Sidmouth Sea Fest

Sidmouth Sea Fest, a free annual one-day festival, is coming up this month in the town.

Produced by Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, the event will take place on Saturday 20 May from 10am to 11pm on The Ham.

There will also be a fundraiser the night before on Friday 19 May.

This year's theme is "driftwood and thrift" and will focus on re-use and recycling to highlight the importance of acting "responsibly to sustain our seas and use resources carefully."

Friday fundraiser

The Friday evening event opens at 4pm with live bands, DJs and a bar with local food from Sidmouth Trawlers, Pura Vida, Café Dish, Pizza Butlers, the Off Road Café and West Country Dim Sum and The Prawn Cocktail Bar on The Ham. Tickets are available to book via Eventbrite.

The line-up will feature comedian Fitz of Giggles and live music from Samantics, The Hawkmen and beat-box trio Bloxed Beats. "Thrifting" tickets are £10, and "Gifting" tickets are £15. 

Friday tickets can also be purchased from Paragon Books on High Street and from the Tourist Information Centre on Ham Lane.

Saturday main event

The Sea Fest main event, free to all, will start at 10am on Saturday with a mix of art, craft, local groups, music, dance, literature and environmental activities and continue to 11pm. There will be an evening of entertainment including Bicycle Ballet, Street Heat, Razzomo, Revolution Roots and The Kabins.

Sidmouth Coastal Community Choir with Sidmouth Primary School will kick off the main stage events at 11am, followed by a full day of activities for all ages. Sidmouth Plastic Warriors will lead a beach clean from 1pm to 2pm and the plastic finds will be analysed on site by Greenpeace and then upcycled into art by Clean Jurassic Coast. 

The site will feature art installations, including a planted starfish by Sidmouth In Bloom and a driftwood sea monster sculpture co-created with local young people and artist Dan Wakeman from I Made this.

Local groups and environmental organisations and creativity and art activities will also be on site, along with crafts and charity stalls and storytelling. Angel Chops Cakes and Vanilli Bean Ice-Cream Tuk Tuk will also be available on Saturday.

There will also be plenty of activity with a special art and wellbeing zone, the Lifeboat and East Devon Dance performing next to the sea with a road closure in place from the Lifeboat station to the turning circle. There will be a "driftwood and thrift" bake-off competition for the best themed decorated cake – bakers are asked to bring their cakes along on the day to enter.

Supporting the event are Sidmouth Town Council/Visit Sidmouth, and a host of other local sponsors. 

Businesses in the town, shops, cafés and restaurants are encouraged to get into the Sea Fest spirit and dress their windows or put a special dish of the day on their menu to share the "Driftwood and Thrift" message creatively.

Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub Director Louise Cole said: "Sea Fest is known for its community spirit and sense of fun in tandem with a collective sense of commitment to our beautiful natural coastal environment. 

"This has never been more so important than during such challenging times. Our theme reflects this and we are committed to the event being free and fully accessible to all. 

"We hope everyone will turn out to support and enjoy this community social celebration."

If you would like to donate or give raffle prizes to the event, contact [email protected].