Stade Saturdays

Stade Saturdays confirmed for 7th year

Hastings Borough Council has confirmed that it plans to continue the Stade Saturdays programme of free music and performance in 2018, for a seventh successive year. The weekly events on the Stade Open Space run from June to October and are a valued part of the town’s cultural calendar.

In 2017 over 11,000 people attended Stade Saturday events, with an increasing proportion of families and under 35s in the audience. Highlights included Liane Carroll’s opening concert for the Hastings Jazz and Blues Festival, ÓcabrazÓka’s Brazilian celebration of food, music, drumming and dance, the LaDinamo funky bike band who visited from Barcelona, and Le Cirque du Platzak with their unusual combination of lawnmowers, lettuces, staplers and rough folk music.

This year all the musical concerts were by Hastings-based artists, reflecting the excellent quality of music in the borough. Vocalist and composer Gwyneth Herbert and folk rock band Skinny Lister both braved particularly English weather to produce sets as fine as anything ever seen on the Stade.

Partnership working increased in 2017, with partners including Active Hastings’ 1066 Cycling Festival, Coastal Currents, Journeys Dance Festival and the Lantern Society. And once again the council’s membership of the Coasters Touring Network augmented the programme, providing 50% of the funding for five performances of quality street arts, which were among the most popular and well-attended of the summer. Coasters is supported by Arts Council England.

“We are delighted to be able to provide this programme of wonderful varied events again in 2018,” said Cllr Kim Forward, lead member for culture. “These free outdoor performances and concerts are much loved by residents and visitors alike, helping bring our community together and our seafront alive.”

Next summer’s programme will be confirmed in spring 2018.

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