11th Hailsham Festival of Arts and Culture a Success

This year’s Hailsham Festival of Arts & Culture has been well received by the public and hailed a success by the Town Mayor, as hundreds of people turned out to a wide variety of events held last week.

The festival, which ran from Thursday 14^th September to Sunday 24^th September, saw a steady stream of visitors to the town and had a varied programme of events to capture the attention of the public.

Visitors got the chance to attend a rich mix of art exhibitions, live music, theatrical events, children’s workshops and historical art talks, spread throughout Hailsham and surrounding areas.

Entertainment at this year’s festival included performances from Beatles tribute band The Electric Beatles and esteemed UK soul artist Joel White.

The festival programme featured an art trail with many venues participating and local artists exhibiting, plus 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 part of the line-up.

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.

“This year’s festival has been nothing short of amazing with some truly great artists and performers showcasing their talent across the Hailsham area,” said Hailsham Town Mayor Councillor Nigel Coltman, who praised the diversity and community-based aspects of the festival.

“There was a positive atmosphere over the 11 days of events and I’m very grateful to everyone for turning up and supporting the town’s festival so well.”

Deputy Town Mayor and chairman of the Town Council’s Communities Committee, Councillor Amanda O’Rawe said: “Hailsham Festival of Arts & Culture has been another big success and people have collaborated to showcase live dance, music, poetry, drama and artwork, establishing a real festival buzz this year.”

“We are really proud of organisers for running so many high-quality events during the festival period, all of which were thoroughly enjoyed by all the participants and attendees. Thank you to funders, supporters, venue managers and promoters, artists and, of course, the local volunteers of Hailsham for all their hard work and time dedicated to the festival. We hope to see you all next year.”