Events
Upcoming events are listed below
Harwich benefits from great attractions and a range of events taking place throughout the year. Discover what’s happening and what captures your interest and then get involved. We hope you enjoy everything the town has to offer.
Save the Date – The Harwich Festival will be taking place between the 20th – 30th June 2019!
Come and see…
- The community 20 by 20 exhibition at the Old Chapel in Kings Head Street.
- An exhibition of local and visiting artists’ work at The Old Bank Studios.
- The Dovercourt Art Clubs Summer Exhibition at the 1912 Centre
- The Bijou Picture Show at Bodgeners Gallery.
- Public art such as Turning Over a New Leaf and the Sea Window Competition.
- Revisit ‘Esturiana’ the Mosaic Boat – now permanently displayed on Ha’ Penny Pier.
- Harwich Shorts – screenings at the Harwich Mayflower Heritage Centre.
With performances from the Ebenezer Brass Band who will be performing across the various venues throughout the night.
Informal performance from Noriko Ogawa featuring a separate programme for the evening performance.
Held in Japan and the UK, Jamie’s Concerts were conceived by Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa, through her own experience of living with the family of a child with severe autism, Jamie, when she first moved to the UK.
The concerts are designed for those who are not able to normally go to concerts, such as parents of children with autism or some disability.
Following on from their Harwich Festival 2018 appearance with ‘Saxology’, Cydnei B and local musician Catherine Shrubshall have been invited back this year as ‘her&her’ – bringing another aspect of their musicality through their relaxing sound spas. There are six dates scheduled into the festival programme to coincide with the Summer Solstice, which will be duly celebrated. One visit to the Sound Spa will work wonders, and multiple attendances will deepen the benefits even more!
What to expect from your Sound Spa:
- Arrive 15 minutes early to get settled in your space
- The session will last for an hour
- Bring a (yoga) mat, blanket and cushion for comfort
- Lie or sit comfortably with eyes closed or open to aid the whole experience
- A variety of instruments from across the globe
- Leave totally relaxed and refreshed
- No experience necessary
- Suitable for people aged 16 and over
- There will be time to share your experiences and enjoy a cup of tea afterwards
- Please note that access is by stairs only at this venue
Noriko Ogawa has achieved considerable renown throughout the world since her success at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Noriko’s “ravishingly poetic playing” (Telegraph) sets her apart from her contemporaries and acclaim for her complete Debussy series with BIS Records, confirms her as a fine Debussy specialist. Her Images Book I and II were chosen as the top recommendation ‘exquisite delicacy’, BBC Radio 3’s CD Review, January 2014. Noriko’s latest recording for BIS records is of solo piano music by Eric Satie.
Tim Casson and Friends ‘The Dance We Made’
10:30 – 13:00 (Final Performance Aprox 12:45). Start and final performance Cliff Park, Free Entry.
The TDWM Team have just 2 hours to create a brand new dance, and they need your help!
Help the dancers create some new moves and watch the performance come together before your very eyes. Each newly created dance will then be performed by the TDWM Team on location, filmed and uploaded to YouTube. It’s the show where everyone is a choreographer, so grab one of the team and “Let’s Make a Dance!” – no experience required!
In the morning this will be taking place in around Cliff Park
Jonas Stonkus is a native of Lithuania. He started playing accordion at age seven. From ages fifteen to eighteen he studied at a regional conservatoire in Klaipeda and then progressed to the Lithuanian academy of music and theatre in the state capital Vilnius where he got bachelor’s degree in 2016.
Tim Casson and Friends ‘The Dance We Made’
14:00 – 16:30 (Final Performance Aprox 16:15). Start and final performance at Ha’ Penny Pier, Free Entry
The TDWM Team have just 2 hours to create a brand new dance, and they need your help!
Help the dancers create some new moves and watch the performance come together before your very eyes. Each newly created dance will then be performed by the TDWM Team on location, filmed and uploaded to YouTube. It’s the show where everyone is a choreographer, so grab one of the team and “Let’s Make a Dance!” – no experience required!
In the Afternoon this will take place in and around Harwich Town starting and ending at the Ha’Penny Pier.
Celebrate the Summer Solstice with ‘her&her’
Following on from their Harwich Festival 2018 appearance with ‘Saxology’, Cydnei B and local musician Catherine Shrubshall have been invited back this year as ‘her&her’ – bringing another aspect of their musicality through their relaxing sound spas. There are six dates scheduled into the festival programme to coincide with the Summer Solstice, which will be duly celebrated. One visit to the Sound Spa will work wonders, and multiple attendances will deepen the benefits even more!
‘her&her’ invite you to get comfortable and close your eyes whilst being guided on an improvised musical journey, to explore and encourage healing. The effect of the vibrations will assist your body and mind to rebalance and re-harmonise. Deep listening, mindfulness and meditation are also encouraged…along with an open heart and the imagination to be taken on a musically resonant and replenishing adventure. Cydnei and Catherine improvise soundscapes that range from beautiful to haunting, soothing, healing, harmonious, loud, quiet, meditative, eerie, and otherworldly. The textures and melodic lines are created with voices, clarinets, Himalayan singing bowls, wha-wha, drums, bells, khochi chimes, conch shells, sansulas, saxophones, pitch pipes, xylophone – plus anything else they can blow, hit or lay their hands on! Showering you with sound, the nourishment and self-care will leave you feeling nurtured, refreshed and ready to face the world again.
Harwich and Dovercourt Choral Soiciety was first mentioned in the press in 1891, but came into being in its present format in 1921, giving their first performance “Persephone” in the now demolished Church in Cliff Road. Members of the Essex Musical Association the choir won numerous cups in their early days going on to perform in Chelmsford Cathedral, Thaxted Church, and the world famous Snape Maltings. Today the choir has a membership around 30 and is currently based at All Saints Church having been at the Central Church with musical director Julie Harmer having taken over the reigns from Patrick McCarthy at the beginning of 2018.
Our “Best of British” concert will be a celebration of choral music spanning around 800 years.
Stars from TV and Film will be coming to Harwich, including a number of Cosplayers from Bumblebee to Harley Quinn.
Its a day of family fun with shows from The Wrestling League and also live music. 11am – 4pm
Two Old Men is a tale of two old friends created and danced by internationally acclaimed 2Faced Dance Company. This is a story about two men’s extraordinary experiences, eccentric behaviour and witty tales. Two Old Men will make you gasp, laugh and cry as the old men take you on a life long journey all the way to the pub.
Featuring 2Faced Dance Company’s trademark fusion of break, street and contemporary dance, Two Old Men is twenty minutes of adrenalin fuelled, heart in the mouth acrobatics that will leave you wanting more.
Aimed at families
Duration – 22mins
Two Old Men is a tale of two old friends created and danced by internationally acclaimed 2Faced Dance Company. This is a story about two men’s extraordinary experiences, eccentric behaviour and witty tales. Two Old Men will make you gasp, laugh and cry as the old men take you on a life long journey all the way to the pub.
Featuring 2Faced Dance Company’s trademark fusion of break, street and contemporary dance, Two Old Men is twenty minutes of adrenalin fuelled, heart in the mouth acrobatics that will leave you wanting more.
Aimed at families
Duration – 22mins
The Harwich Festival welcomes Chelmsford Cathedral Choir to offer a service of Choral Evensong in the beautiful setting of St Nicholas Church. Choral Evensong is a 45-min long peace-inducing church service in which the ‘song’ of voices sounding together in harmony is heard at the ‘even’ point between the active day and restful night, allowing listeners time for restful contemplation – church members, agnostics and atheists alike.
This is the one service which is led almost entirely by music, with the Cathedral Choir singing preces and responses, the psalm for that evening, the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis of the Canticles and also an anthem. The Magnificat (My soul doth magnify the Lord) is a celebratory and revolutionary text spoken by the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. The Nunc Dimittis (Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace), is the old man Simeon’s song of fulfilment on seeing the baby Jesus in the Temple and recognising him as the Messiah. It is also a prayer for our peace and protection. There are also readings taken from the Old and New Testaments and prayers are offered.
Evensong will be followed by refreshments in the church, and all are welcome to stay behind after the service.
Following on from their Harwich Festival 2018 appearance with ‘Saxology’, Cydnei B and local musician Catherine Shrubshall have been invited back this year as ‘her&her’ – bringing another aspect of their musicality through their relaxing sound spas. There are six dates scheduled into the festival programme to coincide with the Summer Solstice, which will be duly celebrated. One visit to the Sound Spa will work wonders, and multiple attendances will deepen the benefits even more!
‘her&her’ invite you to get comfortable and close your eyes whilst being guided on an improvised musical journey, to explore and encourage healing. The effect of the vibrations will assist your body and mind to rebalance and re-harmonise. Deep listening, mindfulness and meditation are also encouraged…along with an open heart and the imagination to be taken on a musically resonant and replenishing adventure. Cydnei and Catherine improvise soundscapes that range from beautiful to haunting, soothing, healing, harmonious, loud, quiet, meditative, eerie, and otherworldly. The textures and melodic lines are created with voices, clarinets, Himalayan singing bowls, wha-wha, drums, bells, khochi chimes, conch shells, sansulas, saxophones, pitch pipes, xylophone – plus anything else they can blow, hit or lay their hands on! Showering you with sound, the nourishment and self-care will leave you feeling nurtured, refreshed and ready to face the world again.
What to expect from your Sound Spa:
- Arrive 15 minutes early to get settled in your space
- The session will last for an hour
- Bring a (yoga) mat, blanket and cushion for comfort
- Lie or sit comfortably with eyes closed or open to aid the whole experience
- A variety of instruments from across the globe
- Leave totally relaxed and refreshed
- No experience necessary
- Suitable for people aged 16 and over
- There will be time to share your experiences and enjoy a cup of tea afterwards
- Please note that access is by stairs only at this venue
Devon based duo Jacob & Drinkwater have been called ‘stand out new Folk’ by BBC6 Music with their live show described as ‘intense and spellbinding’ by Folk Radio UK. The duo formed in 2014 playing their first gig together at the iconic Glastonbury Festival.
Lizz was classically trained and spent 5 years at the Royal Academy of Music (London) before completing an Honours and Master’s degree at the University of Sheffield.
With a love of Jazz & Blues improvisation and theatrical performances, her playing now takes her from intimate to international, travelling worldwide as part of the vivacious violin duo ‘Elektra’.
Glynis Peters will give a talk about her experience of self publishing and how this has led to her being approached by a major international publishing company. This will be followed by an opportunity to ask questions about her journey and about her current book, of which there will be signed copies available to purchase.
Dramatic Pause Productions presents Shakespeare’s classic, lyrical, epic tragedy of generation against generation, treachery, madness, murder and mayhem in the dramatic environment of the Redoubt.
CALLUM ALGER is currently a fourth year undergraduate at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), studying the organ with Henry Fairs, and choral conducting with Paul Spicer. Alongside his degree, he is the Acting Director of Music at The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Wolverhampton, where he oversees the week-by-week running of the busy music department.
Under The Surface are Joost Lijbaart, drums and percussion; Bram Stadhouders, guitar and electronics; and Sanne Rambags, lyrics and vocals. The trio met in 2015 as part of an initiative by the Dutch foundation Beaux Jazz, which offers young Netherlands talent artistic support. Joost Lijbaart has been at the top of the Dutch jazz scene for the past 20 years, Bram Stadhouders is one of the most promising new young musicians on the European improvisation circuit and Sanne Rambags one of the few singers of her generation who is able to improvise in a very open way, sometimes with self-written texts and poems, sometimes by positioning herself completely between the musicians. This gives her voice an instrumental function which is beautifully in line with the open group sound and the playing of Lijbaart and Stadhouders. Under the Surface is a unique trio of three musicians from different generations who have found each other in a common urge to search for space and silence through improvisation.
Cohen Braithwaite Kilcoyne is a young singer and instrumentalist who is firmly rooted in the folk traditions of the British Isles. He plays melodeon and anglo concertina. He is the driving force behind current festival favourites “Granny’s Attic” who were BBC Folk Award nominees in 2014. Much of his repertoire reflects the industrial Midlands where he was born and bred but he also strays into Edwardian music hall, sea songs and shanties. This will be his first visit to Harwich.
Sam will be performing a selection of music from his critically acclaimed new album,“Postcards from Crouch End” featuring pieces inspired by places as far afield as Columbia, Japan and of course Crouch End.
We are delighted that Sam will be joined by Louise Garner on flute for several of the pieces in this performance.
Sam Piha studied classical guitar at music college in London before establishing himself as a successful and much sought after solo performer, entertaining audiences from very small concert halls to very large outdoor music festivals. He formed various successful and popular ensembles, playing a wide range of musical styles, including being a founder member of the internationally known Celtic band “Easy Street”.
Once again we are happy to include one of Philip Waterman’s Tea Dances in the Festival. Dress in 1920’s outfits or evening dress, strut your stuff or just come and watch. Hosting and music by Philip and Lillian of the Friendly Dance Association.
Tickets are available from Philip 01255 880857, the Harwich Box Office
The Piatti Quartet are one of the most distinguished quartets of their generation. Prizewinners at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition (formerly London), they have performed in all the major venues and festivals around the country as well as concerts throughout the world, with national broadcasts on BBC Radio, ABC (Australia), RTE (Ireland) and France Musique (France).
We are a bright and breezy book festival with a diverse mix of events that cover everything from politics to sport, crime fiction to romance. We exist for those who always have their head buried in a book and those who haven’t yet fully experienced the wonder of reading.
“The Felixstowe Book Festival burst onto the literary scene in 2013 with a confidence, popularity and sparkle that made it hard to believe it was so new. For writers who took part, it felt like a much loved event that had been established for years.”
– Author Nicola Upson
One of the world’s most outstanding young flute soloists, Katherine Bryan is known for her virtuosic, expressive performances and exceptionally rich, warm tone. She has appeared with BBC Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, Halle, Nurnberger Symphoniker, New York Philharmonic and English Baroque orchestras, as well as the Academy of St. Martinin-the-Fields (with Daniel Harding) when just 15 years old.
Poets from the Black Sandal writing group will give readings on the tranquil waters of the River Orwell. The Festival has teamed up with Harwich Harbour Ferry to provide a wonderful evening of nature and poetry.
Time of cruise approximately 1 hour.
David Preston, Kevin Glasgow and Laurie Lowe are three of London’s most creative young instrumentalists, dubbed “young jazz heavyweights” by Time Out magazine. Their coruscating music is a mash-up of relentless rhythmic energy, harmonic dystopia and virtuosic improvisations. Expanding the format of the guitar trio with intricate and distinctive compositions, they create an expansive array of styles while maintaining a focused original sound. Guitarist David Preston studied classical guitar at 16 and has recorded or performed live with the likes of Melody Gardot, Martin Taylor, Curtis Stigers, Charlotte Church and Tim Whitehead’s Homemade Orchestra. Kevin Glasgow has played in the rhythm section of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and is a member of acclaimed international saxophonist Tommy Smith’s Group, bringing his six-string bass to the fore on the latter’s candescent Karma album. Laurie Lowe has been drumming since he was six, going on to perform with Gilad Atzmon, Nicolas Meier, Andy Sheppard, Jim Mullen and many more, touring with Grammy-nominated hiphop group The Foreign Exchange. PGL launched their latest CD, Something About Rainbows, at two shows at Ronnie Scott’s during last year’s EFG London Jazz Festival.
Clare Leach the founder of Harwich Sing has worked with all the school choirs in the area to create The Harwich Combined School Choir Concert.
The children’s enthusiasm and eagerness to sing and perform is infectious and the concert is a great celebration of the talent we have here in Harwich. It promises to give the feel-good factor! Come and enjoy and support the young folk of Harwich…..you will love it!
Following on from their Harwich Festival 2018 appearance with ‘Saxology’, Cydnei B and local musician Catherine Shrubshall have been invited back this year as ‘her&her’ – bringing another aspect of their musicality through their relaxing sound spas. There are six dates scheduled into the festival programme to coincide with the Summer Solstice, which will be duly celebrated. One visit to the Sound Spa will work wonders, and multiple attendances will deepen the benefits even more!
Wivenhoe-based guitarist Chris Allard has worked with a who’s who of international jazz musicians and singers including Dame Cleo Lane, Jacqui Dankworth, Claire Martin, Gwyneth Herbert, John Helliwell of Supertramp, Gwilym Simcock, Jamie Cullum, Tim Garland and the BBC Big Band to name but a few. He also fronts his own acclaimed ensemble, the Chris Allard Band, with whom he has recorded four CDs, the latest Invisible Landscapegarnering praise for its variety, intensity and distinctive melodic gift. Chris was appointed Jazz Guitar Professor at the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama in 2017.Pianist and organist Charlie Wood has been described as having “the growl and moan of Eric Burdon, the otherworldly lilt of Donald Fagen, and the scorched majesty of Kurt Elling”. Born in Memphis, he cut his teeth playing with legendary blues guitarist Albert King, performing regularly at his Beale Street club in the company of BB King, Joey de Francesco, Georgie Fame and many others. Now resident in the UK with his wife Jacqui Dankworth, Charlie has performed at the London Jazz Festival at the Barbican, BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night and R2’s The Jools Holland Show, alongside many top venues and festivals across Europe. His seventh CD Tomorrow Night features self-penned numbers with songs by Otis Redding, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Al Green. “Music so smooth you could slide a whisky tumbler down it.” The Guardian
Chelmsford-based Raz are Pera on bass, George Krethlow-Shaw on drums and Dan Goldstone on guitar. Together they cross musical boundaries, creating their own blend of jazz, funk, rock, pop and fusion with Latin beats and inflections thrown in. A talented young group, Raz is making significant waves on the Essex music scene. Each band member has more than seven years’ experience in music drawing on a wide variety of influences. “A tight creative original unit existing in a well-defined sound world of their own.” Tim Pells, musician.
Following on from their Harwich Festival 2018 appearance with ‘Saxology’, Cydnei B and local musician Catherine Shrubshall have been invited back this year as ‘her&her’ – bringing another aspect of their musicality through their relaxing sound spas. There are six dates scheduled into the festival programme to coincide with the Summer Solstice, which will be duly celebrated. One visit to the Sound Spa will work wonders, and multiple attendances will deepen the benefits even more!
Noted jazz critic Dave Gelly, writing in The Observer, said: “Ray Davies’ tunes – evocative, catchy and deceptively simple – serve his lyrics so well it is easy to take them for granted. By recasting them in the jazz idiom and delicately elaborating their harmonies, bassist and composer Ben Crosland brings them out in a fresh hue.” That was the introduction to his four-star review to the Crosland Quintet’s Ray Davies Songbook CD, released following acclaimed performances of The Kinks’ songwriter’s canon first at the Marsden Jazz Festival in Yorkshire and then on the road. Such was the response to the CD and the live shows that Crosland embarked on the Songbook Volume ll, which again was debuted at Marsden with the recording released in April. Ben brings the nucleus of his world-class group to close the jazz week at HF19: keyboard master Steve Lodder, who has a long working relationship with saxophonist Andy Sheppard, and guitar giant John Etheridge, who needs little by way of introduction. Augmenting them will be Australian sax man Brandon Allen, whose stellar musical credits include Eric Clapton, Mica Paris, Neil Diamond and Paloma Faith just for starters, and top drummer Dylan Howe, son of Yes guitarist Steve Howe and regular skins man in the Wilko Johnson Band, sideman for a host of stars such as Ian Dury and the Blockheads, David Gilmour, Nick Cave and Damon Albarn, and leader of his own long-standing jazz group whose last CD Subterranean – New Designs On Bowie’s Berlin (also featuring Brandon Allen) was described as “top notch” by the Thin White Duke himself. “It’s remarkable how comfortable these melodies sound in their new setting,” Gelly concludes of the Quintet’s Davies interpretations.
Following on from their Harwich Festival 2018 appearance with ‘Saxology’, Cydnei B and local musician Catherine Shrubshall have been invited back this year as ‘her&her’ – bringing another aspect of their musicality through their relaxing sound spas. There are six dates scheduled into the festival programme to coincide with the Summer Solstice, which will be duly celebrated. One visit to the Sound Spa will work wonders, and multiple attendances will deepen the benefits even more!
Everyone loves a trip to the theatre especially to London’s West End show … so how about music from the world’s greatest musical shows performed by one of the world’s most successful musical theatre performers, Broadway and West End star, Earl Carpenter with special guest singer and former Christine Daaé from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera and accompanied by internationally renowned cellist, Yvonne Marie Parsons, right here at the Harwich Festival.
This two day workshop is most suitable for those with oil painting experience. The day will begin in the studio, but you will be working mostly outside and will only move back into the studio in the event of persistent or heavy rain – Haidee-Jo is not averse to working in the wind or cold!
The annual Maritime Festival returns on Saturday 27 July, 11am – 6pm promising new and exciting attractions around Harwich Quay and Harwich’s iconic Ha’penny Pier.
The much-loved festival will reflect both the town’s rich maritime history and its vibrant creative community, with an exciting sea and land based programme intended to attract thousands of people from across Essex and Suffolk.
Organised by Harwich Haven Authority, there will be over 50 traders, live entertainment and must-see water based activities going on throughout the day.
Free entry.
Find us on Facebook /HarwichMaritimeFestival
Find us on Twitter @HarwichSeaFest
Find us on Instagram @HarwichMaritimeFestival
Website – www.harwichmaritimefestival.co.uk
This two day workshop is most suitable for those with oil painting experience. The day will begin in the studio, but you will be working mostly outside and will only move back into the studio in the event of persistent or heavy rain – Haidee-Jo is not averse to working in the wind or cold!
t’s a niche, family friendly, boutique music festival held once a year in beautiful surroundings, overlooking The River Stour and the Grayson Perry designed “House for Essex”. Organised by the village of Wrabness whose Volunteers work incredibly hard so that you can enjoy the best party of the summer.
WrabFest is a not-for-profit event with any proceeds being invested into future events and Wrabness based community activities.
The Sprint 15 class catamaran fleet will descend on Harwich for their annual championships. They will be accommodated on St Helen’s Green by kind permission of TDC.
We expect about 45 of these two men dinghies to compete and some will be accompanied by families. The boats will launch on Harwich Beach and be accompanied out to Dovercourt Bay by race support boats and should make a fine spectacle both going out and coming back and out in the Bay.
This is a prestigious event for our Club and many club volunteers will be assisting to make this work. It is also an important fund raising activity to keep the Club in good financial health.
Every September some 40,000 volunteers across England organise 5,000 events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore
The Harwich International Shanty Festival was set up in 2006 to organise and co-ordinate an annual sea shanty festival over a weekend in October. Through concerts, ‘singarounds’, pub sessions, talks and workshops, the history and heritage of Harwich as part of the British seafaring nation is celebrated, promoted and perpetuated by local people and groups. This is unique for the county of Essex and is attracting audiences countrywide and beyond.
It has journeyed a long way since its small beginnings with a bunch of friends meeting up in a couple of pubs to drink good beer and sing good shanties, but we like to think that the initial idea of a cosy pub atmosphere, good friends and rousing shanties is still at the heart of all we do. Nowadays the whole town of Old Harwich resounds to the sound of Shanties and Sea songs and in addition there are concerts, barge trips, street theatre, maritime crafts, pirates, a Shanty train and much more.
To celebrate the voyage the Illuminate Festival is held in Harwich on the day after Thanksgiving each year, consisting of a torch-light procession through the town including giant torches resembling the ship and Captain Jones.
The Harwich half marathon is being organised by Harwich Runners and the Rotary Club of Harwich & Dovercourt, to commemorate the Mayflower 400 celebrations. The route will take part of the original course from 1982, when the tradition first began. The race has not been organised since 1991, and so Harwich Runners hope to create a festival-style atmosphere to make sure the event goes with a bang.
The 2020 Ale Trail will be the fifth in its Springtime slot and happily coincides with the Mayflower 400 celebrations. We hope to make the 2020 Harwich Ale Trail a truly special event!
If you haven’t been before – think of it as a five day beer and cider festival across multiple venues in a one square mile area. The past venues have included pubs, cafes, restaurants, a hotel and a sailing club. We’ll announce the 2020 venues in nearer the date..
There’s one beer list for the whole event, complete with a map and information. Public transport is very close with buses and trains stopping within 200m of one of the venues!