Things to do: Skinny Dip, Palace Cinema, This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete
Things to do in Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and beyond, including eating great food, discovering lost cinemas, and playing with obsolete tech
The first episode of the latest series of BBC Radio 4’s Mark Steel’s In Town is out and comes from Margate. Wherever you’re from in Thanet, we’re sure you’ll enjoy hearing the town being roasted for half and hour. Listen here.
Cliftonville’s Quench art gallery has announced that it will temporarily close when its current exhibitions end after failing to secure new funding. “Unfortunately these further rejections mean we have to stop and restructure how we fund Quench in the long term,” say its owners in a statement. Donations are being invited via PayPayl and Patreon, and visitors are also encouraged to fill out an audience survey. Find out more here.
Experimental and old tech museum This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete has announced its summer open days for those interested in weird musical instruments and forgotten scientific equipment. This month, they’re open 1pm-4pm on June 29 and 30, and there’s also open weekends and Wednesdays in July and August, and September 1. 5-7 Church Hill CT11 8RA.
Bar Nothing on Cliff Terrace in Margate is now a cafe too (harking back to its old Radio Margate days). Open at 3pm from Wednesday to Friday, it will serve up hot drinks and some tasty looking snacks from Prayer Food.
A date for your diary, Broadstairs Autumn Food Festival is on September 27-29. More details to come closer to then.
A new addition to your London sightseeing list, The Serpentine Gallery will unveil Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s tallest ever bronze pumpkin sculpture in Kensington Gardens on July 9. It will remain on display in the park until November 3.
Riot Gull, post punk feminist music night in the spirit of Kathleen Hanna but with a seaside twang, have announced its next night in Folkestone Creative Corner on August 16, as part of grassroots event, Compass Music Festival. Early Bird tickets, £12 on sale now.
Mrs Fox’s Skulduggery Tour of Ramsgate returns for a second year this summer, offering tales of the darker sides of the town’s history. This year Mrs Fox - aka historial Tracy Russell - also adds Regency Ramsgate - The Jane Austen Tour, looking at the influence of the town on Austen and her work. Both take place throughout July and August on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Places available for £9 each on Eventbrite.
More walking, and the Palace Cinema in Broadstairs has announced a series of events to explore Thanet’s lost cinemas. While they may be few and far between today, there have been many across Broadstairs, Ramsgate and Margate since the 1890s. The tours will visit their former sites and offer insights into local social history. Taking place on August 4, 18 and 25, tickets cost £8.
A new ballet based on The Who’s 1973 album ‘Quadrophonia’ is set to open at Sadler’s Wells in London on 24 Jun 2025. Written by Who guitarist Pete Townshend and choreographed by Paul Roberts, the show is soundtracked by Rachel Fuller’s 2016 orchestral arrangement of the album. Like the 1979 film based on the album, the story follows troubled mod Jimmy between London and Brighton - wrong bit of the seaside for us, but whatever. Priority tickets, from £15 on sale now for exceptional forward planners.
Little Swift and Big Shot on Margate’s Marine Drive will be hosting a Big American Weekender from 4-7 July. There’s be BBQs on Thursday and Friday, and a curated selection of US beers and whiskies will be on offer throughout the weekend.
Soho Theatre will be hosting the London Clown Festival from July 8-26. Not a place to find creepy guys with white face paint and red noses (should that be your phobia), the event aims to showcase the broad range of styles in contemporary clowning and physical comedy. Tickets range from £13 - £26. Booking open now.
Shops on Cliftonville’s Northdown Road will be hosting their annual Block Party on July 27. As well as an opportunity to shop late into the evening, there will be food, drink, street performers, live music and more. Follow on Instagram for more info.
Doctor Forager is back for days roaming around the sea, fossicking for seaweed, and coastal and hedgerow plants. Sessions start at 10am from Margate’s Bus Cafe and end around 2pm somewhere in Westgate that has good transport links. On July, 13, 14, 27. £50 per person. Book via DM.
Pot Luck is an informal queer get-together in Margate, and everyone is welcome. This one is on Sunday, July 7 from 1pm to 3pm and comes with a BBQ theme. BYO a dish to share or bring what you need to cook something there, along with everything you need to eat with. Find this lunch at Margate’s beach facing the Lido. Drop the organisers a line if you’ve got questions.
Like to suck on crustaceans? Snakeoil Barbecue at Daisy is serving up a crawfish boil on July 4. In full Southern Americana style, there will also be andouille sausage, hot prawn butter and creole-spiced corn corns, as well as other things to shove greedily into your maw. There's two sittings at 6pm and 8pm and it’s £38 each. Book through Eventbrite and pay on the night.
Skinny Dip returns, kind of. The Margate cafe, which closed last year, is re-opening as a public-facing, micro-roasting place in Studio JH in the Westwood light industrial area, behind B&Q. It will be open Tuesdays to Fridays, 8am-2pm. For their soft launch, on July 1, Skinny Dip roasters are offering £1 coffees all day, so head down there, and pick yourself up some colour match paint while you're at it.
Vote in the election. Fun! Who will you vote for now that the Bionic MP is out of the race? Will this be the end of Tory rule? And if so, will things just say the same? Ahhh, democracy has never felt more empowering. Still, though. Have your say. Voting makes you far more sexy. Find your closest poll station here.
ICYMI - previously tipped events happening this week
TKE Studios, Margate presents the Tracey Emin Artist Residency Final Show opens June 30th.
Margate Black Pride takes over The Sundeck on July 6. Starts at 3pm and running until 10pm.
Pop-up cinema night Deeper Into Movies screens Harmony Korine’s Gummo at Bar Nothing, Margate on Jul 10. Tickets available through Dice.
Seafood pop-up Catch’s next appearance will be at The Bedford Inn in Ramsgate on June 29, from midday to 4pm. Places are £20pp. Book here.
