Your guide to the best events in Kent, summer 2022
Children's Theatre
Wagon of Dreams
August 10
Loads of brilliant stuff on as part of Hever Festival Theatre over the summer, from music to talks and cinema to all-age performance. Kicking off the month is Jelly Fish Theatre's Wagon of Dreams, featuring puppets and live music and aimed at an audience aged four to eight. Join three best friends on an exciting ocean adventure as they meet the outrageous mermaids and fantastical sea creatures who live in the wonderful Wagon of Dreams. Each performance, under an hour long, is relaxed and includes integrated sign-supported English. Tickets £12.50, heverfestival.co.uk
Music
Simply Red
August 12
Soulful sounds are perfect for a summer's evening and you'll get them in abundance at multi-million selling Simply Red's Dreamland, Margate gig. Blue Eyes Soul is the 12th album from Mick Hucknall and friends, and it's described as, " the rawest, funkiest, dirtiest, brassiest and most purely 100 per cent soulful concoction of their stellar career." Doubtless they'll be letting us hear plenty of its tracks, but we can also expect a touch of nostalgia, with hits such as If You Don’t Know Me by Now, Stars, Holding Back The Years and more. Tickets from £45; dreamland.co.uk
Theatre
Wilde at Penshurst
August 12
Changeling Theatre, the south east's leading touring company best known for its outdoor shows, has been busy travelling across the county this summer. If you've not caught up with them thus far, check out the website for details of other places where they're appearing, but here's your chance to do so at beautiful Penshurst Place. The Importance of Being Earnest follows the story of two eligible bachelors, Jack and Algy, in Oscar Wilde’s satirical masterpiece, with theirs a tale of deception, disguise and misadventure. Expect confusion and lots of laughs. Tickets £24. changeling-theatre.com
Musical Theatre
Dylan reimagined
Aug 16-20
Girl From The North Country tells an uplifting, universal story about family and love, boldly reimaging the legendary songs of Bob Dylan in a fresh way. It first opened to huge critical acclaim at the Old Vic in London back in 2017 - now, it's on tour and coming to The Marlowe, Canterbury. It’s 1934 in the heartland of America and we meet a group of wayward souls who cross paths in a time-weathered guesthouse. Standing at a turning point in their lives, they realise nothing is what it seems...All sounds like intriguing stuff, with Dylan's unforgettable music at its heart. Tickets from £15, marlowetheatre.com
Water wonderland
Hythe Venetian Fete
August 17
A floating extravaganza of family fun with a procession of decorated floats, live music, entertainment and fireworks at dusk all add up to make the Hythe's Venetian Fete, which takes place along its Royal Canal, such a memorable summer's evening. Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is offering packages from New Romney Station to Hythe that includes the relaxing journey and a seat in the reserved area at the fete. Tickets from £22, rhdr.org.uk. General tickets for the fete, adults £15, children £10 hythevenetianfete.co.uk.
Gardens
Great Comp with children
August 22-26
Now the school holidays are here, head for beautiful Great Comp Garden near Sevenoaks and enjoy an hour of children-themed activities including an interactive re-telling of the classic story ‘The Secret Garden, with the role of Mary performed by resident actress Gemma Wills. Gemma will also lead a bug hunt and supervise two take-home craft sessions (and for more for Secret Garden fans, see our feature later in this issue). Tickets £8 per child for the activities, to include accompanying adult (but if you want to linger longer in the garden you'll need to buy an additional ticket, £8.50) greatcompgarden.co.uk
Antiques Roadshow
BBC at Belmont
August 23
It's one of the jewels in the BBC's crown, an enduring favourite - and now BBC Antiques Roadshow is coming to Kent's very own Belmont House near Faversham this month. Bring along your treasures and see what Fiona Bruce and the experts make of them, plus there'll be the chance to wander the Belmont's lovely garden, too. Many objects featured on the Roadshow are found in some extraordinary places - Winston Churchill's hat and letters, for instance, were discovered in a dump near London, so it's going to be fascinating to see what discoveries are made and stories are revealed here in Kent. Tickets are free, but you need to apply direct to the BBC bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj2y
