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If you were in your twenties during the nineties you’ll remember hedonistic times: clubbing, raving and new indie bands appearing at a supersonic rate. Oasis V Blur, Jarvis V Jacko. Lager, lads and even ladettes. Ross’s leather trousers and Rachel’s feathered haircut. The Titanic was sinking, football was coming home, Fresh Prince was moving to Bel Air and Geri wore a dress that would only be seen on the likes of Tommy Robinson these days. But back then we were proud to be Br

As I sit down in The Forbidden Fruit bar to discuss Drag with Nikki Bockerglory, or Alan as they’re otherwise known, the Spice Girls 90’s classic ‘Ah Woooo Ooo Who...Do You Think You Are’ blasts out, and I think, yeah, this feels right as a theme tune to this article: It’s about identity, integrity, your soul, it’s inviting you to step in line with who you truly are and above all, when in its midst you just can’t help but want to thrust about in platform boots and JOYOUSLY sw

Hastings Contemporary is excited to present the first major solo exhibition in a UK gallery of work by the leading German-Brazilian artist, Janaina Tschäpe. Filling Hastings Contemporary’s largest gallery space, the exhibition features a dramatic new series of paintings and works on paper created by Tschäpe in direct response to her experience of visiting the wet and stormy Hastings in the winter of 2025. The works will be complemented by a film piece.

Moore / Freud will be the first exhibition to explore the distinctive ways in which Henry Moore and Lucian Freud drew upon familial bonds and intimate relationships as crucial sources of artistic inspiration. Bringing together a focused selection of 20 works, including maquettes, works on paper, and paintings, the exhibition presents two towering figures of the 20th century side by side through a shared and deeply personal theme.

This summer, Hastings Contemporary is delighted to present the first solo show in a major UK gallery of work by the internationally celebrated Argentinian-born artist, Miguel Rothschild. Referencing the unique location of Hastings Contemporary as a gallery facing the sea and situated directly on the beach, the exhibition will include a dramatic new, site-specific seascape installation, shown alongside recent works which explore the elemental power of the sea.

A lawyer, celebrant, and publican walk into a bar—in fact, it’s St Leonards YMCA, and despite the setup, it’s not a joke.

It's charming, it's quaint, they have cobbles to clumsily walk on and scallops to devour but how is the shopping in this beautiful historic town? Well it's pretty darn good actually! Whether you're kitting yourself out from head to toe, grabbing your next holiday read, furnishing your home or buying a gift for a loved one, Rye has all the bases covered. Rye's shopping district is small yet perfectly formed and is packed with stylishly and carefully curated independent shops.

What writer hasn’t been asked: ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ It’s a cliché perhaps, and a notoriously difficult question to answer. But for the writer of SCREAMS FROM THE ATTIC, a chilling new theatrical experience arriving this September at The Stables Theatre, the answer is easy – the idea began with two dead cats in a pub.

The Hastings Comedy Festival is excited to announce its complete 2026 line-up, with over 90 performances taking over venues across Hastings and St Leonards from 1st June to 7th June 2026. Audiences can expect comedy favourites such as Taskmaster champion Maisie Adam, internationally renowned stand-up and podcast host Red Richardson, Mock The Week regular Rhys James, and viral comic and writer Joe Wells at this year’s Festival.

Words by Jon Everall Photos by Charlotte Steeples Amid the ever-evolving changes to Trinity Triangle, a doorway leads up to a series of artists’ studios. Inside, the staircase is hung with framed works and notes to co-workers. You are ushered further into the world of artist-illustrator Benjamin Phillips and his wife, taxidermist and studio-mate, Jazmine Miles-Long. It ’s not so much the stuffed birds that catch your eye as the meticulous and total wallcoverings. Barely a cen

Introduction by Kim Batty Photos by Steve Painter If you have a pub in Hastings, you need to make it work in the winter Wise words from Bob of The Albion Inn. I have to say, so I will, I love a pub in winter; while the weather is howling outside, in front of the fire, ordering Bacardi Breezers and missing your pilates class. My auto-correct changed that to pirates – oh if only it knew... maybe it does? But he’s got a point. I have found myself needlessly polishing a pump, not

Yes, it's Barby Keel - the 90-year-old woman who l am quite confident in calling a local legend and fully-fledged superhero. She has owned and run her non-profit charity in Bexhill since 1971; a sanctuary providing homes for abused, abandoned and unwanted animals.

Holly Dawes is a ceramicist based in Hastings whose work is deeply connected to the local landscape

This summer, I spent a wonderful afternoon at Fairlight Hall, enjoying a picnic in the beautiful gardens and a stunning piano recital performed by previous finalists of the Hastings International Piano Competition. This was my introduction to the Competitionand its year-round programme of concerts, which arepart of a long tradition ofworld-class classical musicin Hastings. (I didn’t know this, but Rachmaninov played at The White Rock Theatre twice in the 1930s!)

I love somewhere to stay that’s a little bit different, and running Get Hastings is very rewarding but is also hard work and stressful at times - so I jumped at the chance to pay a visit to Crafted at Powdermills in Battle. The team behind Crafted describe it as a ‘life-friendly hotel where you can be yourself and fill up on the good stuff’. Deep into the winter months, the good stuff was exactly what I needed so I didn’t take much persuading.

Over the last five years, my partner Phil and I have been great fans of Galleria seafood bar on Norman Road in St Leonards. We have celebrated many anniversaries, birthdays and random Saturday nights in their compact and cosy dining room, enjoying Gianluca’s imaginative cooking, Jack’s warm welcome and the impeccable wine list.

“I get things done” says Dawn Dublin, as we sit down together to chat about her company, Black Butterfly. Amidst dashing outside to tell a random passer-by how cool he looks and cuddling her hot chocolate, she tells me about a phone call she’s just had on her walk here involving motherhood, miscarriage and marginalization. I can already hear the cogs whirring in her head, ideas sprouting of what she (or we as a community) can do to support people in these situations. There’s

Oh no, there isn’t! Pantomime audiences at The White Rock Theatre’s Jack and the Beanstalk are in for a real treat this Christmas. I know this first-hand, as I was lucky to spend a side-splitting day last week with Mark Two, the traditional pantomime dame playing Dame Tilly Trott. Mark Two is appearing as part of a talented panto cast including Richard Blackwood as Jack and Tim McArthur returning as Fleshcreep by popular demand. The whole theatre is being transformed fo

If you’re a child of the 70s or 80s, the word ‘wrestling’ might conjure up thoughts of Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks and Saturday afternoons huddled round the big telly, booing whilst slurping a carton of E numbers through a skinny straw.

Richard Upton is a creative entrepreneur, a visionary, a lover of art, architecture, sculpture, people, history and community. He is passionate about the ‘quality of place’ no matter whom or what the place is for. He is from humble beginnings in Stepney, East London. “There wasn’t a lot of money at home but there was love. So I’ve always been entrepreneurial out of necessity and adversity,” he says.