Last weekend to catch Rye Festival events

But there is still time to book tickets for one of this weekend’s events.

Leading folk duo Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman are bringing their boldest musical statement to date to St Thomas in Winchelsea tonight (Friday) from 7.30pm.

Voted Best Duo in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2013, Kathryn’s sublime vocals merge seamlesly with Sean’s deft and inventive guitar work.

Tomorrow, the Lamb House Marquee will be the venue for the talk E.F.Benson, Lamb House and Rye, where Guy Fraser-Sampson will make a welcome return at 3pm. The classical music element of the festival ends with a performance of Mozart’s classic opera Don Giovanni, conducted and directed by Alisdair Kitchen at the Milligan Theatre from 6.30pm.

An engaging evening of music and words from the plays of Rye’s most famous son, John Fletcher, performed by English Ayers, will make for an ‘enchanting evening’ at the Kino Cinema on Sunday. The Mad Lover starts at 6pm.

This year, the festival had its own artist in residence.

Brighton-based Charlie Cobb set up in a pop up studio/gallery in a former sweet shop in the High Street, loaned to the festival by owner Glenn Croucher of the Rye Bakery.

Charlie has given free masterclasses to students at Rye Studio School. He also introduced a special screening at the Kino of the film Mr Turner.

Charlie was able to give ‘great insight’ as he was the artist who painted all the Turner pictures in the movie – not Timothy Spall who played the artist.

Charlie has also been around town sketching from the Church Tower, the Gun Gardens and at Camber and also at many Rye Festival events, including at the English Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble concert in St Mary’s Church. On Sunday, Charlie will hold an exhibition of his drawings and paintings while at the festival between noon and 6pm at the old Sweet Memories of Rye shop in the High Street.

This year’s Rye Arts Festival has been hailed a roaring success.

Andy Stuart, marketing officer for the festival, said: “It’s been one of the best since I have been involved, in terms of breadth and width and the quality.

“So many of these artists are so humble and give their time to entertain the people of Rye and give their time to give masterclasses with the schools.

“And the fact we have been able to add film to it and broaden it out has been fantastic.”

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