insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 15 - May 2016 | Page 30

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

© Julia Claxton

it’s festival season! cont.
Brighton & Hove Food
and Drink Festival
Spring Harvest
// 19-30 May

Elderflower Fields // Sussex // 27-30 May
Elderflower Fields was
born in 2012 out of a
desire to create a new
festival in Sussex which
started with families
and kids first, and then
built the rest of the
weekend around them.
In the first year they
really didn’t know what
to expect. Intending to
produce a party for a
few hundred friends and family, the plans snowballed and before they knew
it, they had sold over a thousand tickets. What is more surprising is that
everyone loved it! The sun shone, kids played and everyone danced in the
beautiful surroundings of the Bentley estate.
It was so popular that they did it again in 2013 and this time twice as
many people came – largely encouraged through word of mouth from the
previous year’s customers. There were more kids’ activities, more music
and more delicious local food and drink. And the sun even came back too!
For 2016 there is a spectacular line-up of music acts such as Gypsy
Hill, Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer, Schlomo and Island Cassettes.

The main events at this year’s
Brighton & Hove Food and Drink
Festival are the Cool Climate Wine
Dinner at Jeremy’s Restaurant on Thursday 26th May, the main ‘Sussex
& The World Weekend’ on the bank holiday of 28th-30th May, and the
Taste of Guernsey lunch on bank holiday Monday 30th May at MARKET.
But it’s all spectacular – market stalls, cookery demonstrations, live events
and plenty of food and drink make this a festival to be reckoned with.
www.brightonfoodfestival.com

Artigras Festival // Kent // 20-21 May
The festival is brought together to deliver two days of cultural activities in
the heart of Ashford Town Centre. Artigras will take place in Park Mall
Shopping Centre in the heart of Ashford, and will be taken over by arts and
crafts stalls, workshops, dancers, live musicians and performers. The theme
for this year’s festival is ‘Magical, mythical creatures’ and all Ashford schools
are invited to participate and create pieces for the festival. Artigras would
also like to hear from all arts and creative groups who would like to be
involved in the festival and showcase their work. Come join the celebration
of all things Ashford.

www.elderflowerfields.co.uk

Funk The Family // Sussex // 29 May

www.artigrasfestival.co.uk

Funk The Family is a one-day festival taking place in Hove Park. Hot off
the heels of their sell-out Funk the Format events, 2016 sees the organisers
transform Hove Park into a magical, musical shindig. The line-up is a great
one and includes well-known names as well as newcomers. Just some of
the acts are Soul II Soul, Nubiyan Twist, Jamie Rodigan, Robert Luis, Mr
Bongo Soundsystem and Norman Jay MBE. For a full-on day out with wallto-wall music, try Funk The Format.

Faerie Festival
// Sussex // 20-22 May
Come and play with the fae this May…
The main event at this festival is the
music, which is performed in the
woodland-themed music tent. Acts for
2016 include Roving Crows, PerKelt,
Touch the Earth, Matthew Callow and
Willows Drum plus many more (and
the list is still growing).
There are lots of other events and activities to enjoy as well, and they
are all included in the ticket price – you can learn circus skills with CircusSeen,
ride the Shamans horse into healing with Lynn Gosney and The Healing
Drum, learn about the primal goddesses in a talk with Michelle Axe, enjoy
morning yoga with Debbie Kent, play Viking instruments with Corwen and
learn about herbs and foraging with Ali English.

www.funkthefamily.co.uk

Wild Life
Festival
// Sussex
// 11-12 June
SJM Concerts, the
promoters behind VFestival and
Manchester’s Parklife, return to Shoreham Airport near Brighton in West
Sussex with a festival for a second year, hoping for more success in 2016
(in 2015, the Wild Life Festival won the award for Best New Festival). The
line-up includes fantastic acts such as Ice Cube, Wax Worx, Andy C, Flume,
Ray Boy, Julio Bashmore, Skream and Barely Legal. Come rain or shine
this is a festival to welcome in the summer.

www.magicalfestivals.co.uk

Glyndebourne Festival //
Sussex // 21 May – 28 Aug

www.wildlifefestival.com

The Glyndebourne Festival is one of the
oldest opera festivals in the world, and
is highly anticipated by opera lovers and
performers alike. It is all played out in a
magnificent purpose built theatre in the
grounds of Glyndebourne House. The
Gl yndebourne Festival 2016 sees the
return of four Glyndebourne classics and
two new productions. Glyndebourne is also celebrating Shakespeare400
with operas based on two of the Bard’s best-loved comedies. Come and
experience world-class opera surrounded by the rolling hills of the South
Downs, all just an hour from London.

Voted Best British Blues Festival 2010 in the British Blues Awards, Blues
on the Farm has a big reputation for presenting high-quality music from
world-class musicians in a family-friendly, safe and relaxed area. Acts include
Ruby & The Revelators, Sam Kelly’s Station House, Red Butler, The Hitman
Blues Band featuring the New York Horns, Brilleaux and Gary Brooker and
Friends. And as well as all the music, there is plenty of exceptional food
and drink too!

www.glyndebourne.com

www.bluesonthefarm.co.uk

Blues On The Farm // Kent // 16-19 June

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