Kentish Express Ashford & District - What's On
Jam-packed celebration
Music, art and a day devoted to children’s activities are all part of an arts celebrations in the heart of Romney Marsh. Angela Cole previews JAM on the Marsh’s return for the summer
Eleven days of arts and entertainment featuring exhibitions, concerts and poetry recitals will converge on Romney Marsh from next week.
JAM on the Marsh will feature seven concerts, five exhibitions, three poetry recitals and two theatre shows, and around half of the events are free to enter. This year’s festival also includes free steam train travel between New Romney and the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre on Sunday, July 8 with the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway and a churches tour.
The Changeling Theatre kicks off the festival with their open-air production of Noel Coward’s comedy classic Blithe Spirit in the Old School Garden in New Romney, on Thursday, July 5.
The first of the festival’s musical offerings will be on Friday, July 6, when vocal ensemble voces8 and the Canterbury Cathedral Girls’ Choir - who both topped the classical charts this year - perform together for the first time.
Before the concert, the Singing Stars of Palmarsh and Hythe Bay primary schools will jump on the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway after school for a workshop with the group.
The next night, the BBC Singers return to the festival with Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, which is one of several events stage in collaboration with the Hythe Festival. The BBC Singers performance from St Leonard’s Church, Hythe, will be broadcast on Monday, July 9 on BBC Radio 3.
The second weekend’s musical highlight is a rare orchestral performance of Fauré’s Requiem with the London Mozart Players and Mousai Singers, conducted by festival curator, Daniel Cook.