Partnerships, and Participation are key words in this year’s WemsFest – the 4th to be staged by the Emsworth-based arts organization from 1–18 October.
Partnerships have been fostered with several organisations in the area in order to give more weight and promotion behind individual events. For example The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre in Havant has been able to participate in the nationally celebrated Black History Month for the first time through WemsFest involvement in the co-promotion of a concert by Les Freres Guisse from Senegal (Oct 8).
WemsFest marketing will help Tuppenny Barn reach a much wider audience for their literary and music events, and, conversely, Emsworth Business Association will use WemsFest as a means of attracting more people into the town to participate in Great British Food Fortnight.
Participatory events aimed at social interaction range from hands-on creative writing workshops to an intergenerational board game afternoon, and the Emsworth Scrabble Championship, plus walks, talks, a mass photo-shoot, and the commemoration of the Emsworth’s iconic gasholder !
In amongst all of this there’s a varied range of music and theatre events which include concerts by Judie Tzuke, the Big Topp Ska Band, Americana artists Bettysoo & Curtis McMurtry, Lem & The White Fire, bluesman Eddie Martin, Congo’s Lokito Ya Congo, and cellist Ella Rundle. Theatre performances include WemsFest’s own company performing Racton Follies 4, and commemorating P G Wodehouse’s involvement in the town with a specially adapted version of A Damsel in Distress, and actress Amanda Waring in her one-woman show ‘For the Love of Chocolate’.
Here is a full list of the events, including pre and post-WemsFest:
Pre-WemsFest:
Saturday 19 September 10am-12noon Creative Writing Workshop at The Meeting Place, North Street, Westbourne PO10 8SP
Tuesday 22 September 8pm Lil’ Jimmy Reed at Tuppenny Barn,
Tuesday 29 September 10am-2pm Creative Writing for Gourmets at Tuppenny Barn, A259 betwixt Emsworth & Southbourne PO10 8EG
WemsFest:
Thursday 1 October 7.30pm - Judie Tzuke - Emsworth Baptist Church, North Street, Emsworth PO10 7BY
Friday 2 October 8pm Racton Follies 4 Emsworth Community Centre, Church Path PO10 7DD
Saturday 3 October 11am – 3pm Punch & Judy at South Street Car Park, Emsworth PO10 7EG 7.30pm Big Topp Ska Band at the Tuppenny Barn
Sunday 4 October 3pm, The Westbourne Walk - The Lych Gate, St.John’s Church, Westbourne PO10 8UL 8pm For the Love of Chocolate! Emsworth Community Centre,
Monday 5 October 8pm - Bettysoo & Curtis McMurtry at the Brookfield Hotel,
Tuesday 6 October 8pm - Neil Lawson-Baker – The Art of the Maverick The Brookfield Hotel, Havant Road, Emsworth PO10 7LF
Thursday 8 October 8pm - Les Freres Guisse, at The Spring
Friday 9 October 8pm - Lem and The White Fire. The Westbourne Club, River Street PO10 8TG 8pm Ella Rundle Cello Recital at St. John the Baptist Church, Westbourne PO10 8UL
Saturday 10 October - 2pm, Emsworth Scrabble Championship at Emsworth Community Centre, Church Path PO10 7DD
7.30pm ‘Serving Cocktails from the Ceiling’ - A Poetry Evening with Aoife Mannix at the Tuppenny Barn, A259 betwixt Emsworth & Southbourne PO10 8EG
8pm Racton Follies 4 at The Westbourne Club, River Street PO10 8TG
Sunday 11 October 11am - The 4th WemsFest Hash at The Sussex Brewery, Main Road, Hermitage PO10 8AU
1.30pm The Big Shoot Millpond Wall, Emsworth PO10 7EQ 2.30pm Discovering Emsworth - Meet in North Street Car Park by Emsworth Museum/Fire Station PO10 7DD
Wednesday 14 October 8pm Eddie Martin at The Hewitt’s, South Street, Emsworth PO10 7EG
Thursday 15 October 8pm (P G Wodehouse’ Birthday) A Damsel in Distress at The Brookfield Hotel, Havant Road, Emsworth PO10 8LF
Friday 16 October 8pm - Lokito Ya Congo, and African Night Fever DJs at the Westbourne Club, River Street, Westbourne PO10 8TG
Saturday 17 October2.30pm - Don’t Believe the Media – Honey Bees are NOT Becoming Extinct! The Stables, Eames Farm, Thorney Road PO10 8DE
2.30pm - A Damsel in Distress - The Westbourne Club, River Street, Westbourne PO10 8TG 8pm The 4th (almost) Full Moon MTB Ride from the Sussex Brewery, 36 Main Road, Hermitage PO10 8AU
8pm Comedy Night - The Westbourne Club, River Street, Westbourne PO10 8TG Jeff Lane, Lloyd Griffith, Brian & Krystal, and Joe Wells.
Sunday 18 October 2pm The WemsFest Generation Game
Emsworth Community Centre, Church Path PO10 7DD
8pm - WemsFest Team Quiz at the Westbourne Club, River Street, Westbourne PO10 8TG
Post WemsFest:
8pm Friday 23 & Saturday 24 October - Set the Controls for…(the Heart of the Sun) - Visual projections with silent disco on the Emsworth gasholder Palmers Road, Emsworth PO10 7DL
8pm Saturday 31 October Halloween - Nosferatu with Elizabeth-Jane Baldry (harp) - Chidham & Hambrook Village Hall, Main Road, PO10 8TP