Lindfield Arts Festival 2019

16 - 22 September 2019

Lizzie Stewart, There’s a tiger in the garden

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You are never too old. Come and meet Lizzie Stewart and hear what she has to say!

When Grandma says she’s seen a tiger in the garden, Nora doesn’t believe her. She’s too old to play Grandma’s silly games!

Everyone knows that tigers live in jungles, not gardens. So even when Nora sees butterflies with wings as big as her arm, and plants that try and eat her toy giraffe, and a polar bear that likes fishing, she knows there’s absolutely, DEFINITELY no way there could be a tiger in the garden . . . Could there?

LIZZY STEWART is an illustrator and artist currently based in London. Lizzy graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009, and received an MA in Communication Design from Central St Martins in 2013. She is also one half of independent publishers Sing Statistics and an associate lecturer at Goldsmiths College. Her first book, There’s a Tiger In the Garden, was the winner of the 2017 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, Illustrated Books Category.

 

Second World War Poetry with Cavan Wood

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“Call to arms – the poetry of the Second World War”  Cavan Wood introduces the poets of the Second World War – not as well known as those of the First, but deserving to be heard as they describe fighting, the blitz, the A bomb and other significant moments. Come along to The Bent Arms Function Room on Saturday 21st September at 11.15am to discover some incredible works. This event is for adults due to the subject matter discussed.

Will Mabbitt, I can only draw worms

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Come to meet and listen to Will Mabbitt as he introduces you to his charming book, I can only draw worms.

This is part counting book, part introduction to worms, but all superbly silly. The fact that the author/illustrator can only draw worms will not take anything away from the laugh-out-loud adventure readers will have as they turn the pages of this slightly subversive picture book.

Will Mabbitt likes to write. He writes on trains, in the corners of cafes, and sometimes when his laptop runs out of power, he writes in his head. Will has a background in children’s media and has produced digital content for Cartoon Network, Disney, and Nickelodeon. He lives with his family in Lewes on the south coast of England.

 

The Life of T. S. Eliot with Cavan Wood

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“T.S. Eliot  – a spiritual seeker.”  Cavan Wood will tell the story of T.S Eliot, the American who settled in Britain, the radical young man who became the Anglican Church warden. There will be an opportunity to hear Eliot’s best poems. This event is open to people of all ages and will take place on Saturday 21st September from 10.00am to 11.00am in The Bent Arms Function Room. Come along and listen to T.S Eliot’s incredible work.

Have you ever wondered about Lindfield Bonfire Society?

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Every 5th of November, Lindfield Bonfire Society takes its huge effigy of Guy Fawkes through the village to The Common where it is consumed by fire. But Fawkes himself was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason, so why do we burn him?

The answer lies in the events of the 31st of January 1606 when Fawkes, along with Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood and Robert Keyes were executed for their part in the Gunpowder Plot which had been discovered on the 5th of November the previous year. Fawkes and his co-conspirators were tied to wattle hurdles and dragged through the streets, from the Tower of London to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, where a gallows had been erected.

This parading of the traitor through the streets is the origin of our considerably less grim procession through the village. After execution, their bodies were beheaded and then quartered, the parts to be displayed on spikes as a warning to any other would-be traitors.

The previous week, Parliament had passed the Observance of 5th November Act, this made the 5th of November an annual day of thanksgiving. Sir Robert Cecil, the King’s Intelligencer who had foiled the plot, was a master of propaganda and determined to ensure the custom would never die out. To achieve this, after the execution, Cecil arranged for a massive pyre to be constructed on which was placed an effigy of Fawkes.

This Bonfire was lit by King James himself and it is this act we recreate when we burn our Guy on The Common.

This is the core of the Sussex Bonfire Tradition, but there’s so much more:

  • Why do we wear Smuggler Stripes?
  • Is there more to our fire carts than the disposal of spent torches?
  • And, why do we recite that poem before we light our Bonfire on The Common?

Come to The Bent Arms to discover the answers to all these questions about our customs.

Cavan Wood, the Life of T.S. Eliot

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“T.S. Eliot  – a spiritual seeker.”  Cavan Wood will tell the story of T.S Eliot, the American who settled in Britain, the radical young man who became the Anglican Church warden. There will be an opportunity to hear Eliot’s best poems. This event is open to people of all ages and will take place on Saturday 21st September from 10.00am to 11.00am in The Bent Arms Function Room. Come along and listen to T.S Eliot’s incredible work.