Stage and Screen
Aldeburgh really punches above it’s weight in so many ways. Two great illustrations of this are High Tide (11-16 September) and the Aldeburgh Documentary Festival (2-4 November).
High Tide has been called the theatre world’s Sundance Film Festival (apparently!), providing a platform for new, innovative and challenging work. This year it includes five new pieces from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Productions take place in a number of places across Aldeburgh including the Jubilee Hall, Pumphouse, Aldeburgh Cinema, Aldeburgh Beach Lookout and even a pub – Ye Old Cross Keys.
We love High Tide and try and see a couple of things each year. This is absolutely not Am Dram and the standard is consistently high – as anything as good as you would see in London, Glasgow or Leeds. We have seen comedy as well as top notch drama covering some pretty tough areas – the tragedies of immigration in Lampadusa and the desperation of a group of friends abducted by Boko Haram.
This year we are keeping it light with a couple of nights of comedy – we are particularly looking forward to Dr Adam Kay, author of the hilarious (and at the same time rather depressing) ‘This is going to hurt’.
The 22nd Aldeburgh Documentary Festival is a distinctive combination of world-class documentaries, discussion and debates, that has grown significantly over the last few years. The 2018 programme is varied – from US politics to Jazz to Joanna Lumley. We have to confess that we have yet to go (as it’s not brilliantly signposted) but guests staying last year that highly recommended it. The programme is best viewed at the moment through The Suffolk Coast website (a great place for information on the area) which can be found here.
Carnival!!
Aldeburgh is fortunate in being one of the few towns that has managed to continue its carnival tradition when so many others have been forced to stop.
It has been around for 170 years old albeit under different guises over the years – if you were around in 1835, you would have known it as Ye Old Marine Regatta!
The Carnival is spread over three days – in 2018 it is Saturday 18th, Sunday 19th and Monday 20th August.
· Saturday is all about music with various acts performing across different venues in Aldeburgh’s town centre.
· Sunday is sports day – from egg and spoon to a 10k Mini Marathon taking runners through the beautiful Suffolk countryside.
· Monday is the culmination of the three days with the Carnival Procession down the High Street. If you fancy a dance then be sure to catch the Suffolk School of Samba. More inclined to a good military march – then we have a military band to keep you happy. Finally at the end of the day everyone moves through the town, lit by beautiful Chinese lanterns, and watches the spectacular firework display on the seafront opposite the White Lion Hotel.
Of course you can pick and choose what you want to see. Simply turn up and enjoy. If you want to stay close by (and yet still enjoy the Suffolk peace and quiet) come and stay at Five Acre Barn (as of today we have availability)!