Kent Events Shows Festivals Kent County Show Kent UK

Kent County Show & Showground

The Kent Showground is ideally located within the heart of the region, easily accessed off both the M2 and M20 motorways and near Maidstone. The Showground plays host to some of Kent's biggest and most popular events including the annual July Kent County Show and covers a mammoth 200 acres. Features events alongside the Kent County Show include big antique and craft fairs and garden shows.

The Kent County Show is hugely popular within the region and is Kent's largest outdoor event. Various zones include an Agricultural Zone exploring 'Why Farming Matters' Emphasis is firmly on local produce with livestock competitions, numerous trade-stands with everything from luxury clothing to quality local farm produce. Book tickets on-line via the Kent Showground weblink right.

Free parking is available in the four on-site car parks and the show runs for three days usually Fridays to Sundays mid July annually.

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Canterbury Festivals

Canterbury is fast becoming a top British festival city, thanks particularly to both the annual Canterbury International Arts Festival every October and one of Britain's best beer festival, the Kent Beer Festival annually in July.

Events listings through the year not just in Canterbury but also in nearby Whitstable and Herne Bay, both of which have their own festivals. Check with Canterbury's tourist information centre for more details on annual events including Snowdrop Day at Goodnestone Park Gardens and the Chinese New Year Parade in February, Herne Bay's Easter Egg Hunt in March, the May Day Fair and May Day Parade in Whitstable in May, Canterbury Cathedral's Open day in the Cathedral Gardens in June, Whitstable Oyster Festival and the renowned Kent Beer Festival in July. More Festivals include the Herne Bay Festival in August, the Canterbury Festival in October and Christmas Carol Services at Canterbury Cathedral in December. Canterbury Euro Fair dates at Dane John Gardens do vary. For the full programme see up-to-date information on the Canterbury Tourist webguide/events link to the right.

Canterbury's acclaimed and ever growing International arts festival, which runs annually across two weeks every October, is fast catching up with the success of the Edinburgh Festival. Festival visitor numbers for 2007 were around 80,000. A host of theatre, parades, street performance and events both free and fee paying are pulling in both national and international crowds.

Comedy events, a Canterbury Festival Fringe, World Music events, special events for families and children, talks, films, outdoor eat outs and more are all part of the Canterbury Festival package. The city has the venues to back it up too, with two superb theatres and a cutting edge contemporary cinema at the Gulbenkian, plus a choice of art galleries, museums and numerous picturesque villages around Canterbury all with venues hosting events during the two week extravaganza in October.

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Charles Dickens Festivals Kent

The Dickens annual festival in Rochester is a major event on the Kent Dickens calendar, kicking off annually at the end of May/beginning of June. Daily parades in Victorian dress, rides on the Kingswear Castle Paddle Steamer, quizes, stalls and fairs, walking tours and more all form part of this premier Dickens festival. Well worth being in Rochester around this time of year for all things Dickens. See the Offiicial Medway Tourist webguide right for details.

The annual Broadstairs Dickens festival takes place in late June, with the first Broadstairs Dickens Festival taking place here as far back as 1937. Dickens obviously had much affection for the town, he nicknamed it 'Our English Watering Hole' in an affectionate piece he wrote after one of his last visits in 1851. The festival is as much a Victoriana extravaganza, with all the town dressing up in Victorian finery for the Dickens Parade and a host of Dickens walks, talks and events running over several days.

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Whitstable Oyster Festival & Herne Bay Festival

The biggest event on the Whitstable calender and growing is the Whitstable Oyster Festival running over nine to 10 days from mid July annually. A host of events are on offer including live music and exhibitions in popular Whitstable venues such as the Horsebridge Community & Arts Centre, the Duke of Cumberland bar restaurant and in the open air with the Oyster Parade and events on the beach. (see Whitstable's Oyster Festival webguide right for a taster of what to expect). Whitstable museums and theatres all get involved, with themed exhibitions and shows.

Part of the Whitstable Oyster Festival bonhomie involves the free viewing of the spectacular Whitstable Regatta Fireworks display. A popular spot for watching it is from the elevated Tankerton Slopes. Whitstable's annual May day fair, involving stalls and performances by local artists and muscians takes place within the Whitstable Castle grounds.

The Herne Bay Festival takes place annually in Mid-August, offering a variety of events especially good for families. The focus is firmly on the seaside, and a number of free beach events take place, including the Sandcastle Building Tournament and various events on the pier and Herne Bay's gloriously long and garden edged promenade.

Herne Bay's live music scene is pretty good - a number of Herne Bay pubs play host to live music events. More live music usually goes on around the Clocktower Plaza, Pier and Bandstand.

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Broadstairs Folk Festival Week

Broadstairs' popular folk week folk festival runs in mid-August annually. The folk acts performing during the festival are impressive (see folk act lsitings via the festival's webguide). A big marquee is errected for the headliner acts, plus other performances take place across Broadstairs' many pubs and restaurants.

Alongside folk performances there's craft and music fairs, fun events like circus trick learning for kids, workshops, ceilidahs, dances and more. Well worth visiting Broadstairs during this acclaimed Kent Folk Festival.

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Royal Harbour Marina Regatta Week Ramsgate

Ramsgate Marina is seeing some exciting times at the moment, with its popularity as a base for international waterbased competitions ever increasing. Ramsgate's annual Regatta week in August is hosted by the Royal Temple Yacht Club based within the marina complex, and Ramsgate Royal Marina has played host to the European Water Ski Racing Championships.

Improved transport networks via the M2 into Ramsgate have certainly been a boast to the marina's growth. The sailing stretch of South Foreland around Ramsgate, plus easy access across the Channel to both French and Belgium Marinas makes Ramsgate a popular choice for yachts and sailing. On a particularly fine day you can actually see France from the harbour!

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Kent Beer & Hop Festival

The Faversham International Hop Festival weekend takes place annually at the end of August and celebrates the history of hop picking in Kent. A fun packed weekend for all the family, entertainment includes street theatre, dancing, craft fares and ceilidhs and plenty of activity in Faversham's many real ale pubs. See the Faversham Hop Festival webguide link right for details.

First held under a marquee in Dane John gardens in central Canterbury in 1975, the Kent Beer festival now has around 130 real ales (the first only had 30) on its menu in a huge barn on a farm just a couple of miles south of Canterbury. Shuttle buses run around every 15 to 30 minutes from Canterbury bus station (near Canterbury East Railway Station) to the Festival Venue. CAMRA members and local volunteers run this top British beer festival, one of the country's oldest. The best of Kent real ales feature - see the Kent Beer Festival webguide right for listings of real ales you can sample here, produced all over Kent. It's a corker of a beer festival. Free parking is on-site. Sensible footwear recommended on barn floor.

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Margate Jazz Festival & Carnival

Margate's events calender offers a choice of the festivals including Margate's July Jazz Festival and August Carnival.

Other annual events include a kite festival and collectors fairs and with the pending opening of the Turner Contemporary, no doubt Margate's events and festival calendar will continue to grow. For full events and festival listings checkout the Visit Thanet webguide.

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