Review 1st Oct 2025 . . . The Rushlake Green Little Arts Festival group notched up another great success with their 2025 Big Little Arts Weekend from Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th September. The project was a departure and something of an experiment for the group as, in contrast with their previous full-scale festivals (2016 and 2024), this was designed to be a more compact enterprise which the group hopes can be replicated annually. They certainly packed an amazing array of arts events into this first Big Little Arts Weekend, which mainly took place in Rushlake Green’s Dunn Village Hall, but also encompassed Warbleton Church.
This year’s Open Art Show, in the Village Hall, featured 63 artworks by no less than 36 local artists, expertly curated by Mark. The unanimous feedback was that the quality and variety of subject matter and techniques was exceptional. And it was good to see a complete range of age groups and levels of artistic experience represented. This truly was an open exhibition, open to all. Here’s a selection of just some of the art styles and materials represented:
The Open Art Show continued throughout the Friday and into the Saturday morning, with a healthy number of attendees on each day.
And this year, the exhibition featured the winner of the newly established Little Arts Award, organised by Monica, designed to encourage and support the artistic journey of a young person. This year’s Award Winner was Hannah Bateman, who lives in Hellingly and attends Heathfield Collage. Hannah’s colourful and deftly executed paintings and drawings captivated the judges, as did the thoughtfulness she expressed in her artistic ambitions. Hannah was delighted to receive the £350 award which, she says, will pay for a course of painting tutorials and help towards her art materials.
The Saturday afternoon saw an innovative workshop by the Sussex Harmony group, in which musicians and singers were invited to join in with an exploration of West Gallery music from the 18th and 19th centuries.
This well-received session, organised by Paula, gave a fascinating insight into the music that would have been performed and heard in local churches across Sussex in those earlier times. In this workshop the singers participating were adeptly accompanied by string and wind instrumentalists. Under the cheerful and historically well-informed tutelage of music director (and instrumentalist) Rachel Jordan, and after plenty of opportunity for fine tuning of the harmonies, the final sing-through was spirited and melodious – the sound filling the authentically atmospheric space of Warbleton Church.
On the Saturday evening, in the Dunn Village Hall, Beatles aficionados ‘Nothing is Real’ brought to life the two pivotal albums that the Liverpool group released 60 years ago in 1965.
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Unlike some ‘cover bands’ the Nothing is Real group take the examination and reproduction of these early Beatles records very seriously – as evidenced in the quality of the band’s renditions. And we only discovered recently that singer Jon Rose was on TV’s Mastermind in 2005, with speciality subject The Beatles.“I scored 15 on The Beatles and led at halfway” he tells us “but a lady (specialist subject Judy Garland) blitzed the General Knowledge and beat me by 2.”
The Beatles evening was well attended and the much-loved music was greeted with rapturous applause throughout.A truly FAB night of authentic musical excellence from this brilliantly talented and well informed local band – who always volunteer their time for LAF events.
On Sunday morning, in a Big Little Book Bash coordinated by Drummond, book lovers were offered the opportunity to pick up bargains galore from an astonishingly wide-ranging and multitudinous collection of donated titles. The book club members played a huge part in helping to gather book donations, publicise the event; and volunteer for the setting up, running and clearing up of this well received little bookfest. As with other events tea, cakes and drinks were available, with a cafe area created in the main hall where people could chat and compare discoveries.
The final event of the Big Little Arts Weekend was the ‘In Your Own Words’ poetry and prose reading session in the Village Hall.
The previous poetry session (in the 2024 festival) comprised predominantly well-known poetry (chosen by audience members) read by members of the Village Players, with just a handful of original pieces by local writers. So it was with some trepidation that the Little Arts team set themselves the challenge of finding enough local writers to fill a session with original works. Well the faith of the group, in the creativity of local people, paid off because the final session, designed and developed by Pam, featured a total of 22 contributors all of whom either live locally or have a strong connection with Rushlake Green and Warbleton. Most writers read their own works, whilst some pieces were read out on their behalf by members of the Village Players. The works ranged from pithy micro-poems to extended written works and included an original play excerpt. The team received very positive feedback from everyone who participated with many writers very keen to take part in another similar event in the future. The session was in two parts, which gave writers and audience members plenty of time to chat in the interval over a tea, coffee or drink from the bar. And everyone agreed there was a real buzz throughout. Writers, many of whom had never read their work in public before, seemed to feel well supported in an atmosphere of encouragement and openness to new ideas and perspectives.
This Big Little Arts Weekend would not have been possible of course without the tireless support of a loyal gang of volunteers, recruited and coordinated by Sue, who provided much needed help with everything from catering and room clearing, to bunting hanging and exhibition equipment transport. In addition to the Little Arts group members themselves (always first to volunteer) particular mention should be made of the Village Players lighting team Suzanne and Andrew who created the rock-gig atmosphere for the Beatles gig; Jonathan for audio tech and display building; Denise, Proctor and Shirley for helping with the bar and tea service throughout; members of our local bookclubs for helping to make the Book Bash such a success; Tony for provision of food and snacks for the bar; Jazz for ably assisting Mark with the Art Show curation; Nick and the Village Hall committee for assistance with bookings; and members of the Village Players for their spirited, and oft-times hilarious, readings for the poetry session.
The Little Arts group comprises Drummond Watson, Mark Austin, Monica Adams-Acton, Nigel McKeeman, Pam Edmonds, Paula Nicholson and Sue Copp, all of whom contributed planning, creative development and project management; along with assistance and support for the participants, from the very start of the project through to its successful conclusion – and beyond.
All Little Arts events are designed to be as accessible as possible, for both participants and audiences, so most events are free to attend. Any surplus from the events is reinvested in donations to local arts related charities, the annual Arts Award, and pump-primer funding for future community events. Donations and offers of sponsorship are always welcome. To find out more visit the website www.LittleArtsFestival.co.uk , or to contact us, or get on our mailing list for newsletters and updates, email thelittleartsfestival@gmail.com
