We’re delighted to announce the full programme for this year’s Sanctuary Festival. Whether you like music, art, storytelling, dance, discussions or just sitting in the sun – we’ve got something for you, all celebrating the creativity, courage and diversity of Hastings as a Community of Sanctuary.
PROGRAMME
MUSIC STAGE
Compares Emma Joliffe and Sarah Gwonyoma
12.00pm – Sister Suzie
12.30pm – Culbaba Theatre Ukrainian Choir
1.00pm – Tamar Osborn
1.20pm – Pop Up: Rheda’s Dream Morris
1.30pm – Lila Cita Indonesian Gamelan
2.00pm – The Shady Pines
2.30pm – Svitlo Amal Syrian / Ukrainian Fusion
3.00pm – Waell Abdulkarem + Bilend Momhmed
3.30pm – Balladeste & Chiara Vinci
3.50pm – Pop Up: Molly Winklers
4.00pm – Hear Me Out Band
4.30pm – KIN
5.00pm – Orchestra from Everywhere
5.30pm – Dendê Nation
6.00pm – CLOSE
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GARDEN SESSIONS
12.30 – 1.00pm Drumming Workshop 1 with Dendê Nation
1.30 – 2.30pm Amaraba Rwandan Traditional Dance with Keza – Ages 8+
2.30 – 3.15pm Storytelling with Pablo McFee
3.30 – 4.00pm Drumming Workshop 1 with Dendê Nation
4.30 – 5.15pm. Legal Aliens Theatre Company – presenting words of courage collected during the day
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TALKS AND SPOKEN WORD in the Durbar Hall
1- 2pm
Panel Discussion: Immigration Detention in the UK
Immigration detention is the practice by the government of locking people in detention centres while their immigration status is resolved. The United Kingdom is the only country in Europe with no time limit on immigration detention, meaning that people held in detention by the government do not know when they will be released and, in some cases, are detained for years at a time.
Our panel will discuss the reality and impact of this inhumane policy, and also what ordinary people and organisations are doing to make the lives of those affected a little bit better.
Jonathan Ellis, Project Director, The Detention Forum
Johanne Hudson-Lett, Artistic Director, Hear Me Out
Andy Acason, Crowborough SAMAS (Supporting Arriving Migrants and Asylum Seekers)
Chair: Rohan Jayasekera, journalist and campaigner for Freedom From Torture
2.30 – 3.30pm
Poetry Salon with the Hastings Queer History Collective
Join Remi Graves and three wonderful writers for our Poetry Salon, in collaboration with the Hastings Queer History Collective. We’ll have readings from Omikemi, Abu Leila and Basil Alsheikh, three queer writers based in Hastings and beyond sharing selected works that speak to the concerns of the Lemons, Laws and Secret Doors exhibition, and the themes of this year’s festival. Pop along to be transported by some new writing!
The Queer History Collective are the creators and curators of the exhibition in the Long Gallery at the Museum, Lemons, Laws & Secret Doors, which you can enjoy all day during the festival.
4-5pm
Panel Discussion: Voices of Courage
The theme this year is Courage. For people seeking sanctuary around the world, and in our towns, courage is a daily necessity. It is the courage to face unknown journeys, learn new languages, navigate unfamiliar systems, or simply to wake up each morning and face an uncertain world.
Allyship also calls for courage, to stand in solidarity and consciously work to make our communities more compassionate places to live.
Join us to hear from experts by experience and from Rossana Leal, Founder and Director of The Refugee Buddy Project who will talk about the Safe Havens Project.
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ACTIVITIES around the site
12.00 – 4pm
Free activities to enjoy anytime – just drop in!
Flags of Courage – Help us make flags to be proud of, with Ella Lowden
Tidings for the Bees from Judith Hope Puppet Maker. Keep an eye out for the beehives and tell your news to the bees!
Birds of Courage – Share your words and stories of courage with Legal Aliens Theatre Company
Circus Skills with Gosmina Circus
Wriggles & Giggles soft play for toddlers
Face painting
A Touch of Gentleness Hand massage
Sanctuary Festival started in 2017 hosted at Ashburnham Place, and in 2021, following the pandemic, found a new home at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery. We’re hugely grateful to both of them for making it possible to grow the event, which welcomed over 2000 people in 2024.
In 2022, a short film was made by Mike Page from Megatrend Media. Watch it here.
Photos below by Alexander Brattell
