It's festival time!

St Leonards Festival is this Saturday!

The St Leonards Festival is this Saturday, 13 July… and it’s even bigger than ever! Erica Smith reveals the programme of events and hopes to see you in Warrior Square, and by the beach cafe, along Marina and in the Kings Road for the street market. Check out the events here!

This year the Festival doesn’t stop at Warrior Square gardens – there is going to be activities down by the new beach cafe below Warrior Square – with specially imported sand and buckets and spades for the day. Look out for the Clean Seas Please! stall there too – it’s a new initiative to encourage people to think about how they can help keep our beaches clean by changing how they dispose of things at home.

Down by Marine Court, Christine Mbaye has organised an Art on the Railings art market for Arts Forum members to display and sell their wares. There will also be workshops and events on in the Arts Forum, including storytelling with Emily Johns who currently has a show in the Arts Forum 2 gallery.

The market this year in Kings Road has over 40 stalls. Anton, the market organiser is hoping to run a regular St Leonards market, so this will be a test case for him. He is especially delighted with the St Leonards shopping bags which have been designed specifically to sell on the market, on the stall run by Seaview Day Centre. It is a way for Seaview to raise funds, as well as generating some profit to put back into local initiatives.

Not forgetting the fabulous schedule of bands in Warrior Square Gardens, and activities for children in the Family Area, plus an array of international food in the Eat Global Village.

And the sun promises to shine! Be there or be Warrior Square!

Also in: One Long Party