A new festival exploring grief, love and loss is coming to Hastings this Spring Bank Holiday.
Good Grief Hastings will explore how creativity, conversation and community can help people support one another through grief and loss. Taking place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, the four-day festival will bring people together for talks, workshops, music, film and creative experiences that open up compassionate conversations about death and bereavement. You can see the full programme here
Belongings and Connections
As part of this year’s festival we are able to offer a free workshop with local artist and researcher Lorna Crabbe for those who are or have been family or informal carers. This is a small group session where you are invited to discuss ideas around the belongings of loved ones, and how they may be transformed or re-considered in new and creative ways.
Friday 29th May, 10am -12pm
The Crown, 64-66 All Saints Street, Hastings, TN34 3BN
To book a place, please contact Mark on 01323 738390 or info@cftc.org.uk
Lorna will talk about ways she has used her own family archives within her art practice over 30 years, and will show examples of other creative practitioners who have used similar themes within their work. Lorna will also explore ways that physical things left behind by loved ones can be creatively incorporated into our lives. Lorna has made a hobby horse from her father’s 1960s great coat, Christmas decorations for the family from his 1970s garish patterned ties, and puppets from oddments and scraps from the craft drawer and old clothing. Having things around every day can help us feel close and connected to loved ones.
About Good Grief Hastings
Good Grief Hastings will explore how creativity, conversation and community can help people support one another through grief and loss. Taking place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, the four-day festival will bring people together for talks, workshops, music, film and creative experiences that open up compassionate conversations about death and bereavement.
The festival is produced by local events organisation 18 Hours, in partnership with St Michael’s Hospice, Good Grief Festival CIC and the University of Brighton, as part of the £2.4 million Coastal Community and Creative Health project, a national research initiative exploring how creative community activity can improve wellbeing and help tackle health inequalities in coastal towns, including Hastings.
Good Grief Hastings creates a welcoming space for people to share stories, engage with specialists in grief support and the creative arts, and take part in thoughtful and inspiring workshops. Through music, visual art, film, performance and discussion, the festival challenges the taboos around death and loss, encouraging open and tender conversations.
