Hurst Festival September 2023

By Katherine Jackman, Festival manager

We are excited to bring you our latest programme for Hurst Festival 2023 – our 19th year! As always, we have the ever-popular Hurst open studios, cinema in the garden, live band nights, blues, soirees, children’s shows, Hurst Players theatre, talks, wellbeing events and much more. Stephen Grant returns to compere the traditional Friday night comedy nights and bring us the fabulous new and up and coming comedians that we are so proud to have in our village.

We have three large Saturday night events for your pleasure: The first Saturday, 16th September, is Absolute Bowie, Winners of the National Tribute Music Awards, with a full live band for you in Holy Trinity church.
The second Saturday, 23rd September, we are pleased to announce that Mid Sussex Sinfonia will be in concert and on the last Saturday we have a fabulous Motown Party for you with the amazing live singers All that Soul bringing true soul and party vibes to our community!

We are also delighted to announce a fabulous new addition to our Super Sunday community event on the afternoon of 17th September, ‘Hufts’ - the new Hurst Festival Dog Show. To add to the excitement, we are very pleased to have secured Brigadier Humphrey Portleroy Trotter and Judge Janey – two extremely experienced Official Judges to oversee proceedings at the Arena on South Avenue Recreation Ground.

Also, on Super Sunday in the afternoon, we will be having a large Barn Dance for everybody on South Avenue Recreation Ground courtesy of the amazing live band and callers ‘Shenanigans.’ Remember on Super Sunday the Hurst Festival bar on the Recreation ground helps pay for all the free entertainment on the day so please support our bar. Indeed, at all of our events the income from the bar ensures that the festival is able to continue and helps us keep ticket prices low and provide the free entertainment – so please don’t bring your own alcohol to events.

Next year will be our 20th anniversary year and we will be inviting all our old favourites to perform – do let us know if there is anyone you would love to see again. We look forward to seeing you all during the two weeks in September – book tickets asap! www.hurstfestival.org As a registered Charity Hurst Festival relies on our brilliant team of volunteers – if you wish to help out during Hurst Festival or before, please contact us at admin@hurstfestival.org.

St Lawrence Fair - Saturday 1st July 2023

REMINDER to register your teams early for the arena competitions:
* Tug of War
* Chuck the Royal Welly
* The Famous Finale
- And bring lots of supporters with you to cheer you along!

If you’re able to support the fair financially in any way, it’s easy - simply scan the QR code on any of the fair posters or the front of the programme to be taken directly to Paypal to make a donation. Thank you so much in advance - here’s to a great Fair Weekend!

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Here’s just some of the scheduled events…

Friday 30th June

12.30pm – 2.30pm - TEDDY BEAR’S PICNIC

Bring your teddy and a picnic along to South Avenue Recreational Ground. Come along to enjoy a magic show, cake decorating and a craft activity, a carousel ride, and an ice lolly - £2 contribution

Sponsored by Poponin

6pm – 7.15pm - JUNIOR DISCO

Come along to South Avenue Recreation Ground for a boogie at the Children’s Disco. Just £4 a ticket, to include a snack, fruit and unlimited squash/water. Age 4+.

This year tickets will be available to buy before the event to try and keep the queue to a minimum on the night. There will also be a green and red system whereby the wristband your child wears determines if they are able to freely leave the disco. Tickets can be bought from Fabulous Floors.

6pm – 10.30pm - HURST BAND NIGHT

Come and enjoy an evenings entertainment on South Avenue Rec with live music from local singers and bands, the return of the Hurst ‘BAR’ point, and food stalls.

Saturday 1st July

From 12.30pm - PROCESSION AND FAIR

Enjoy the procession (between 1-2pm), the main arena events, fun run, stalls, street food market, and the Harris’ Funfair.
Headline sponsor: Sussex Stoneworks
Main sponsors: Chatt Estates, Hurst College, Japour Gym, and Stuart & Partners.

1.30pm - ST LAWRENCE FAIR FUN RUN

Enjoy both a fun run and the village fair, with a choice between the challenging 8.6km course taking in Wolstonbury Hill or the flatter 3km course through the grounds of historic Danny House. Both are circular routes in a beautiful setting and are again sharing the same start at the front of the fair procession, running past the cheering crowds on the High Street. Trophies and great prizes are awarded to the first three places, male and female, for both courses (to under 16s only for the short course). Starting at 1.30pm, gathering at the Village Green beforehand, allowing more time afterwards to enjoy the fair.

Prices:
Long course (5 miles) : £10
Short course (1.5 miles) : £5

You can register online at runbritain.com. Advance online booking only, available until the night before.

Changing facilities and toilets available (sorry, no showers).

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Procession route and road closures

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Procession route and road closures

1. Procession starts from Marchants Road at approx. 1pm, however groups start assembling from about midday. Access to all side roads off Marchants Road will be from the Trinity Road end (marked 1a on the graphic), but will be blocked at the Cuckfield Road end from 12.30pm for safety reasons. Once the procession has cleared Marchants Road, this road block will be removed.

2. & 3. Cuckfield Road between these points will be closed from 1pm, until the procession makes it way up Western Road, at approx. 1.15pm. As soon as the whole procession is on Western Road, these road blocks will be removed.

   4. & 5. Western Road will close between approx. 1.15pm and 1.50pm. The procession stops for a break at point 5 at 1.30pm for 15 minutes. It will then move onto the High Street and once cleared, Western Road will reopen.

   6., 7. & 8. As soon as the procession reaches the High Street at approx. 1.45pm, this road will then be closed. Cuckfield Road at point 7 will temporarily close to allow the procession to move across the roundabout. As it moves along the High Street, road blocks 6 & 7 will be removed. The procession will reach South Avenue Recreation Ground at approx. 2pm, and once all safely in, the High Street will reopen.

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Fair update By Lona McDonald

Hello Hurstpierpoint! Fair weekend will soon be here - we hope you’re looking forward to it as much as we are. Preparations are well under way, and there are a few ways in which you can get involved:

Stallholders: there are still some slots available - to book please get in touch at stlawrencefair.stalls@gmail. com; we’d love to see you at the Fair.
Procession entries: local groups, if you’d like to enter the procession, either with your organisation or as part of the new Mini Float Cup (sponsored by Garden Sage), please drop us an email at slf.procession@gmail.com; the theme of ‘Royal’ offers lots of design options! (See below for details)
VIP tables: tickets for the sought-after VIP tables are now available for the Friday night; why not grab a premium spot in front of the band in a sectioned off area with tables and seating? Tables seat up to ten people and cost £100 which includes nibbles and a couple of bottles of fizz; to book send an email to stlawrencefair.stalls@gmail.com.
Junior Disco: This year tickets will be available to buy before the event, to try to keep the queue to a minimum on the night. There will also be a green & red system, whereby the wristband your child wears determines if they are able to freely leave the disco, or not. Tickets can be bought in advance from Fabulous Floors for £4, which includes a snack, fruit and unlimited squash/water.
Pre-entry to our competitions: Take part in the Fair competitions - you can enter in advance by emailing stlawrencefair.stalls@gmail.com:
• Hurst’s Got Talent, Saturday 17th June, 3.30pm at The New Inn - if you’re 13 or under come along and show us your talent - the winner will open the Fair on 1st July (entry forms are also on our website (www.stlawrencefair.co.uk).
• Tug of War - enter your teams early to join the competition on Fair day.
• Chuck the Royal Welly - join us in the arena on Fair day for our audience participation competition.
• The Famous Finale - the final competition of the day, register your team early to join in the fun. Enjoy reading through the Fair Programme (which is being distributed with June’s edition of Hurst Life) - a huge thank you to the Hurst Life Team for organising this. We look forward to seeing you over Fair Weekend (30th June - 1st July)!

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New mini float competition - New Annual Mini Float Cup

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St Lawrence Fair 2023

A few years ago, our next door neighbours in College Lane, Markus and Liz Saich (before they moved to run the excellent Wayfield Park Farm and shop) would generously provide their tractor and trailer. This, combined with the wonderful costumes produced by PTA Chairwoman Pam Williamson, meant that we annually produced some fantastic floats to enter in the St Lawrence Fair Procession each year for many years - with themes including St Trinians, Wizard of Oz, Henry the 8th, the Dance of 7 Veils, the Queen’s Jubilee, and Moulin Rouge.

We certainly didn’t win first prize each time as there was stiff competition from some other amazing floats. Afterwards in the arena and in our fantastic Hurst pubs would be unusual scenes such as Tinkerbell having a pint with a lion and a belly dancer.

Therefore, this year, we are bringing back those halcyon days and encouraging Hurst residents to dress up for prizes with our new 'Mini Floats’ section - come on, you know you want to.

To make this work, lovely Hurst residents Ed Nugent and Steve Bartram at Garden Sage Nursery have offered to provide 6 plant trolleys for 6 teams of 7. Click the picture provided to see one of the trolleys that can have the shelves removed and can become a castle, chariot, boat, or whatever you choose. Time to get creative!

Ed and Steve will also present the new annual Garden Sage Mini Float Cup to the winners of the best dressed team and float.

If you and 6 friends (over 18s) like a bit of dressing up and fancy a fun-filled challenge, please let me know asap on the email address below.
The theme is Royal, so your design options are huge.

Email Gavin at slf.procession@gmail.com

The St Lawrence Fair procession will conclude on South Avenue Rec and the Fair will commence from 12pm, Saturday 1st July.

New dog show coming to Hurst Festival this September 2023

By Kate Jackman

Hurst Festival is delighted to announce a fabulous new addition to our Super Sunday Community Event on the afternoon of Sunday 17th September: may we introduce to you: ‘Hufts’ - the new Hurst Festival Dog Show! To add to the excitement, we are very pleased to have secured the somewhat eccentric Brigadier Humphrey Portleroy Trotter and Judge Janey – two extremely experienced official judges to oversee proceedings in the arena on South Avenue recreation ground and we hope you’ll let us know any new categories suggestions by emailing us at admin@ hurstfestival.org.
Dog show categories so far are: oldest dog, waggiest tail, most sticky-uppy ears, fluffiest, looks like owner, best puppy, prettiest bitch, most handsome dog, best fancy dress, best rescue, and best at catching.

There will be a £2 per category entry fee on the day and rosettes to be won! We are also on the lookout for more stalls and food traders on the day to join the local shops when we close the High Street and take over with free entertainment and free activities for all the family.

We are also looking for buskers and performers for our open mic stage in the village. Please email us at admin@hurstfestival.org if you would like to have a food or craft or charity stall or perform on the day.