Kentish Express Ashford & District - What's On
GOING POTTY FOR ARTS
There’s a rich tapestry of culture laid out before visitors to Canterbury for the next three weeks, courtesy of the Canterbury Festival. Angela Cole takes a look at the variety of events on offer and some of the early highlights
From pottery to theatre and sciences to cabaret – the Canterbury Festival is a celebration of culture in its many forms.
Kent’s international arts festival brings a rich mixture of performing arts from around the world to surprise and delight audiences for three weeks each autumn. Running from Saturday, October 14 through to Saturday, November 4, there will be more than 200 events with music, performance, talks, science, visual arts and walks.
It kicks off this weekend with an opening day parade of drummers, musicians and dancers taking over the High Street, starting from the Cathedral Precincts from noon, winding through the town and ending at Whitefriars.
Also on its opening day will be the chance to make a pot for free during the great Canterbury Throwdown, a communitydriven pottery project during the first two weeks of the festival, with the first being on Saturday, October 14, at 11am with Keith Brymore Jones, potter and expert judge from the BBC’S Great British Throw Down.
Among the live music of a variety of genres will be Newton Faulkner on Wednesday, October 18, at the Marlowe Theatre, comedian Tom Allen at Shirley Hall on Tuesday, October 31, plus creative writing and silk painting skills workshops.
For a taste of something a little different, enjoy a vintage 1930s cream tea while watching a performance of Agatha Christie’s rarely-seen mystery The Rats at Bramleys Cocktail Bar at 2pm from Monday, October 16 to Saturday, October 21. From high-brow to hare-brained, the festival has something for all ages, no matter how young.
Running through half term, it has a host of family-friendly events throughout. They include its biggest ever offering for children – including the first Canterbury Festival-commissioned children’s cabaret.
For three weekends mainly in the Spiegeltent, a 1920s vintage travelling dance hall, there will be flexible seating, a buggy park area and space for smaller siblings to crawl and toddle. Highlights include slapstick comedy circus Trash Test Dummies bringing skilled circus performers with jawdropping acrobatics, juggling and stuntwork on Saturday, October 28 at 3pm.
To warm you up for the ceilidh, there will be a family dance party with Baby Loves Disco on Sunday, October 22 at 2pm, when resident DJS will mix feelgood chart fillers with nostalgic classics with face painting, balloons, a dress-up area, selfie booth and a licensed bar for parents.
The Family Friendly Ceilidh on Sunday, October 29 from 2pm offers the chance for family and friends to get up and dance to local band Swing the Bridge.