Upcoming Events - Winchelsea

Winchelsea is the perfect town for the art and music lover with loads of exciting events happening every week. There are art exhibitions and musical performances to catch, you can swing by a show at the local theatre or you can sit by and watch the bonfire procession and fireworks shows unfold. Winchelsea has taken its position of being of the hubs of arts, and entertainment very seriously and is a must visit for anyone that comes to Sussex or the South of England. Here is a list of upcoming events for the week.

Wild Boar Week

It is interesting to note that the reason one can find so many wild boars in Winchelsea is because of a great escape that the wild boars managed from private land all the way back in 1987. There was a great storm that took place and allowed these creatures to escape and it is believed that they have lived feral since then.

For any first timers in Rye, you might bump into wild boar while on a walk near the forests so keep your rifles with you. If you’ve never had wild boar before, you’re in for a treat. The town goes pretty crazy during this week and there a smattering of delicious preparations that you’’ll come across during your time here. What does wild boar taste like? It’s a cross between pork and venison. A couple of famous recipes are braised boar in chocolate sauce or a chop with mash and red wine reduction gravy.

Vegetarians don’t despair, there are shows of live and various parties to attend. We’ve even arranged a wild boar trail for the little hunters of the family.

Though we love wild boar week there have been some concerns about the rapid decline in the population of these creatures. There is no defined hunting season and that is severely hurting the population of the wild boar in Sussex. There are believed to be around 400 of them that still in woodland. It is believed that a defined hunting will help the population regain control make a huge difference to the number of wild boars in the area. The deer-hunting season is already a good example where there is a certain season and even a specific caliber of rifle that is stipulated.

Northiam Bonfire Procession & Fireworks (October 20)

The world-famous bonfire of Winchelsea is taking place on Saturday, October 20^th. The fireworks display we have here is probably one of the best you’ll ever see. There’ll be families, grandparents and children so everybody is welcome!

The procession will leave around 7.30pm, going towards the village and then return back at around 8.30pm to finally light the bonfire. The bonfire societies will be wearing their colourful costimes and get ups to celebrate the occasion. You’’ find all sorts of interesting looking get ups and costumes. It’s like a circus without the clowns. We’ve got jugglers, and game stalls. People do magic tricks and talk in funny voices. Some of our biggest fans have been the kids and the older folk, usually the most notoriously tough groups to please. It is advisable to carry a torch along.

The Bar and food stalls will be set up on the fields. Stalls will be open from 6.30pm onwards and there will be live music playing as well. The food offering, we have a delicious. The staple fare will be available with fish and chips, bangers and mash, hot dogs and sausages with a lip-smacking selection of beers to wash it down with.

The entry fee is only £1. The fee is kept low to allow everyone to enter and come experience the festival, but we hope you donate generously so we can keep conducting the festival year after year, bigger and better. We’ve been doing this for 7 years now and it’s been wonderful to see the event grow to what it is today. We love throwing this event for our local folk and hope to keep going with your continued love and support.

Printworks Arts Festival

The works exhibited in these following shows and the artists who created them have been carefully selected to dovetail and complement the industrial architecture and structure of The Printworks. They are: Nigel Green, Richard De Pesando, Alexander Brattell, Ian Land, Bob Mazzer. This eclectic mix of artists will make sure all kinds of art lovers have something they are excited about.

This year’s festival has a new style. You will notice this when you come see the exhibition this year. We’ve moved away from the traditional mounted and framed presentation of exhibiting these works. Instead we will be suspending the works from the steel beams, making the paintings appear to be floating between the girders, almost levitating as if in some sort of magic trick.

We support local and independent publishers and bookshops. Artists will be given the opportunity to discuss their work in an intimate and relaxed environment. These sessions will be open to the public and attendees will get the chance to interact with the artists.

Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story On Stage

A live show full of passion and romance, accompanied with heart-pounding music and sensational, mesmerizing, dance number, the classic story of Baby and Johnny, is playing live at the White Rock Theater all of next week. They have all the usual suspects on offer: ‘Hungry Eyes’, ‘Hey! Baby’, ‘Do You Love Me?’ and the heart-stopping ‘The Time Of My Life’. This wildly popular show will be hitting the road again by popular demand and will be coming by Winchelsea for a week- long extravaganza.

This comes right after the 2016/17 international tour that played to sold out audiences over a 12-month period all over the world. It raked in over a whopping £13 million in ticket sales, 3 mammoth blockbuster West End runs, and multiple sell out UK tours along with numerous international productions along the way.