Arts News
Ashford Summer Sounds - July dates for the dairy!
Ashford Summer Sounds will be here sooner than we realise, so it
is time for us to get our diaries out and book our holidays around
the fantastic mix of great live music and family fun being held
over the whole month of July!
Times, venues and contact details vary.
Ashford Jazz Festival, 02 – 04 July.
Presenting a range of International singers and musicians in
Ashford Town Centre’s streets, public buildings, shopping centres,
pubs and bars.
Tentertainment, 03 – 04 July.
A unique mix of great live music, great local food and above all
great family fun and entertainment being held over the weekend on
Tenterden Recreation Ground.
Ashford Folk and Country Day, 10 July.
A selection of free musical entertainment on offer throughout
the day giving a platform to singer songwriters, school folk bands
and the best of East Kent Morris Dancers.
Ashford Carnival and Go 4 Play Festival, 11
July.
The carnival parade looks likely to be one of the most
spectacular for many years with more than 40 entries already
confirmed. This year the carnival is joining forces with Go 4
Play, where young people will be showcasing their ‘free running’,
jumping and skateboarding stunts.
Ashford Festival in the Park, 17 – 18 July.
Ashford’s North Park hosts a free two-day variety show
presenting talented local acts.
Lee Patterson Soundscape Commission, 24 – 25
July.
A unique commission for Ashford, leading edge Manchester based
artist Lee Patterson comes to town to present a programme of sound,
film and performance in a “found space” by Ashford International
Station. The Times, Guardian and Telegraph will have a close
eye on this one!
Around the World Festival, 24 July.
Ashford International Network presents a full programme of
multi-cultural world music in Ashford Town Centre.
Create Music Festival, 25 July.
One of the South East’s biggest free music festivals, attracting
5,000 music lovers to Victoria Park. 4 music stages will host
locally and nationally known acts. If you think you’ve got
what it takes to entertain more than 5,000 people who will flock to
Create 2010, don’t miss your chance to be part of the action.
You can apply to play by clicking here. The closing date for entries is
12noon Thursday 1st April. For more
information visit the Create Myspace.
A Huge Ashford
Applause goes to...
Rolvenden Village Hall and Godmersham & Crundle Village
Hall who are hosting live arts in their venues this spring!
If you are interested in becoming a local promoter, no previous
experience is required - just lots of enthusiasm and desire to
bring great performances to your local community - contact
Applause.
Sat 20 March, 8pm, Rolvenden Village Hall
On Top of the World
A dramatic work of fiction based on the true life events of the
conquest of Everest by Edmund Hillary, who 'went up a beekeeper and
came down a hero'. A classic adventure story of mans desire to be
the first. In a race against time to conquer Everest, Hillary
and Tensing succeeded where others had tragically failed.
Spike Theatre re-examine one of the most famous events in the
twentieth century using projected animation, puppetry, and a whole
load of snow!
Bookings: 07733 078447
Thurs 22 April, 7.30pm, Godmersham and Crundale Village
Hall, 01227 733624
To Have and to Honk
Four musicians are on their way to a wedding but the journey
doesn't quite go according to plan...With their inimitable blend of
amiable chaos and utterly hilarious physical theatre the Honk
Project will have you laughing until you cry, even as you thrill to
the musical delights on offer, from Jazz to Dixieland to hot
Klezmer melodies. This is a highly visual, frolicsome,
original piece of work - a hilarious fusion of first class clowning
and music.
Bookings: 01227 733624
New York, London, Paris
and...Smarden!
Ashford based textile artist Mandy
Munroe will be 'coming home' to exhibit her new
abstract work inspired by Kentish architecture. The
curators at West End House Gallery, Smarden have been following
Mandy’s work over the last few years, which has been admired,
praised and sold all over the world. “We think Mandy is
one of the UK's most talented textile artists as her work
is unique and unusually for this medium, very strong and bold.
There is nothing else like it on the market.”
The exhibition will run from Friday
26th March until Sunday 23rd May 2010.
For more information visit Mandy Munroe's website here.
St Mary's Church re-ordering 
The Arts at St Mary’s Church reordering project is an exciting
scheme to both refurbish one of the town’s best loved historic
landmarks and increase Ashford’s arts provision. The Church
of England has applied to carry out substantial refurbishment work
to the nave area and also wishes to sympathetically
expand its use as an arts venue to accommodate larger audiences and
high-profile acts as interest in its diverse programme of events
grows with the population.
The project takes inspiration from the hugely
successful Union Chapel in Islington and St George’s Church in
Brighton, and has the full support of the church’s
congregation.
If the church application is successful, work
will be completed late 2010.
For more information, please visit St Mary's
Church, the Ashford Tourist Information Office or Ashford
Borough Council Civic Centre to look at the latest plans.
Live Literature Web revamp!
East Kent Live Literature website is pulling in the punters
who love to blog, twitter and network. Peggy Riley the
coordinator for Ashford and East Kent has re-vamped the website so
please go and visit here! Keep
writing!
Ashford Public Art Strategy is adopted.
This strategy, adopted by the Ashford Borough Council Executive
in October 2009 recommends that artists are commissioned as
part of all 'significant' public and private sector capital
schemes, regeneration initiatives and transport schemes. It
also states the importance of encouraging the community to be
involved and engaged in the development process and education.
Please download the
Ashford Public Art Strategy.
This webpage was updated on
3/9/2010