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Wheels in Motion for This Year’s Hailsham Festival

Community

Hailsham Arts Festival 

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 the Hailsham Festival in September.

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

The Festival, which will be held from Saturday 3rd September to Sunday 18th September, is rooted in Hailsham and the surrounding area and this year, organisers are pleased to be supporting Hailsham Foodbank.

Highlights of the Festival will include return visits to Hailsham Pavilion by distinguished poet, broadcaster and presenter, Roger McGough and acclaimed guitarist, Richard Durrant.

National Treasure, Roger McGough (the patron saint of poetry) will present his show, Safety in Numbers, a new collection from the nation’s favourite poet. Traversing rocky terrain with the assurance of a poetry Rover on Mars, McGough brings down to earth the strangeness of a year that was almost lost.

Richard Durrant’s recital will include Bach’s entire 3rd Cello Suite played on a humble ukulele as well as his Sussex downland inspired suite played on a concert guitar made from a 5,000 year old English oak and a generous serving of guitar favourites with plenty of tales from the road…

Once again, Hailsham Festival is inviting members of the community to share and showcase their creative achievements in their Virtual Art Gallery and publications. Their 2022 Poetry and Short Story Anthology will be available to buy as an e-book or printed book from September 3rd while anthologies from previous years are available now available via Amazon.com.

Festival organisers continue to encourage children under 14 years of age to upload photographs of any art they have made during the past year. The Children’s Art Gallery features these images and is an ongoing project.

The Festival will also feature a Hailsham Nostalgia Fair at the Cattle Market site in Market Street on Saturday 17th September, featuring steam train rides, fairground rides, Morris dancers, live entertainment, magic acts, fancy dress competition, food, drink and more.

String – The Musical, a specially-commissioned musical set in Hailsham and the surrounding area and probably the most ambitious project the festival has undertaken in its 15-year history, will return following last year’s successful Showcase Concert on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th October as part of Hailsham Festival Extra.

Full details of the events making up this year’s Hailsham Festival are available to view on their website: hailshamfestival.co.uk. Tickets for all events are now on sale.

“The arts represent a vital component of our culture, enriching our community and creating a vibrant landscape from which we all benefit,” said Tony Biggin, Hailsham Festival Chairman. “I am thrilled that life is now sufficiently back-to-normal and that we have been able to create a festival programme of such breadth and quality.”

The Mayor’s Concert this year, which takes place at Hailsham Parish Church on Saturday 10th September, is a free event featuring performances by Hailsham Choral Society, Hailsham Voices Community Pop Choir and the young tenor, Ben Hancox.

Town Mayor Councillor Paul Holbrook 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.”

“Last year’s festival was nothing short of amazing with some truly great artists, writers, photographers, poets and music performers showcasing their talent across the Hailsham area. There was a positive atmosphere for the duration of the Festival and I was grateful to everyone for turning up and supporting the town’s festival so well.”

Councillor Holbrook added: “I’m sure festival organisers will surpass all expectations again this year with events, now that we have resumed face-to-face events and activities following the restrictions we all experienced last year and in 2020.”

“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.”


Enquiries relating to this media release

Terry Hall, Communications Officer
Hailsham Town Council, Market Street, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 2AE
Telephone: 01323 841702 | Email: terry.hall@hailsham-tc.gov.uk