Margate Pride has announced its 2026 programme. On Saturday, August 8 things kick off at 10am with Family Pride, before the 1pm march. Dreamland will once again host rally speakers, the MX Margate pageant and performances, with all of the above free. The wider Margate Pride Festival starts Friday July 31, with screenings, performances, workshops on the cultural programme. Highlights include The Margate Pride Art Map art trail and the Open Call Gallery Commission, with the call being for an LGBTQ+ artist over 55. Performance Queer Me and the Sea will be the Pride Eve performance at the Turner Contemporary, and there’s also a screening of Out Laws, a documentary about resistance and queer rights activism in Namibia. There’s a stack of ways the gay community and allies can get involved and support as well. Full programme and info on how to get involved.
Zita Whalley
You wait ages for a Rosa Rankin-Gee book talk and then two come along at once. As mentioned last week, she’ll be appearing at Margate Library on Wednesday, May 27 to discuss Dreamland and its upcoming BBC adaptation. Then the next day, Thursday, May 28, she will be at Fort Road Hotel in Margate to discuss her new book My Only Boy. Free tickets.
Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre is set to play an intimate show at Queens Road Baptist Church in Broadstairs on Thursday, August 6. The show will be a special pre-festival warm up for Broadstairs Folk Week, which gets underway the next day. Tickets £40.
Drag king Pat Riarchy has two events coming up at the Alley Bar in Ramsgate. On Friday, May 15, he will be hosting Karablokey, performing duets with only the most manly of patrons. Tickets from £5. Then, beginning on Tuesday, June 9, he (as his alter ego Trudi Jackson) will be teaching a six week drag performance course. Places £12 per week or £60 for the full course.
Also at the Alley Bar, Jonny Woo will be performing a compilation show of his best bits later this month. There will be an evening show on Friday, May 22 and a matinee on Saturday, May 23. Tickets £20.
Zita Whalley
New open mic poetry night All In The Line is launching at 101 Social in Cliftonville, taking place every third Wednesday of the month. To read some of your own work, text Wordzy on 07875566950 to secure a place. The inaugural edition will be on Wednesday, May 20. Free entry.
2-Tone legends The Selecter return to Margate on Friday, June 13 for a headline show at the Drill Shed in Cliftonville. Tickets £33.43.
Artist Emma O’Rourke and yoga teacher Lily Cleo host an art retreat at a secret orchard location near Broadstairs on Saturday, June 20. Marking the summer solstice, the afternoon will include yoga and drawing activities. Places £55.
Keep Show is a group exhibition featuring 14 artists and makers working along the Kent coast, set to take place at Pie Factory in Margate June 18-23. Among those showing work will be Brogan Cox, Emily Forgot, 100 Hours and Woven Form. On Monday, June 22, art writer Hettie Judah will take part in a Q&A to mark the launch of her new book How to Enter the Art World. More details.
Saturday Night Live UK writer Paddy Young will be performing his new show Will Sir Be Dining Alone? at Where Else in Margate on Tuesday, Sep 15. Tickets £18.50.
Babyshambles will be performing on Dreamland’s Scenic Stage on Sunday, August 30. Support from Big Special, Warm Duscher, Gans, and Pregoblin. Tickets £49.50.
Painting is fun. And drinking wine is nice. But what’s missing? That’s right… tapas! Well, not anymore. Flowers & Felicities in Broadstairs will be hosting Paint with Wine & Tapas on Sunday, June 14. Tickets £35.
New cultural talk series Sound Values launches at Faith in Strangers in Cliftonville this month. It will see speakers reflect on their lives through the music that has inspired them - a bit like a live Desert Island Discs. First off, cult British fashion designer Martine Rose will be in conversation with long time collaborator and hairstylist Gary Gill on Wednesday, May 13. Tickets £22.
Pierremont Hall in Broadstairs will be hosting an Antiques & Collectables Fair on Sunday, June 14 from 9am to 3pm.
Local radio station Sunset Sol will be putin on a night at Margate Beach Club on Saturday, May 30. Lost in Music will see DJs from the station and guest playing house, disco and balearic beats all night. Tickets £5.
The Adobros are putting on a Filipino food pop-up at Louie on Sea in Margate on May 23 & 24 - returning after a popular residency last year. You’ll get a four course meal, including such delights as sour tamarind gazpacho, pork belly or crispy tempeh braised in cane vinegar, and crème caramel with burnt coconut curds. I want this right now. £47.50 per person.
To close her exhibition My Hands Are My Voice at the Beaney in Canterbury, Margate-based textile artist Rachelle Francis will be in conversation at the museum on Sunday, May 17. Alongside artist and researcher Claire Wellesley‑Smith, she will be interviewed by Shelly Goldsmith. Tickets £15.
Learn the process of decoupage and create your own trinket shell at Little Ravens in Ramsgate on Friday, May 22 - one of a series of evening workshops for adults at the usually child-focussed venue. Tickets £32.
The next Junkyard Gaming retro video game social will take place at Where Else in Margate on Sunday, May 24. The venue will be filled with all the consoles you remember from your youth and plenty you don’t as well. £5 on the door.
The Social Singing Choir will perform at the Drill Shed in Cliftonville on Friday, May 22. Raising money for Whale Wise, the choir will perform a set of ocean-themed songs, including their new charity single Wash Over Me. The single is set for release on World Ocean Day, June 8 and the night will also see the premiere of an accompanying film shot by wildlife photographer Rebecca Douglas. Tickets £10.
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