This year’s celebration of International Women’s Day is the most ambitious programme of events to be coordinated by Women’s Voice charity. Illustration © Emily Johns
Hear Me Roar – a festival for International Women’s Day
Ann Kramer from Women’s Voice, the local women-run charity, shares details of all the events marking International Women’s Day.
This year celebrations for International Women’s Day are the biggest and most ambitious yet. A one-day festival will run at Stade Hall on Sunday 12 March. Hear Me Roar will run from 11am to 4pm. The event includes inspirational women speakers and a chance to participate in workshops as diverse as self-defence, embroidery, and Morris dance. There will be live music from SHE Choir, poetry and the This is Not Love film produced by Women’s Voice during lockdown.
Numerous local women-led organisations are joining us to highlight the support for women within the town including Arts on Prescription, Black Butterfly, Eggtooth, iRock, Rainbow Alliance and The Refugee Buddy Project.
Schedule for the day
11am The Stade Hall opens at with organisations, Stitch TLC,
inspirational woman workshops and refreshments All day
11 – 12.00 Hastings Rounders playing outside
12.00 –12.45 Introduction Women’s Voice
Carol Prior – lead in song
Speakers
Antonia Berelson RCN striker
Steph Warren on behalf of Raquel Cardoso-Palmer, License 2 Kale
Claudine Eccelston, Creator Playing the Race Card
Maggie Capps, RMT
Rossana Leal, The Refugee Buddy Project
12.45 – 13.00 Self-defense workshop (Location TBC)
13.30 – 14.30
Performers inside (20 mins each)
Cordelia Gartside
Debra Watson
A Load of Poets
This is not Love screening Sabina Arthur intro
Performers outside
14.30 – 15.30 Rheda’s Dream workhop and performance
15.30 – 16.00 SHE Choir
Anne-Marie Watson from Women’s Voice said: ‘After nearly three years of socially restricted events, we wanted to organise a festival to celebrate International Women’s Day, showcasing the amazing work being done by women locally and hear from some inspirational women and talented performers. We’re keen for more women to get involved with us so we’re looking forward to meeting new faces during this fun, informative and inspiring day.’
Rosanna Lowe as Vivienne Haigh-Eliot
Evening entertainment
Following Hear Me Roar, from 6 to 7pm at The Stade Hall, there will be a performance of the multi-media show Vivienne Sometimes. Story-teller Rosanna Lowe takes the role of Vivienne Haigh-Eliot – the first wife of poet TS Eliot. The funny, furious and moving production tracks Haigh-Eliot’s journey from artist and muse to inmate in Northumberland House Mental Hospital. You can read more about the event on the website: www.viviennesometimes.com. Book your ticket in advance – full price tickets are £10, concessions are £5.
Over in St Leonards on Sunday evening from 6 to 8pm, all female identifying musicians are invited to the Loud Women Open Mic, at The Piper in Norman Road. You can sign up to perform by e-mailing julie@loudwomen.org or turn up before 6pm on the day.
Other events marking International Women’s Day
Monday 6–Sunday 12 March you can see Voyage Around my Grandmother – a window exhibition of linocuts by Jude Montague in Montague Armstrong, 15 Kings Road, St Leonards-on-Sea.
On Wednesday 8 March, Arts on Prescription are hosting events at Art in the Park in Alexandra Park.
At 11am to noon there will be a talk on local Edwardian artist and eco-visionary, Marianne North (tickets cost £7.50 from Eventbrite – booking is essential), followed by a picnic in the park, and from 1 to 3pm the opportunity to draw, paint or write about a woman who inspires you.
Also on Wednesday 8 March, from 3 to 5pm The Art of Protest will be taking place at The Common Room, 27 Cambridge Road. This event is free. People are invited to make banners and placards highlighting women. The workshop will be led by artist Lorna Vahey who is well known for her colourful political banners. The finished artworks will be displayed at the Hear Me Roar event.
Friday 10 March marks the private view of Suffragette City, a solo show by Louise Whitham who will be exhibiting unusual portraits of the women who shaped our town. It takes place at 1200 Postcards, 80 Queen’s Road at 7pm, entrance is free. DJ Lulu and DJ Jude will be spinning discs and performing as Punkragette and Jude Montague. The exhibition runs from 10 March to 9 April.
The first ever Women’s Jazz Festival takes place on Saturday 11 March. Intended to become an annual event, the music ranges from soul, R&B, jazz-folk and original indie-jazz. All events are free from 4pm until midnight in Hastings Old Town. See Gail Edmunds and Lily Ramona at The Albion, 4–6pm; Elisha Edwards and Kinsella at The Jenny Lind, 6-9pm; and The Fabulous Red Diesel at The Royal Standard, 9.30–12pm.
Women’s Voice is a charity run by women for everyone who identifies as female in our community.
Email: hastingswomensvoice@yahoo.com
Web: womens-voice.org.uk
Facebook: Hastings Women’s Voice
Instagram: @womensvoicehastings
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