For its eighth year Ramsgate Festival of Sound is on the move in more ways than one.
Firstly, it’s moving its dates from August to September 12th-14th.
Festival Director Gemma Dempsey says this is due to many locals being away in August and the extra production costs associated with putting on an event over a busy bank holiday weekend.
“We want to keep the summer festival feeling going,” added Gemma.
Secondly, its popular Busk at Dusk feature has moved its time slot to noon – 6pm (Saturday September 13th) to become Busk Until Dusk and will be mobile, with up to 20 bands on tour around Ramsgate.
Inspired by Hastings Fat Tuesday’s unplugged event, Alex Gillings of The Great Malarkey band and owner of Salt House barbers approached the festival organisers with the idea and they loved it.
Alex said: “What better way to bring music to this town than through its pubs, which, anyone could argue are the beating heart of the community here in Ramsgate.”
The list of performers includes Morrison Ford, Andreas Jensen, Adventurine, Lo Barnes and Gaddzukes, alongside up and comers such as Take Too and Kingfisher as part of ‘Ramsgate Introducing’, providing a platform for new talent.
Everyone will perform at various pubs and bars around town. Punters can either sit in their favourite drinking establishment and let the entertainment come to them or decide where and when they want to see an artist.
Slice on Harbour Street will be the hub for Busk Until Dusk as well as the venue for Saturday’s after party and the Teenage Kicks venue on Sunday.
On September 11th Festival of Sound teams up with the Ramsgate Noise Institute for an eve of the festival special – expect the sonically unexpected! Free via Eventbrite
Schedule for Festival of Sound
Daily Noon – 4pm Sonic Trail: Acoustic Architecture – specially commissioned installations at various locations around the town, to coincide with English Heritage Open Days theme of ‘architecture’. Free.
Artists include Catrin Osborne, Michael Isaacs, Grenville Horner, Katherine Peddie and Howard Griffin. More to be added soon!
Special addition to the Sonic Trail will be ‘Listening Desk’ by Emily Peasgood at her studio.
Friday 12th September, 7pm-10pm ‘Afro Blue- Listening in Colour’ a celebration of the legacy of black music. Produced and performed by Sabina Desir alongside her band of some of the UK’S finest jazz musicians, featuring music that has been the soundtrack for so many people’s lives. It sold out at London Jazz Festival 2024 so it will be a hot ticket!
(Location: Chatham and Clarendon School, tickets via the website)
Saturday 13th September
Noon – 6pm Busk until Dusk at pubs and venues around Ramsgate.
6pm-9pm Headliners at Winterstoke Gardens The Anti-Gravity Groove Machine
Back by popular demand with their highly anticipated third instalment in The Future Psychedelics, the futures trilogy, get ready for The Anti-Gravity Groove Machine. Blending elements of futurism, psychedelia and raw hypnotic rhythm, the experience will leave the audience questioning the very fabric of space, time and the power of the groove itself…
Busk Until Dusk and the headlining performance are free to attend.
Sunday 14th September
11am – 2pm The Big Gospel Sing and Brunch with Sabina Desir and Jessica Lauren at St George’s Church. Come and enjoy a delicious brunch followed by a gospel singalong with Sabina and Jessica. Brunch will be ticketed but the gospel singing is free.
Other events over the weekend include:
Michael McEvoy returns to the festival with The Metanoisia Collective to perform ‘an immersive audiovisual meditation on the beauty of Ramsgate’s natural environment’.
This is a ticketed event and will take place at a stunning private residence.
Sunday afternoon at Slice – Andrew Dennis’ ‘Teenage Kicks’ initiative which will provide a showcase for emerging music talent for those in the 16 – 19 age range.
Film screening of the Peabody award winning The Jazz Ambassadors documentary, directed by Hugh Berkeley, scored by Mike McEvoy with a Q & A with director and composer. This will also take place at the private residence on Paragon.
Screening of the film ‘Little Ships in Concert’ is a one-time only event conceived by artist Aidan Gray and musical direction by Donna McKevitt, featuring a performance by 120 voices, brass and string quartet, tenor and soprano and almost 70 of the original Dunkirk Little Ships ringing their bells and sirens in unison!
There will be an exhibition of photos and oral histories collected by The Love Booth and these will be on display in The Crane Shed in Ramsgate Harbour during the festival
More details and Festival Fringe on Ramsgate Festival of Sound’s website and social media
The Festival of Sound is brought to you by a passionate and dedicated team featuring Darryn de la Soul (Production Manager) Sarah Whiting-Blowers (Producer) Selena Muscat (Volunteer Coordinator) Rob Warren (Design & Marketing) Rhea Lempert (Social Media) and a team of fabulous volunteers.
If you’d like to volunteer or know more about the festival please check out Ramsgatefestival.org or Instagram and Facebook @ramsgatefestivalofsound
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source theisleofthanetnews.com ’
