Popular Sevenoaks Summer Festival will be officially opened by Town Mayor at the fair on Saturday 22 June

by Sevenoaks Summer Festival Chairman – Ray Russell

WITH the Sevenoaks Summer Festival almost upon us, make sure The Festival Fair on Saturday 22 June is in your diaries. There will be entertainment and performances throughout the day from 10am to 5pm, with the official opening by Town Mayor, Cllr Nick Busvine taking place at 11am.

Also that day, you can enjoy:

The Sevenoaks Society’s Heritage exhibition at Sevenoaks Library from 9am
Kippington St Mary’s Celebration of Colour flower festival from 10am
Blues in the Afternoon at The Anchor pub at 3pm (and again on each Saturday)
Sevenoaks Three Arts Festival Prizewinners’ Concert in the Ship Theatre at 7pm
An Amish-Mennonite Choir – The Faith Healers Chorale – in concert at St Luke’s Church at 7.30pm
Elektra Violin Duo (pictured) in concert at Kippington St Mary’s at 8pm

Sunday 23 June features:

A Sevenoaks Ramblers’ walk in the North Downs
PHOTO: Nick Rutter
St Luke’s Festival Eucharist Service at 10.15am followed by an organ recital at noon
Darent Valley Youth Music playing on the Vine Bandstand from 3.00pm
Primavera’s Midsummer Music at Penshurst Place at 7.30pm
The opening celebrity concert by The Tallis Scholars (pictured right) at 7.30pm in Pamoja Hall, Sevenoaks. This really is not to be missed, a chance to see and hear the rock stars of Renaissance vocal music according to the New York Times and one of the UK’s greatest cultural exports according to BBC Radio 3.

Other daytime dates during Festival:

Tuesday 25 June – Sevenoaks Society’s Omega Group’s ‘Poetry for Pleasure’ 2pm at St Luke’s
Wednesday 26 June – Solefield School’s Chamber Choir perform St Luke’s Lunchtime recital at 12.30pm.

Saturday 29 June:

Sevenoaks Art Club’s Outdoor Exhibition on the Vine Railings from 9am
Restoration Station exhibition showing the renaissance of Bat & Ball station from 10am
Armed Forces Day – Vine Gardens from 10am
Dixie Jazz at The Three Horseshoes from the Bosville Valley Stompers from 1.30pm
Lunchtime organ recital at St Luke’s at 1.30pm

Sunday 30 June:

Another Sevenoaks Ramblers’ guided walk
Sevenoaks & Tonbridge Concert Band on the Vine Bandstand from 3pm
Sevenoaks Shakespeare Society’s matinee performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at The White Rock Inn, Underriver at 3.30pm

Wednesday 3 July:

Sevenoaks Ramblers guided walk on the Green Sand Ridge at 10.00am
Knole Academy pupils present St Luke’s Lunchtime recital at 12.30pm

Saturday 6 July:

A short walk along the Greensand Way at 10am
Lunchtime organ recital at St Luke’s Church at 1.30pm
Live in the Afternoon from Ty & Alesha Watling in aid of Friends for Families at 3.00pm

Sunday 7 July:

Sevenoaks Model Railway show at Sevenoaks Primary School from 10am
Sevenoaks Shakespeare Society’s matinee performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is at The White Rock Inn, Underriver at 3.30pm

These are just some of the highlights from this year’s Sevenoaks Summer Festival. Take a good look at the many other events on offer. Sales are going well, so be sure to book your tickets for the 16 days of this Festival from Saturday 22 June to Sunday 7 July – and mark your diary for next year’s 50^th Anniversary Festival 20 June to 5 July.

Full details of events are in the Festival 2019 brochure available for free from Stag, Waitrose and various other outlets in Sevenoaks and surrounding towns and villages. You can also view an online version on the Sevenoaks Summer festival website, which also has links to the box offices for all ticketed events: www.sevenoaksfestival.org.uk