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BAAM 2025 is here
Support in the creative economy
Zeroh & Hell Yeah present
Bottle Alley Art Market 2025
Saturday 23rd August 2025 10am - 6pm
A free public event showcasing fine art from curated local and national artists.
Mel Elliott
Aug 9, 20255 min read


Design-Nation South: Materialised
This not-to-be-missed exhibition opens at 11am Wednesday 15 October, until Sunday 26 October, at The Regency Town House,13 Brunswick Square, Brighton BN3 1EH.
Opening hours: 11am-5pm every day except Sunday 26, when the exhibition will close at 4pm.
Mel Elliott
Aug 7, 20252 min read


New Prayers - Old Religions
Words by Gareth Stevens Portrait by Piers Golden Artworks by Richard Butchins I meet with Richard Butchins in his windowless studio along...
Gareth Stevens
Aug 6, 20255 min read


Ornagh takes Ode Islands to Edinburgh Fringe
Blending live performance with responsive virtual reality, this new one-woman show unfolds in a fully digital environment that shifts in real time with the performer’s movement and emotional state.
Mel Elliott
Aug 5, 20252 min read


Alice and Audrey: a debut novel by Mel Elliott
Photo by Charlotte Steeples Interview by Tess Swan Get Hastings editor, Mel Elliott has recently punlished her debut novel about...
Tess Swan
Jul 19, 20255 min read


Craig Masson: Hastings' Own Interior Design Master
Craig Mason almost ‘broke the internet’ with his fake bamboo and he gave the dogs at Battersea a pop-art inspired room that was fit for a King Charles Spaniel, but it was his pub in Edinburgh that had Interior Design Masters on BBC1 sending him back to us in Hastings. Most definitely their loss, our gain I say!
Mel Elliott
Jul 8, 20256 min read


Blank Canvas to Breakthrough: IMO's Artistic Journey in Hastings
Two years ago, Ibi Meier-Oruitemeka (Studio IMO) was not a painter. In fact, she had never really considered it as an option. But on the morning of her birthday in May 2023, she woke up with the inexplicable urge to buy some paint. She followed that feeling, and since then, painting has become not just an artistic pursuit but a radical shift in the way she sees herself.
George Mingozzi-Marsh
Jun 11, 20254 min read


Fur Dos
‘This is just like any other salon’ I think to myself as I trot through the door… scissors snipping, clippers clipping, background chit chat and the underlying hum of hairdryers… but then I notice a member of staff is wearing ear defenders, and one of the little clients is what I can only describe as ‘butt-scooting’ across the floor with glee. I’ve booked into Tails of St Leonards, a local destination for pampered pets, and which this little Shih Tzu evidently thinks is the h
Louise Coulthard
Jun 4, 20255 min read


Eating Out at Winnifred's
When chef Benjamin Cumberpatch invited myself, photographer, Steve and designer, Laura to come for dinner, we jumped at the chance.
Mel Elliott
May 23, 20253 min read


Sustainable Hastings
The salon may have opened in its current iteration on Queens Road in July 2022, but the minds behind Yard & Quarter came together long before that. The desire to open a salon that embraced sustainable principles was important to James and Renee from the beginning.
Grace Latter
May 22, 20255 min read


If you go down to the woods today...
Beccy McCray will be no stranger to those working in Hastings and St Leonards’ art scene, local environmental activism, or simply out and about around the place. Keen-eyed Get Hastings readers may even remember her from Louise Coulthard’s 2023 piece on allotments. Working across multiple disciplines, blending visual storytelling with the natural world and social themes, her disparate interests coalesce into a wild creative practice that sees Beccy grace this issue’s cover sho
Jon Everall
May 20, 20258 min read


Katja, Comin' Atcha!
Katja has lived in Hastings for many years and runs the incredible Katja’s Cakes from her studio at The Yard. We caught up with her (and the very gorgeous Staffordshire Bull Terrier Roxy) to eat cake and chat baking, ceramics, creative inspiration and Yard life!
Jo Orriss
May 11, 20254 min read


Katja's Field of Primroses Recipe
Katja has beautifully decorated her lemon syrup cupcakes with delicate buttercream pansies. Why not put your nozzles to the test and have a go at creating a delicious field of flowers of your own.This recipe makes 9 large cupcakes.
Jo Orriss
May 7, 20252 min read


The Stimming Pool: Skip the test, drop the mask, reclaim the space
This hugely innovative and creative film focuses on the neurodivergent experience and has its feet firmly planted in Hastings. Gareth Stevens explains why he thinks it is not so much about autism, it is of autism.
Gareth Stevens
Apr 23, 20255 min read


Prince and the Tech Revolution
A childhood passion for fixing things led Prince Tino to build a business that’s helped tens of thousands of South African children become computer literate. Now living in Hastings, he says his mission is far from finished.
Ruth McLeod
Apr 16, 20259 min read


Artist Takeover: Molly Hawkins Transforms Introduced
Molly Hawkins, an award-winning designer, artist, and muralist known for her vibrant murals and playful public artworks, has announced a special artistic takeover this Spring. From April 8th to 13th, the Introduced pop-up space will be completely transformed into Molly’s creative world, filled with collages, shapes, and patterns that spark joy and positivity.
Jo Orriss
Mar 20, 20251 min read


Exhibition: Michelle Roberts - Red, Blue, Up
Red, Blue, Up is a major new exhibition of paintings and drawings by Bexhill-based artist, Michelle Roberts. It features a wide selection of Roberts’ works from the last 15 years. Through this detailed yet joyful execution, her works are underpinned by her unwavering precision and control, as she dissects shapes, forms and patterns across canvas and paper.
Mel Elliott
Mar 4, 20251 min read


TALKING SHOP: Mark Caffrey, Wedding Celebrant
Words by Ruth McLeod In 2015, Mark Caffrey’s close friend asked him, out of the blue, to be the celebrant at her wedding. “I didn’t even...
Ruth McLeod
Feb 26, 20256 min read


Ornagh: Much More Than Digital Tinsel
Now, if I wrote down RX to the good people of Hastings, they might very well think-ah yes, the fishing boats, and their Rye registration. But what if we flipped those letters around and it was XR? The Winter edition’s seasonal cover was by tech-artist Ornagh Lynch, convert and champion of all things Extended Reality.
Jon Everall
Feb 7, 20256 min read


And Still We Rise
The Dove Café is a shining example of how grass-roots activism can have a profound impact on the lives of refugees, asylum seekers and everyone who lives here.
Gareth Stevens
Feb 5, 20256 min read
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