Jack in the Green
Curious Agenda will be collaborating with the seminal Hastings event Jack in the Green this May! Come and celebrate the slaying of Jack with us. We are running games for all ages up on the West Hill - crazy golf, Stack in the Green and more.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!
Festival Exhibitions
We are thrilled to present two captivating exhibitions in St Andrews Mews this year: the Curiosity Cabinet and the Curious Arcade.
Step into adventure as you ascend the stairs to the heart of our festival—the Curiosity Cabinet of Play. What wonders await you inside?
Ignite your sense of wonder as you navigate the enchanting winding rooms of our exhibition space, showcasing incredible artwork created by a diverse array of local artists and community groups. The theme of ‘Play’ invites you to explore a rich tapestry of interpretations presented in various mediums, from vibrant oil paintings and intricate sculptures to thought-provoking photography and interactive installations.
Discover The Dollhouse nestled at the back, where you can immerse yourself in captivating sets from this interactive installation. Join the fun as you dance in the Kitchen Disco, engage in classic parlour games, or unearth your alter ego in the Dressing Room—and more!
Return downstairs to unearth the Curious Arcade, where nostalgia meets creativity. Step into a world where you can enjoy vintage video games, classic carnival games, and art-inspired games crafted by both local talents and guest artists.
Join us in celebrating our town’s talented local artists and discover how they interpret the essence of Play!
Private View: May 9th 6-8pm - Join us for the Private View, part of the Festival Opening Night Party!
Opening Times: Thursdays 12.30pm-7.30pm, Saturdays 11.00am-4.30pm, Sundays 12.00pm-4.00pm (+additional times - check back on website or socials for info)
FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT PARTY
🌟 Unlock Your Curiosity at the Opening Party of A Curious Town Plays Festival! 🌟
Join us as the gates swing wide open, officially launching A Curious Town Plays Festival! Step into St Andrew’s Mews and immerse yourself in a world of wonders waiting at every turn.
Prepare for an unforgettable experience with a dazzling array of performances. Enjoy captivating burlesque and fire acts, evocative poetry, lively walkabout games, energizing DJs, live bands, and more—there’s something to enchant everyone!
POETRY LUCKY DIP - A Workshop With Grace Pilkington
On your exploration of all the curious spaces in the Mews, be sure to take a seat with Grace and have a PLAY with poetry!
Dip your hand into a bag of objects which can be used as poetry prompts. Pick one from the bag and then write down the words that you associate with it, and watch a poem form… Also take time to read and discuss some of the greatest poems inspired by objects!
Take a leisurely stroll through the Curiosity Cabinet, showcasing works from local artists, and unleash your playful spirit in the Curious Arcade. Be sure to visit The Dollhouse, where you can dance your heart out at the Kitchen Disco, explore your alter ego or engage in delightful parlour games in the Dressing Room and more —there’s a surprise around every corner!
Indulge in delicious food and drink, including signature Curious Cocktails, from our amazing partners in the Mews.
For updates on the incredible lineup, keep an eye on our website and social media channels. Don’t miss this enchanting festival opening party—come and explore the magic!
*Adults only after 8.30pm*
The Game Bus
All Aboard The Game Bus!
Step aboard a one-of-a-kind gaming destination for a day and night of board game antics, team challenges, and non-stop fun! On May 10th, a refurbished double-decker bus in Bexhill transforms into the ultimate pop-up games café, with tables set for laughter, friendly competition, and a bit of organised gaming chaos. With two sittings—daytime for families and evening for adults-only—you can choose the perfect time to roll the dice, test your wits, and dive into a world of play. The on-board café will be serving up tasty bites and drinks, with a cheeky tipple available for our grown-up guests in the evening.
Leading the fun is Peter Jenkinson, aka The Toyologist, a true expert in all things play. With years of experience testing, reviewing, and championing the best games around, Peter has written for national publications, co-founded the Board Game Club, and built a career out of finding the most engaging and innovative ways to play. If anyone knows how to turn a game night into an unforgettable experience, it’s him!
🎟 Grab your tickets now and let the games begin!
Kiln Firing
A workshop led by Martin Brockman firing clay found in the Woodland’s own Otter’s Creek.
In 1986 Martin began to travel Britain with the Theatre Group, Welfare State International. They worked with imagery and words rooted in the vernacular celebrating communities which ranged from fireside stories in village halls to metropolitan spectaculars…. Martin experimented with a wide variety of materials from print and paper through to large experimental clay and kiln sculptural firings. Throughout this time he created his own block-prints, wood carvings and pottery.
Please bring snacks/lunch due to timings.
Booking is required to confirm your place with a donation of £2 which you can get back on the day if requested.
Decorate Your Own Tropical Bird
This is a colourful, fun and creative workshop with Brazilian artist Gilda Silva.
Decorate your own tropical bird and learn about their habitat, birds symbolism, listen to fascinating stories about tropical birds and their important contribution for maintaining our planet green.
Wild Poets
‘If you go down to the woods today…’
A multi-sensory poetic journey for all ages. This 30min exploration using spoken word and sensory input to deepen our connection with nature.
Created with volunteers, the event follows directly on from the ‘Wild Gods’ workshop with Rosy Pendlebury, so why not do both? If you are interested in performing and would like to be involved as a volunteer facilitator please attend the workshop on 23rd April, otherwise just come and enjoy in the magical (and art filled) Speckled Wood.
Speckled Wood Activity MORNING
All are welcome to the Curiously Playful Speckled Wood in Ore this year for the whole month of May!
Join us on 24th May for the special Speckled Wood Activity Morning.
Acclaimed local artists, Peter Quinnell, Martin Brockman and Mark Daniels are creating an art trail through this woodland to intrigue and delight folk of all ages. There will be workshops throughout the month of May, with main activity days on the 11th, 24th and culminating with the Speckled Wood Fun day on 31st of May.
The entrance is on Victoria Avenue, which you won’t be able to miss due to Martin’s beautiful arch featuring two Stags. We hope to stir your imagination by adding curiously fascinating artworks throughout the month.
Including: A swinging singing tree, Magical bridges, Otter Creek, a Wishing tree, Draw your
dreams and little things to find along the way.
ACTIVITIES ON 24th MAY INCLUDE:
10.30-11.30am - Wonder Walk
The Wonder Walk will fill you with awe as you journey through enchanting woodland. Each step will beckon you deeper into an improvised tale, fed by your curiosity and underscored by nature.
In this immersive, interactive experience for all ages, the flora and fauna of the forest will become integral players in the story; their whispers and rustles guiding the plot's twists and turns.
Led by master storytellers and musicians Zoie Kennedy and Desmond O’Connor, the Wonder Walk is for people of all ages. It will open your heart, engage your mind and inspire you to look a little closer at the world in which you live.
Desmond is an internationally renowned and award winning composer, lyricist and performer with over twenty years experience in cabaret, storytelling, comedy and musical theatre. Zoie Kennedy is an actress, puppeteer, published poet, director, artist, producer, writer and founder of the award winning Twice Shy Theatre company.
11.00am-2.00pm (drop in) - Speckled Wood Magic Colouring Book
Artist Martin Brockman will be leading a drop in workshop to create a set of Speckled Wood Colours. These will then be used for a speckled wood magic colouring book. Curious?
Steel Pans
Returning to A Curious Town once again due to popular demand, the extremely talented musician and teacher Jim Bernardin (worldmusicworkshops.co.uk) will guide you through this fun workshop on the steelpan drums and other percussion instruments. You will not only have fun trying these unusual and beautiful instruments and learn the basics, but you will also be able to play a tune by the end.
Jim learnt to sight-read as a kit drummer, and quickly established himself drumming for shows and backing artists in residencies on land and on cruise-ships. He later studied the marimba, piano, steel pan and more recently the bass guitar, gaining a first class music degree in 1998 and a Masters 2020.
Teaching has been a passion for twenty five years now, as has creating and directing successful community projects like Worthing Steel Band from 2012-2021.
In addition to his bespoke multicultural-influenced percussion workshops, Jim remains an active musician on steel pan and drum kit in the genres of Latin Jazz, Caribbean, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music.
Village Fete
Bless our bunting! It’s the Curious Coastal Village Fete. Join our hip Rev Colin Durr and our gorgeous grannies for an afternoon of hilarity. With lots of stations to explore and try your hand at, this will be a day of silly fun and prizes to be won, for all the family.
With all the charm and wholesome informality of a traditional English Village Fete, A Curious Town brings you a day with all the norms, plus a few curious twists. Come along between midday and 5pm to gorge yourself on cream teas, Pimms and high quality local produce from our market stalls. Take part in vegetable carving, get in a spin with our hula hoop workshop and let your creative side out with flower arranging and cake decorating. Have your face painted, enter the raffle to win fabulous prizes, or get your furry best friend to enter into the dog show - because pets deserve prizes too!
And don’t forget to explore the space while you’re at it! St Leonards church will be filled with fantastic artwork in the exhibition, installation pieces upstairs, and curious musicians and walkabout performers roaming around to entertain you!
'Believe in Yourself' Giant Poster Colouring-In
Join Sanders de Roeper for a laid-back colouring in workshop! Choose between two A2 colouring posters—Sparkle the Fairy of Self Belief or Cosmos the Wizard of Strength—each with a message to boost self confidence.
With guidance from Hatty & Tim, you’ll explore your creativity in a relaxed, no-pressure way. There’s no right or wrong, just the chance to create something personal to you!
By the end, you’ll take home your own customised poster, which you can also work into once home as well! It’s a brilliant fun, relaxing activity and we do hope to see lots of you there!
Bowl-Side Cinema: Youth Docs After Dark
What happens when you hand the camera to the next generation? Step into the skate bowl at Source Park, sink into a beanbag, and find out.
This one-of-a-kind screening spotlights a series of bold, thought-provoking documentary shorts crafted by the young creatives of The Benbow Youth Film Collective, part of The Bright Foundation. Their lens, their stories—raw, real, and refreshingly unfiltered.
Projected onto the big screen in the atmospheric underbelly of Source Park, this is cinema with a side of skate culture. And yes, The Courtyard’s finest food vendors will be serving all evening, so you won’t go hungry.
Curious Kids
A vibrant celebration where creativity and play will merge, inspiring young minds through colour, design and imagination, hosted by Little Mashers.
Back for its third year, The Curious Kids Day is an immersive child centric arts festival which aims to provide young people with an opportunity to take part in a variety of vibrant workshops. There will be a diverse programme of activities run by experienced local artists, including Little Mashers, ZEROH, Marie Louise and Makedo.
Each child will be given a Curiosity Passport on entry to prompt them to explore the space, take part in all the activities on offer and create their own collection of festival memorabilia to take home.
The festival will be split into two sessions from which to choose, 10-1.30pm and 2.30-6pm. Families will have the opportunity to explore as many of the activities as possible during their session all designed to captivate and excite children, with the emphasis being on creativity and the importance of PLAY!
Hagstone Stunners presents the May All Day Smackdown
Perfect for wrestling fans & curious folk of all ages - get ready to rumble in a lucid dream! Hagstone Stunners is a show that brings Hastings folklore to life through a mix of drag, high flying wrestling and comedy theatre. This is not wrestling as you’ve seen it before!
Speckled Wood Fun Day
All are welcome to the Curiously Playful Speckled Wood in Ore this year for the whole month of May!
Join us on 31st May for the special Speckled Wood Fun Day full of activities and surprises.
Acclaimed local artists, Peter Quinnell, Martin Brockman and Mark Daniels are creating an art trail through this woodland to intrigue and delight folk of all ages. There will be workshops throughout the month of May, with main activity days on the 11th, 14th and 31st of May.
The entrance is on Victoria Avenue, which you won’t be able to miss due to Martin’s beautiful arch featuring two Stags. We hope to stir your imagination by adding curiously fascinating artworks throughout the month.
Including: A swinging singing tree, Magical bridges, Otter Creek, a Wishing tree, Draw your
dreams and little things to find along the way.
31st May Speckled Wood Fun Day
Your guide for this fun day for all the family will be a very Curious Owl!
Activities include:
Musical Instrument Making - An all-ages workshop with artist Peter Quinnell making various easy musical instruments and noise-makers from household rubbish and woodland stuff.
Block Printing - An all-ages workshop block printing on Japanese Paper
Kiln Firing - A workshop led by Martin Brockman firing clay found in the Woodland’s own Otter’s Creek
Woodland Creature Cutout Painting - Make and paint your own woodland creature workshop with local artist Mark Daniels. Celebrating the local wildlife in Speckled wood by making a Badger, Fox, Robin or butterfly to name but a few. And you get to take them home!
Keep an eye out on the website and socials for timings.
Play the Town Launch Party
🌟 Embark on an Adventure: Join Us for the Launch of Play the Town! 🌟
Get ready to unlock the magic of art and exploration on April 30th with the exciting launch of Play the Town, an interactive treasure trail that will transform our town into a vibrant canvas of creativity!
Draw to the Beat with Radiator Arts
Listen to music and draw what you hear (maybe even blindfolded ;-) and create art pieces to be included in our giant cassette tape PLAY THE TOWN installation for everyone to discover in town this May.