It’s officially Autumn, which can only mean one thing… Broadstairs Food Festival time again!
You’re in for a treat this weekend. Scroll below to find out what’s in store, but basically if you’re into your food (who isn’t?) then you won’t want to miss out. Three whole days to enjoy, feast and explore, with over a hundred stalls and more than a dozen demonstrations and talks. It’s going to be a good one!
Speaking of foodie heaven, the Don’t Miss team were invited to try out the new cooking classes at Margate House Hotel recently, and I couldn’t recommend it more.
While I’ve got you, do you follow us on Instagram yet? If not, you’re missing out. The DMB newsletters are always full of all the week’s events and happenings, but our Instagram brings it all to life, with highlights of the week, videos showing what Broadstairs is up to as it happens, plus we share posts from the local businesses to keep you fully up to date with what’s going on. Give us a follow and share the love 👇🏼
Don’t miss out - Kim xx
🍅 Broadstairs Food Festival
Fri 2 Oct - Sun 4 Oct / Victoria Gardens
It’s our favourite time in the autumn calendar – the October edition of Broadstairs Food Festival hits town this Fri. Head to Victoria Gardens, where there will be over a hundred food and produce stalls, kitchen demonstrations, talks, a celebration of local and regional cooking, plus music on the bandstand all weekend. Most of the events in the Kitchen Theatre are completely free with no booking required, with just two beer and wine tastings that you’ll need to pay and book onto. Check out our highlights guide on Instagram below, or visit BroadstairsFoodFestival.org.uk for more.
🎟️ Free entry / Follow the festival here
🏰 Castles & Contraband Talk & Tea Afternoon
Tue 29 Sep, 2pm / St Peter’s Church Hall
Learn about the story of Kingsgate through smugglers, film stars, nuns, and spies! With light refreshments including tea, coffee, & cake. A donation on entry goes to several charities.
🎟️ Donation
📜 National Poetry Day: Hot Poets “Wonder”
Thu 1 Oct, 7pm - 9pm (Doors Open 6.30pm) / Best of Times Bookshop
Celebrate National Poetry Day at The Best of Times this Thu with a selection of performers, both celebrated and up and coming, on the theme of “wonder”. Grab a drink and enjoy the range of poetic and musical talent that Thanet has to offer.
🎟️ £5 / Book here
💽 Last Week To See ‘The Music You See’ Exhibition
Until Sat 3 Oct / Royal Albion Hotel
This Kent Talents exhibition of paintings on vintage vinyl records has been on show at the Royal Albion Hotel since August, but this week is your last chance to see it. Pop on down to catch a look at the artworks any day until Sat.
🎟️ Free / More info
🎭 Dido & Aeneas Opera
Sun 4 Oct, 5pm / Sarah Thorne Theatre
Opera in Broadstairs? Yep, you read that right. East Coast Theatre presents Henry Purcell's passionate tale of love, sorcery, and revenge in a fully-staged production, with professional singers and a live chamber orchestra.
🎟️ From £19 / Book here
📽 Analogue Ensemble: Artists’ Experimental Film, Sound and Performance
Sun 4 Oct, 6.30pm / Palace Cinema
Head to the Palace for this special evening with Analogue Ensemble, showcasing 11 filmmakers who will be showing short film works followed by a Q&A. Analogue Ensemble have been programming and screening artists’ experimental film, performance and sound works in Thanet and beyond since 2015.
🎟️ £6 / Book here
☕︎ CLOSING: Last week of Havisham & Cratchit Coffee Shop
Last Day: Sun 4 Oct / Bleak House
Bleak House will sadly be closing their coffee and antiques shop, Havisham & Cratchit, this week. We’ve absolutely loved having it there, but all good things must unfortunately come to an end. Head on down any day this week for teas, coffees and cakes before they close their doors.
More info
🥘 Paella Night
Every Wed, from 5pm / Albariño Tapas
Wed nights means paella night at Albariño! Using top quality Spanish ingredients mixed with the best local produce, the paella is cooked to order, served in a pan for a minimum of 2 people. The perfect excuse for a mid-week outing.
🎟️ £18pp / Book here
🌮 Broadstairs Food Festival Stalls
Fri 2 Oct - Sun 4 Oct / Victoria Gardens
See above. If you want to try out new food this week, you know exactly where to go. Check out all the stalls who will be selling food at the festival here.
BroadstairsFoodFestival.org.uk
🌶️ MEXI-GO @ Legends
Legends Live Lounge
Over the summer Legends Live Lounge introduced MEXI-GO Street Food as a pop-up in their garden, and it was clearly a success because they’re now staying permanently at the venue! Cooking up delicious food on weekends from fajitas, quesadillas and tacos, to street corn, margaritas and burritos. They officially opened permanently this past weekend. Go check them out if you haven’t already.
🥂 Sip + Paint
Wed 30 Sep, 7pm - 9pm / Hilderstone College
A relaxed evening to sip some wine and get creative. Drink a glass while enjoying this drop-in painting session. All materials included.
🎟️ £14 / Book here
🎲 Board Games Night
Wed 30 Sep, 6.30pm - 10pm / Riparo Lounge
Enjoy your games? Head to Riparo Lounge at Westwood Cross for an evening of Tabletop and Board Games, taking place every Wed pm. Meet new people, or just enjoy games with a table of friends.
🎟️ £3 for unlimited games / More info
🎨 Acrylics Paint + Sip
Fri 2 Oct, 7pm - 9.30pm / Riparo Lounge
These now run monthly on the first Fri of every month. Hosted by Arty Party Breaks, you can paint a canvas with acrylics, fully tutored throughout, with a drink included.
🎟️ £30 / Book here
🍻 Oktoberfest
Sat 3 Oct, 2pm - 11.55pm / Cramptons
There’s been a few Oktoberfest events around town, and this week it’s Crampton’s turn. Join them for a Bavarian-style party with ice-cold beers, food and live entertainment. Dress up in your best lederhosen and head on down.
🎟️ From £7.70 / Get tickets
🎸 The Small Fakers
Sat 3 Oct, 8pm - 10pm (Doors Open 7pm) / Pavilion
For the Small Faces and ‘60s music fans among you. Tribute act The Small Fakers will work their way through all the classics, album tracks and b-sides from Whatcha Gonna Do About It to Wham Bam Thank You Mam!
🎟️ £20 + BF / Book here
🎛️ Alfie Turner: House, Tech House & Garage House
Sat 3 Oct, 10pm - 2am / St Mary’s Chapel Bar
The new owners of St Mary’s Chapel Bar (the bar surrounded by books) have been adding a few different nights to the mix. If you’re into your garage and house music, head to see Alfie Turner on the decks this Sat. Expect tunes you’ve heard but with a twist, tunes you’ve never heard, and of course some classics all thrown into one set.
🎟️ Free / More info
💪🏼 Family Cafe: My Amazing Body
Mon 28 Sep, 3.30pm - 5.30pm / Queens Road Baptist Church
Join The Gap Project for a ‘my amazing body’ themed Family Cafe. Each month they have a different theme with lots of themed crafts, fun activities, bible stories and games for children and adults to enjoy together. Plus a free teatime meal.
🎟️ Free / More info
🦀 Free Storytime Session
Every Tue, 10am / Kinder Collective
Enjoy Kinder Collective’s weekly storytime session, held in their book room every Tue morning. Browse the lovely shop or pick up a gift while there, and check out their craft table – doodle on craft sheets or make creatures out of recycled materials.
🎟️ Free, drop-in
🧑🍳 Curious Cooks Club
Thu 1 Oct, 11.30am - 1pm / The Old Curiosity Shop
Got some food-loving children? Bring them down to this weekly cooking club, where they’ll get to enjoy some foodie fun and make some yummy snacks together. Suitable for all ages, and you can just drop-in.
🎟️ Free
🐔 Britain’s Got Talent’s Alan Swan aka Chicken Man
Sat 3 Oct, 2pm / Sarah Thorne Theatre
Looking for some bonkers children’s entertainment this week? Head to this show by Alan Swan, winner of Britain's Got Talent, presenting his Chicken Man show featuring magic, bubbles, human slinky and giant balloon, in a show for the whole family. I’ve seen him at a kids party before and it’s too bonkers to describe.
🎟️ £10 + BF / Book here
📚 Free Storytime Session
Every Fri, 9.30am - 10am / Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop
Enjoy a cosy and friendly storytime session at Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop every Fri morning. Grab a delicious pastry downstairs at Staple while you’re there, and visit the animals at the end of the road for a perfect Fri morning with your little ones. They’ve also just announced some great new Sunday Book Clubs, but they’re so popular this week’s one is already sold out. Book on to the others here.
🎟️ Free / More info
💫 Festival Of Optimism
Thu 1 Oct - Sat 3 Oct / Various venues across Thanet
This week we’ve also got the first ever Festival of Optimism coming to Thanet! While most venues and events take place in Margate and Ramsgate, you’ll definitely want to pop along. Explore how communities can respond to some of today’s biggest challenges through a programme which includes talks, workshops and exhibitions.
🎟️ Various / Book tickets here
🧘🏻♀️ Mindful Mornings
Every Thu, 10am - 11am / Bleak House
Get in a good head space this Thursday. Mindful Mornings is a weekly session that includes a relaxing, seated guided body scan meditation as well as a silent meditation, short poem and discussion. Enjoy a coffee in Bleak House’s Havisham and Cratchit coffee shop afterwards while you still can too.
🎟️ £5 suggested donation (£6 if paying online) / Find out more
🖼️ An Evening Of Lino Printing
Thu 1 Oct, 6pm - 9pm / Hilderstone College
Even more creative evenings with a difference. In this session you’ll be introduced to the basics of relief printmaking, from designing simple images to carving safely and printing clean impressions. Learn tool handling, mark making, inking and hand printing, completing a small edition of prints.
🎟️ £28 / Book here
🤣 Laughter Yoga
Fri 2 Oct, 6pm / Pierremont Hall
Chuckle your way to chilling out with Sylvia Tillman as she brings her series of laughter exercises to Broadstairs this week. Laughter yoga releases feel-good hormones, uplifts your mood, and helps to combat stress and pain. There will also be an hour to mingle, and hot drinks available.
🎟️ £6 / Book here
Finally, 4 Things To Know…
Dog owners rejoice… From this Thu 1 Oct dogs are allowed back on all of our beaches at any time of day. You can enjoy the next 6 months with no restrictions.
Looking for a new opportunity? Foliage has just been put up for sale. If you fancy taking on this beautifully leafy cafe, check out this post & reach out for more info.
Save The Date: Independent Broadstairs’ Festive Night Out is coming! On Thu 26 Nov from 6pm - 8pm you can sip, sample, Christmas shop and support the brilliant independents that help make our town shine. More details to come, but keep the evening free.
Here’s a quirky idea for Halloween: The Best of Times Bookshop is offering people to film a Halloween Story Recording in their spooky book nook for free. From 3 to 29 Oct, you can write then read a 500 to 700 word spooky story in the nook, which they will film for you. The best three stories will be featured on their website (with your permission, of course) and you could win a £25 book shop voucher. Find out more and book your 20-minute slot here.
📌 £10 Listings All Summer Long
Don’t miss this! The Noticeboard now runs across our 3 editions (Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs) and now you can list your services, jobs, spaces and more for just £10.
If you’ve got something to list, do it today. Submit a listing
Browse what’s on the board:
Thanks for reading! If you found this useful, please share it so we can continue to grow in Broadstairs and beyond!
And if you missed it… last week’s newsletter still has lots of things happening that you might want to know about.
Don’t Miss: Oktoberfest, Sound Bath & A Couple of Birthday Celebrations
I’m writing this after a very colourful day enjoying Pride in Broadstairs. What a Sunday and what a turn out ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜