Newhaven Festival promises top line-up for September - how to get your tickets

Spokeswoman Charlotte Parsons said: “With a thriving creative community and support from the Town Council, Creative Newhaven and Newhaven Enterprise Zone, this year’s festival offers something for everyone. Enjoy performances, talks and walks throughout the town, its industrial edgelands and the landscape beyond.

“At the Hillcrest Centre, leading art critic and TV presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon (Saturday, September 3, 7pm) will give a timely and topical talk reflecting on the ways in which art has been shaped by social crisis and upheaval, arriving at a refreshingly different and more vivid sense of the history of art and its connection with the actual lives of real people.

“More mid-life crisis than social crisis, the inimitable Miss Hope Springs (Saturday, September 10, 7.30pm, Hillcrest Centre) brings her award-winning and hilarious West End show to the festival. Join the piano-playing comedy, cabaret, and chanteuse as she opens her somewhat battered suitcase of dreams to share musical mementos from her Ritz to the pits life.

“Budding marine biologists get the chance to explore the underwater world just beyond the harbour without getting wet! The Living Coast Undersea Experience invites you to discover the Marine Conservation Zone that runs from Brighton Marina to Beachy Head through a 360-degree interactive VR experience.

“Drop into St Michael’ s Church and join a collaborative and fun drawing session with artists Johnsey who have hosted mass community drawing events all around the country or join eco-poet Kin’d & Kin’d for a poetry workshop upstairs at the RNLI building.

“Bring your memories of Newhaven and Sussex dialect words and become part of Re-wilding the Word-hoard. Sculptor Jo Sweeting, writer Louisa Thomsen Brits, and film- maker Jane Mote have collaborated on this project to celebrate the distinct vocabulary of the places we inhabit.

“The stories continue outside, with local storyteller Jamie Crawford leading guided walks around the un explored edgelands of the town or following the river bank to Piddinghoe. Or join the well-named urban tree expert Paul Wood for an entertaining and enlightening tour of Newhaven's urban forest and discover a surprisingly diverse range of species from far-flung corners of the world.

“Dirty Footprints Theatre Company are bringing free performances for kids to Newhaven Library, Salon 69 returns with six short talks followed by supper, and there’s a free afternoon of music from a local line-up including Kat Black, Mr White & Daddy Longlegs, Nick Pynn and Dandelion Charm at the Denton Island Bandstand, plus an alfresco revival of songs and shanties from the Tidemills Community Choir on the beach.

“Add to that the 16 venues on the Haven Trail in this year’s Artwave Festival, a new contemporary art gallery on the Highstreet, and the new monthly Newhaven Flea Market at Hillcrest, and there’s a whole load of stuff to do in Newhaven this September. Many events are free to attend or subsidised for residents of BN9, but you might need to book your spot. Check newhavenfestival.co.uk for the full line-up and ticket availability.”

Newhaven Festival was founded in 2018 by Suzy Mullins of Newhaven Town Council and curated by Rhoda Funnell. Its purpose is to offer a year-round platform to gather together and promote talent and community spirit in Newhaven.