Edith Festival 2023
The ‘Edith Festival’, named after Edith Swanneck, wife of King Harold II who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and whose combined statue is in West Marina Gardens, is run by the Friends of Edith and presents a range of events during Hastings Week to celebrate our cultural and historical heritage. Ian Jarman, the Founder of Friends of Edith, tells us what to look forward to this October.
This year, following the success of last year’s inaugural event, the Festival has been expanded to now include eight presentations by well-known public figures over three days, to be held in the following four locations in Hastings and St Leonards.
The full listing of events can be found on the Friends of Edith website and on the Hastings Week website.
We are extremely proud to be able to present to the community and visitors of this Town such a magnificent range of talks, presentations, theatre pieces, films and conversations/discussions by a wonderful selection of historians and artistes. We hope that by doing so it will give people the opportunity to find and explore some of the meaningful cultural and historical connections which underpin our busy lives today and which help to make us who we are. And that is a fitting legacy today for Edith, an important but once-forgotten woman from a millennium ago.
Events schedule
(programme subject to change)
Friday 6 October
Durbar Hall, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, John’s Place, Bohemia Road, Hastings TN34 1ET
13.00 – 14.30: online presentation & live Q&A ‘Historical links with Ukraine’
with Dr Caitlin Green
15.00 – 17.00: presentation and display: ‘Lady Brassey and the Brassey collection’
with Sarah French
Tickets: online from Eventbrite – £10 per person
Saturday 7 October
Auditorium and Art Gallery
Kino Teatr, 43-49 Norman Road, St Leonards, TN38 0EG
Afternoon sessions:
12.00–13.30: Play: ‘‘Cell’ – Mother Julian of Norwich’s 650th anniversary’
performed by Cindy Oswin
14.00–15.30: Presentation & Q&A – ‘Beowulf – the story behind the legend’
with Dr John Grigsby
16.00–17.30: Presentation & Q&A – ‘Busting Anglo-Saxon myths’
with Dr Marc Morris
Evening session:
19.00 – 22.00
Films/discussion + Q&A: ‘Lifeworks’ with Andrew Kötting & Iain Sinclair
Tickets (prices approximate): in person from Kino Teatr and
online from Kino Teatr website
£10 per person for afternoon sessions £12.50 per person for evening session only
£20 per person for combined afternoon and evening sessions
Sunday 8 October
At the Statue (weather permitting), West Marina Gardens,
St Leonards, TN38 0BY
11.00 – 12.15: Tour and talk: ‘Edith’s story and statue’
with Ian Jarman, Friends of Edith
at the Marina Fountain, 26 Caves Road, St Leonards, TN38 0BY
12.30 : Sunday Lunch meal: ‘Edith Festival Symbel’ with the FoE Team
Tickets: statue tour/talk is free – just turn up!
To book your Edith Festival Symbel lunch from Marina Fountain,
email info@marinafountain.co.uk or call: 01424 446354 stating ‘Edith Festival Symbel’.
Price: (£20 or under) and menu on enquiry.
For more information, including speaker profiles, visit the Friends of Edith website.
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Also in: 1067 & All That
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