Incoming: The Orb, Jodie Harsh, Kermode & Mayo

Live music from legends, a celebration of censored books, some incredible food pop-ups, and more. Get these dates in your diary now.

The Orb will be live at Faith in Strangers in Cliftonville on Friday, March 13. They’ll be promoting their upcoming new album Buddhist Hipsters, which is out in October, as well as turning out classics like Little Fluffy Clouds. Tickets £31.16. 

Wittertainees! Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo have announced the return of their Christmas Movie Spectacular. The duo will be on stage at the Prince Edward Theatre in London for a live edition of their Kermode and Mayo’s Take film podcast. There will be the usual reviews and interviews, plus Kermode’s Kristmas Kwiz - pitting audience members against each other to out film buff each other. Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 3. Hello to Jason Isaacs. 

Margate Queer Library and Marine Studios have teamed up for a series of events on books that have been censored in the UK. On Sunday, October 5, poet Connor Sansby will give a talk at Marine Studios titled Censorship in British Literature & Media. Then from October 8-11, artist Dan Thompson will curate a Banned Books Reading Room residency at Margate Queer Library & Archive, featuring notable LGBTQ+ literature that has faced censorship in Britain. 

The Happy Mondays will perform at Dreamland in Margate on Thursday, April 9 next year to mark the 35th anniversary of their debut album Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches. They will be joined by The Farm and Northside, recreating the line up of their legendary 1991 show at Elland Road in Leeds. Tickets £42.50. 

Ramsgate heat at home takeout Rakookoo is taking over the kitchen at the Blue Pelican in Deal from October 1-5. Rachel O’Sullivan will be serving up an amazing sounding Vietnamese lunch and dinner menu, including Hanoi bun cha and a venison and turnip pie. Book your table. 

Writer, art historian and broadcaster James Fox will be in conversation with artist Dan Thompson at the Fort Road Hotel bar on Thursday, October 2. They will discuss James’ new book Craftland, a chronicle of Britain’s lost arts and vanishing trades, and the people keeping them alive. Free tickets. 

Steph Dickinson will cook up an autumnal Cypriot menu for her latest supper club. There’ll be homepage olive bread and tzatziki to start. For the main, you’ll get your choice of stew - either slow cooked beef, squid or cauliflower. Then to finish, an orange filo pie. Places are £37, and it’ll take place at Curve in Margate on Friday, October 10. DM to book. 

Folk musician Seth Lakeman is heading to the Booking Hall in Dover on Thursday, November 6. He will perform songs from his latest album The Granite Way, as well as other music from his back catalogue. Tickets £22. 

Award-winning Australian comedian Lou Wall will be performing their new show Breaking the Fifth Wall at CAMP in Cliftonville on Wednesday, October 15. Expect music, PowerPoint and lies. Tickets £12. 

Thomas Truax and his band of homemade, self-playing mechanical instruments will be back at Ramsgate Music Hall on Saturday, October 11. His eccentric performances are a great thing to behold. Tickets £13.50. 

DJ Jodie Harsh will be discussing her new memoir You Had to Be There with co-host of the Talk Art podcast Robert Diament at CAMP in Cliftonville on Thursday, October 9. Free tickets.

Margate’s Crab Museum will be holding its 4th birthday party at Where Else in Margate on Saturday, October 25. It promises to be “the daftest birthday party a museum has ever thrown”. The line up is TBA, but they say that it will be “hard, spiky, and definitely weird.” Early bird tickets £6.66.

Girl Hike are teaming up with Esoteric Isle for their next Kent country walk, which will have a spooky theme. Taking place on Saturday, October 25, it’ll wind through Selling and Perry Wood, with witchy tales along the way, followed by tea at Sondes and a visit to the Witches Memorial in Faversham. Places £30.