We are delighted to announce our plans for the third Caught by the River Day Out on Saturday May 4th. It takes place again in Kingston, a village just outside Lewes in Sussex. Tickets go on sale today — they sell out quickly so don’t delay. All-day tickets cost £30 and will get you into every event and venue. (Discounts are available for local residents — contact Mathew Clayton for the code — and Lunker-tier Caught by the River subscribers; check your email inbox for details).
In case anyone hasn’t been before the idea is simple — come and hang out for the day with some nice people. There are talks, films, music, beer and food all within a few minutes of each other. Kingston is right at the foot of the South Downs so there are also some fantastic walks.
Last year Local Psycho (aka Jimmy Cauty and Jem Finer) installed the Gurdy Stone on Lovebrook Farm. This year we will end the day again with a collective walk up to the stone but we also have some new plans. Ambient Churches is one of them. It is a simple idea — playing peaceful music in peaceful places. We are taking over St Pancras, the 13th century village church, and a programme of ambient music is being put together by our friends the Stone Club and the Folk Archive. Think of it as a kind of ambient drop-in centre. Churches are the perfect environment for listening to this type of music and we hope this is the start of a national movement.
Secondly, whilst it is great to have a village pub on hand they are already busy because of the bank holiday. So the kind people at Beak Brewery are setting up our own bar on Lovebrook. We are very excited about this. And Hannah and Rich from Lovebrook will also be selling food (using produce grown on the farm) and keeping their shop open all day. We also have an art exhibition for the first time. Steve Bannatyne works exclusively in recycled materials crafting beautiful, often abstract, collages and sculptures — he is taking over the Lovebrook milking shed.
In the Parish Hall we have a busier line-up than ever…
MC is John Andrews — author and vintage tackle dealer Andrews of Arcadia.
Caught by the River’s much loved poet-in-residence Will Burns will be talking about his latest collection Natural Burial Ground with the co-host of Backlisted podcast John Mitchinson.
Miki Berenyi’s incredible memoir Fingers Crossed is a funny and moving portrayal of a complicated family and a funny and moving account of a complicated career in the band Lush. She will be in conversation with the editor Rachael Kerr.
Noreen Mashud’s highly acclaimed A Flat Place is part-travelogue through Britain’s flat landscapes, part-memoir, investigating how flat spaces might give shape and succour to complex trauma. She will be interviewed by the writer Liz Garner who latest book Lost & Found retells fifteen treasured folk tales.
Tom Cox is a Sunday Times bestselling author. His masterful debut novel Villager synthesises his passion for music, nature and folklore into a psychedelic and enthralling exploration of village life and the countryside that sustains it. He will be speaking with Ian Marchant whose last book One Fine Day explored life in 18thcentury Hurstpierpoint through a diary written by one of his relatives.
Richard Norris has made music with everyone from Sky Saxon to Timothy Leary, Joe Strummer to Erol Alkan. His memoir Strange Things Are Happening is an account of 30 years at the counter cultural coal face. He will be on conversation with Justin Hopper, the author of the best book about South Down Old Weird Albion.
We will be showing a couple of short films by Danny Hammond and Nick Fallowfield-Cooper (currently working on a Dexter Petley film!).
Stella and Josie’s Tea and Cake stall be serving the finest home baked goods and drinks.
Diva, Ben and Nettle will be manning the bookstall.
Poster is designed by the genius illustrator Anthony Atkinson.
Please come and join us — we think we have created something special. Dogs welcome.