Things to do: Summer holidays, Vagina Museum, Gadds Brewery
Fun things to do in and around Thanet (and beyond), edition #12.
Broadstairs is absolutely buzzing with events over the next few days. The Broadstairs Summer Fair is in Victoria Gardens and along the promenade until July 24. There’s also the Broadstairs Victorians Summer Fair with stalls and live music on Belvedere Road July 21-22. And the Water Gala (info) takes place on the beach on July 24 - rounding off with a massive fireworks display in the evening (details).
Broadstairs Folk Week is around the corner, running August 9-16. Tickets are on sale for all shows, and there are many to choose from. Want some feminist neo folk? Go see Amy Hollinrake. Want a ceilidh? Go to the festival’s opening night with the Hilltop Ceilidh Band, or try the Monster Ceilidh Band. There’s fiddles, accordions, new folk, traditional folk and world influences. Find some new music to see via the website.
Err, this is a long way off, but if you just missed out on Deal Pride, which was last weekend, they’ve just announced their 2025 date - July 12. So pop it in your calendar.
Ramsgate’s Ellington Park has received a Green Flag Award for the third year running, following the restoration of the 126 park in 2021. The prize recognises well-managed parks and green spaces in the UK, and Ellington is currently the only park in Thanet to ever hold the award. Definitely deserved, but we reckon there are plenty more around here that could join that list with similar love and investment.
Who doesn’t like crabs and vaginas? Far better than an STI, the Crab Museum is bringing London’s Vagina Museum to the sea for Margate Pride weekend in a marriage of two great ideas. The first bricks and mortar museum dedicated to fannies will pop up in the Claw Learning Studio for all things vulvas, labias, clitorises and gynaecological bits. More details are to come, but the weekend will kick off with a ticketed do on the evening of Friday, August 9, which will no doubt champion the indelible power of the pussy and crustaceans, which are both, obviously, essential for the survival of humankind.
Doubloon has set up shop on Margate’s Northdown Road. You may have had one of Doubloon’s cold brew coffees when they were on Hawley Street. In its new location, the cafe is still serving cold coffee-based drinks and regular coffee too. Sit inside and bask in the cafe’s sweetness, or take a drink for a walk.
Tickets for The Libertines’ Wasteland weekender are on sale, from £66.25. On August bank holiday, Saturday - Monday, August 24-26, acts are still yet to be announced for the two day music festival, but expect to venue hop across Margate to catch some great indie and alternative tunes.
The Northdown and Gadds breweries have teamed up to launch Northdown Gadd-About on Saturday, August 3. While you sample their beers, there’ll be food trucks to soak it up and live music to keep you entertained. Best of all, they’re laying on a loop bus to ferry you between the two tap rooms and Ramsgate and Margate train stations.
Performing arts people who are working on a new show, Looping The Loop, affiliated with Margate’s Ark cultural centre, has put out a call out for works-in-progress for their Making More Waves scratch night. In partnership with cultural community charity Applause, the evening is on November 15. For family shows, it’s November 10. Both dates are part of a wider Looping the Loop festival, on November 8-17. Apply by August 18, here.
Period Power author Maisie Hill will deliver a talk on her latest book at the Fort Road Hotel in Margate on Thursday, July 25, hosted by The Margate Bookshop. Titled Powerful, the new book is about stress responses and understanding them in order to take control of your life. Free but RSVP.
On July 26-28, Cliftonville’s Bar Nothing venue pays tribute to former landlord Kevin Morpurgo, who died a year ago. There will be DJs until late on Friday and Saturday, plus live music from Autohaus and Infernal Hag on Sunday afternoon. The weekender will draw to a close with a ceremonial fire at the Lido opposite the venue at sunset on Sunday.
Ramsgate plant shop Foliage is hosting a kids terrarium workshop for children aged ten and over on Thursday, August 1 at 10am. It’s £20 per child, which includes soil, plants and the glass vessel to stuff them all (sorry, place carefully) inside. DM to book.
Another thing that’s a way off, the Tate Modern gallery in London has announced a new exhibition set to open on November 28 called Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before The Internet. If that sounds up your street, then in the more immediate future you should also pay a visit to Ramsgate’s This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete.
This year’s London Craft Beer Festival will take place at the Tobacco Dock on August 9-10. Representing Thanet will be Margate bar and brewery Xylo, among a whole range of companies from around the UK. Tickets are available now and include all your beer and a souvenir glass. Or, if you’re feeling lucky, Xylo are currently giving away a pair of tickets.
Incredible nature photographer Rebecca Douglas will unveil her latest solo exhibition Wild Edges at Albion House in Ramsgate as part of POW Thanet on Thursday, July 25. Images cover a wide range of the natural world, including diving gannets in Shetland and a volcanic eruption in Iceland. Free but limited tickets are available for the opening night.
Excellent DJ and producer Lau.ra will be bringing her Wonk club night out the the basement of London’s Social venue to Margate’s Sun Deck for Wonk Beach Party 24 on Saturday, August 31, 2pm-10pm. As well as Lau.ra, also on the bill are Crate Classics and Wonk’s own residents. It’s free, so get this one in the diary now.
ICYMI - In Case You Missed It
From today, Dreamland in Margate is open to the public daily from 10:30am until the end of September. Normal closing time is 6pm, but check as it will be earlier on days when there is a live event.
It’s Xylo’s fifth birthday today (July 20) and the Margate bar will be celebrating with a newly brewed NEIPA and DJs until late. It all kicks off at 1pm.
New play Wormhole opens at the Omnibus Clapham in London on July 23, running until August 10. Starring Victoria Yeates, it explores domestic abuse, power and escapism. Book here.
Bottleneck in Broadstairs is hosting an in-store wine tasting on July 24 at 7pm. Tickets £30, DM to book.
London chef Paris Rosina will be taking over the kitchen at Sète in Cliftonville from July 24-27. A menu of retro classics is on the cards.
Margate’s new material night Inkling hosts a work in progress performance of comedian Rich Hardisty’s new show Pop at the Tom Thumb Theatre on July 25. A few tickets are still available.
Chuckle Club returns to The Bedford Inn in Ramsgate on July 26. Tickets £5, book here.
Feast Club is back on at Cliffs in Margate on July 26. Seats are available for £45pp.
LA’s Warehouse Preservation Society will be bringing a mix of psychedelic and acid house to Margate Arts Club on July 26. Tickets available here.