Shoreham Wordfest annual festival 27 September to 12 October

25-17 April



Shoreham Wordfest’s Annual
A performance of The Tempest by This is My Theatre
A free concert celebrating Shakespeare
A discussion on The Tempest
A lively Shakespeare Night Ceilidh
An Elizabethan Songs and Dances Workshop


Elizabethan Songs and Dances
Refreshments available.

Shakespeare Night Revels
A night of delight and one for the diary.
Bar Available.

This Island’s Mine
Refreshments available.

Celebrating Shakespeare in Words and Music - Free Entry
Refreshments available.
No booking necessary. First come, first...

William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, by ‘This is My Theatre’
For twelve years Prospero, the rightful duke of Milan, has dwelt on an island after his brother Antonio betrayed him...
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Shoreham Wordfest Celebrating Shakespeare festival. We were delighted by the support received from the audience at the five events and the feedback has been extremely positive.
The excellent production of The Tempest by This is My Theatre was complemented by the lecture given the following day by Professors Matt Dimmock and Andrew Hadfield. The free concert at St. Mary de Haura was a feast of dramatic extracts delivered by four fine actors and splendid songs delivered by over 30 singers and musicians. Saturday’s revels were as popular as ever as was Emily and Kathryn’s songs and dances workshop. The conversation with actress Harriet Walter was a fitting finale to an enthralling weekend.
Our guest speakers were all very impressed by the evident love and appreciation of Shakespeare shown by the audience. This was the ninth, and the most successful of the annual April celebration weekend with over a thousand tickets sold. Congratulations to the organising team and many thanks to our great volunteer team of stewards and helpers.
We are now in the final stages of planning the programme for our annual autumn Wordfest. There will be an array of exciting events over two weeks featuring local creatives, author and topical talks, dramas, workshops, walks and national headliners.
The festival will be launched publicly on July 12 with advance notice of the events provided to our loyal supporters via our monthly newsletter.
The symposium marks the official start of the Tree Festival 2025. The festival highlights the extraordinary beauty and value of trees across the Sussex Living Coast. It is organised by CPRE Sussex, the countryside charity, volunteers and local groups. The festival is sponsored by Connick Tree Care and Rampion Offshore Wind and supported by The Living Coast.
Tree festival events hosted by Chapter 34 bookshop on Brunswick Road in Shoreham and a day festival event at The Shoreham Centre on Saturday June 14. You can also submit a photo of your favourite tree in an open competition.
For full details of the tree festival please visit here
Celebrating Shakespeare 25-27 April
The first Wordfest event will be the Celebrating Shakespeare weekend 25-27 April.
The first Wordfest event will be the Celebrating Shakespeare weekend 25-27 April. Along with the traditional events such as the Saturday morning free concert and the Saturday evening Ceilidh, there will also be a performance of The Tempest by This is My Theatre company, and some Shakespearean talks, including one by the celebrated actress Harriet Walter with her book: She Speaks! What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said.
Some highlights of the festival
Making Waves: the 13th annual Shoreham Wordfest was a great success. Over 30 events during the three weeks of the festival with with nearly 2,500 tickets sold and very enthusiastic reviews from our audience.
A selection of photos from the festival is on our Gallery page
- Hugh Bonneville in conversation with actress/playwright Janet Behan about his memoir “Playing Under the Piano” and his future plans for film, tv and stage.
- Ghostly Tales of Sussex at Marlipins Museum: 8 shows over two days with small groups enthralled by Victorian Ghosthunter Julian Dorius, played by actor Isaac Finch
- Caroline Lucas in conversation with Anita Sethi about reclaiming a sense of national identity with her book “Another England.”
- Kate Mosse presented her new novel, “The Map of Bones,” a sequel to her very successful novel “The Ghost Ship.”
- Sam McAlister mesmerised her audience talking about her career defining moment described in “Scoops!”
- Tiptree and Pretty Witty Nell – two fabulous one-woman plays with Jenny Rowe and Jessica Latham
- The first Sussex Social History Day, led by David Johnson featuring Alexandra Harris and a panel of expert speakers
- Fatal Shore Crime Fiction day led by Elly Griffiths and William Shaw.
Shoreham Wordfest also supports local creative writing with workshops and an open mic slam competition with three winning entries in poetry, flash fiction and short story which are featured on our poetry and projects page.
Coming up next: Celebrating Shakespeare 25-27 April 2025
More information about this annual weekend festival will be posted in the New Year.
- The Catalyst Club by Shoreham Wordfest
- David Olusoga -The Job of a Historian
- The Homecoming: Voices of The Windrush Generation – Colin Grant
- Local and Live Festival talk – Rewilding the Seas – Henri Brocklebank of Sussex Wildlife Trust
- Dr John Froude: Plagued: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Coronavirus
- Hilaire Belloc, The Man Who Saw the Future by Chris Hare