A POPULAR festival has opened its 2017 showcase of music an art with a diverse range of acts and performances.
As well as a number of returning act, this year’s Harwich Festival also has a new mix of attractions booked up to dazzle audiences from across the district and further afield.
For this year’s spectacle, with the theme Making Waves, there are a collection of music acts, films, podcasts, dancers, and art exhibitions to reach out to all enthusiasts of the arts.
Folk duo - Kit Downes and Tom Challenger
The festival opened last night with fitness dance, talented singers, magicians and even fire jugglers performing in a micro festival at the Bandstand, at Cliff Park, Dovercourt.
Acts each had 20-minute slots throughout the evening, With musical acts featuring heavily in this year’s programme the Hosepipe Band and Martin Newell will be performing at the historic Redoubt Fort tonight.
Tomorrow, ticket holders will be treated to live recording of the Standard Issue podcast at The Electric Palace at 5.30pm where hosts Mickey Noonan, Hannah Dunleavy and Jen Offord will be talking feminism, funny stories and women’s issues.
Later in the evening The New Kings in Town will be headlining Essex Rocks with their modern twist on Jamaican reggae music at Kingsway Hall at 8pm while Tendring Brass Band plays in St Nicholas Church.
On Sunday night Harwich will come alive as the festival promises smooth jazz and blues in an all-day jazz special featuring Kit Downes and Tomas Challenger: ‘Vyamanikal’, and Luca Ciarla Quartet.
Peter Davis, Harwich Festival artistic director, said: “Sunday will be an amazing day for jazz fans especially as there is a discounted day ticket.”
Moscow born pianist Alexander Panfilov will be reciting three classical pieces by composers including Beethoven at St Nicholas Church, in Harwich, at 1pm on Tuesday.
Launching his album ‘The Best of Baluji Shrivastav’, the recently OBE awarded sitar master performs a special evening of mesmerising Indian classical music on Thursay, at the Salvation Army Citadel, in George Street, at 3pm accompanied by Sanju Sahai on tablas.
Diversity - Baluji Shrivastav
Radio 2 folk singer of the year Lucy Ward will be performing her majestic nu-folk music Salvation Army Citadel, George Street, Harwich, at 2pm on Saturday, July 1.
Closing the festival on July 2 will be the Harwich and Dovercourt Choral Society supported by the Colchester Philharmonic and led by conductor Patrick McCarthy at St Nicholas’ Church at 7pm.
Mr Davis added: “This year we celebrate our local talent and the unique beauty of our landscape, history and heritage while still attracting the very best performances and exhibitions in spoken word, visual art, dance and a wide range of music.
“We also showcase the outcomes from our wider community activities such as Write Away, Stories, Poems and Reminiscence, 20 by 20 Project, Harwich Shorts, Up To 20 and Urban Sewing Project, which demonstrates that the Harwich Festival now provides platforms from which artists, young people and the wider community can develop their artistic output and interest.
“There should be something for everybody. Come and enjoy yourselves.”
For more information and tickets on upcoming events visit, www.harwichfestival.co.uk.
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