Incoming: Owls striking a pose and more

New dates for your diary, including live owl drawing, Thanet's biggest queer Easter event, cherry blossom walks and more.

Broadstairs Food Festival brings its Easter edition to the clifftops Friday-Sunday, April 18-20. Artisan, craft and independent gastronomy will back the stalls, with many vendors local to Kent. While the line up of chefs and restaurants are still to be revealed, look out for some of Thanet’s finest culinary whizzes whipping up delicious grub or showing you a thing or two in a live demo. Full details.

Phil Wang is coming back to Margate with a work in progress show for Chump’s Comedy at Where Else in Margate on Wednesday, April 16. Warming up proceedings will be another returning name, Ed Night. That’s two very funny fellas letting you hear their new material before anyone else. What a treat. Tickets £16.50. 

Save Our Scene and electronic music collective wonk are coming together for a special night at Faith In Strangers on Friday, April 18, raising money to support the wider grassroots live music community. DJing will be lau.ra, Storm Millison, Kiimi, BRUX and LANTA. Expect a mix of house, UKG and more. Earlybird tickets £11.50. £1 from every ticket will be donated to the SOS Liveline Fund. 

Following a sold out night of greyhound drawing earlier this month, Wild Life Drawing returns to Margate’s Fort Road Hotel on Wednesday, April 16 with a new subject - owls! Three models will pose, Fred the grey grey, Daisy the eagle owl and native barn owl Solo. As you draw, you’ll also learn about owl conservation, habitats and breeding. Tickets are £35, with 10% donated to the Barn Owl Trust. 

The Fort Road Hotel is also launching a new programme of live music every Friday night starting next month. April will see performances from Callum Sutton (April 4), Night Works (April 11), Will Rees (April 18), and an Is Tropical DJ set (April 25). Free entry. 

Westwell Wines near Ashford is hosting a family workshop making ceramic plates decorated using foraged materials this summer. Local potter Katherine Gray will teach you about the ceramic process before you gather up materials found around the vineyard to make your own plate. It’s not until Friday, July 25 but likely to sell out well in advance. Places are £30, which includes firing and postage of your finished plate. 

Are you going to keep on dancing at the Pink Pony Club? Down in West Hollywood? Sure, fine. But I just thought I should let you know that there’s one in Margate too. The night returns to Justine’s on Friday, May 9. The playlist includes music from Chappell Roan (obvs), Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. £5 on the door. 

Cockles and Muscles are putting on their annual Easter bonnet party at Margate Arts Club on Saturday, April 12. There will be DJ sets from Buns Night Out, Cookie Man and LANTA. There will be performances from Shelly Grotto, Casey Sea and Vipul. And most importantly, absolutely everyone in the club will have a massive Easter bonnet on their head. Get thee to Hobby Craft forthwith. Tickets £7. 

The Hanami events keep coming in thick and fast. Thanet Urban Forest is laying on two Japanese cherry blossom viewing walks on Sunday, April 13. Join tree expert Peter Hasted in Margate’s Dane Park or Ramsgate’s Ellington Park. Or both, if you like. Tickets are £4 (or more if you can afford it), with proceeds going to support the work of TUF. 

Ramsgate Noise Institute have announced their dates for the rest of the year. There will be three more nights of experimental music and sound performances at Unit 2, St Lawrence Industrial Estate on May 29, September 11 and December 4. Entry is always free but donations are welcome. Follow on Instagram to stay up to date.

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