amount of work is carried out behind the scenes by dedicated volunteers and we are hoping that even more volunteers will get involved in this year’s festival, give their support and contribute to its success.”

For more information, visit www.hailshamartsfestival.co.uk.