This Festival of Spring will bring music guaranteed to banish any lingering winter blues with all the optimism and vigour of the new season. The Bridgepoint Ensemble Mathilde Milwidsky, violin and Viv McLean, piano will join members of the Bridgepoint Ensemble in the Fairlight Hall recital room to open our Spring Festival. The programme features Beethoven’s Spring Sonata and Schumann’s paean to vitality, his Piano Quintet. THE PRICE OF THE TICKET INCLUDES A FREE DRINK AT A RECEPTION STARTING AT 6pm. Programme: Beethoven- Spring Sonata Schumann – Piano Quintet
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Annual Winner’s Picnic Concert Hastings International Piano
Annual Picnic Concert for the winner of the Hastings International piano Competition in featuring young scholars from Lang Lang Foundation Fairlight Hall, Fairlight, Near Hastings Grounds open from 12 noon Concert starts at 2:30pm Tickets Concert tickets £30 (FREE to those aged 18 and under with a paying adult) plus Eventbrite fees. Book here Picnics and lunch Concert goers are welcome to picnic or stroll around Fairlight Hall’s glorious gardens, which will be open from 12 noon.
National Garden Scheme Garden Open Day
Sunday June 7th 10am to 4pm Peak time in the garden Plant stall and cafe Tickets on door or on Eventbrite
Bridgepoint Music Season Spring Festival- Special Offer Festival Ticket
After a long, dark winter, we are celebrating the return of longer days, warmer weather and all the optimism of Spring, with a three-day series of events at Fairlight Hall. A Festival ticket is available with a saving of £15 on individual event tickets. This is a season ticket offer which allows you to book all three of the main concerts with a £15 saving. NB: Education concert is excluded. 17 April 2026 7pm- Beethoven Spring Sonata and Schumann Piano Quintet 18 April 2026 7pm– Bibi Heal and Stephen Barlow recital. 19 April 2026 11.30am– Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons
Chambers Studio Residency
An Immersive Retreat for Your Ensemble Step away from everyday distractions and immerse your ensemble in a three-day retreat designed to revitalise your creative spark and level-up your musical practice. Our Residencies offer an oasis for focused, intensive coaching and rehearsal in a peaceful country setting and are the perfect starting point for professional groups joining Chamber Studio for the first time. May 22nd to May 25th 2026 Time and programme tbc
Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition 2024: Hall Blooms with Floral Splendor Thanks to Dedicated Garden Team
This month has been dominated by the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition 2024. The event lasts from 22nd February to 2nd March and happens every other year. The garden and estate teams have been busy working hard, getting the site weeded and preened in advance of the guests and contestants’ arrival, many of who will be staying at the hall for the duration of the event. With plenty of guests at the Hall, there is a need for a regular supply of flowers for the house, all cut and sourced from the garden. Thankfully we have a good show of Read More
Navigating the Winter Garden: Challenges and Pruning Tips for Frosty Nights and Wet Days
This month has seen many frosty nights and beautifully sunny days but also wet and damp spells. Several storms’ systems have also passed through, making it a challenging time of year to be out in the garden. On frosty days, when the ground is frozen, cutting back perennials is impossible. On very wet days, working on sodden soil damages it and causes compaction. So, a good job to do is wet and cold march is to pruning our roses and wall shrubs. ROSE PRUNING This month the gardeners have been pruning roses on the Haha borders. Climbing roses need pruning Read More
Winter’s Embrace: Nurturing Gardens Through the Chill at Fairlight
Back in November, the garden team noticed that all the holly trees were festooned with sparkling red berries, we joked at the time that it was a sign of the hard winter to come. With cold weather in mind the gardeners have been careful to prepare for the worst the winter can throw at us. Firstly, dismantling the finished container displays around the site. Bringing in any plants susceptible to frost into the heated glasshouse, or tuck under cold frames. Any plants remaining have either been draped with fleece or left to hold their own against winters worst. At Fairlight, Read More
Garden Chronicles: Surviving Storm Ciaran, Enjoying Autumn Colours and Preparing the Garden for Winter
The beginning of this month began with storm Ciaran, hitting much of the Southern coast of England, an Amber weather warning was issued, where wind speeds could exceed 85 mph in coastal areas. As a result, we shut the garden. We were expecting lots of trees and branches to come crashing down in the strong wind, but in reality, we faired the storm well. Only one or two small trees came down, most of the debris was leaf and small twigs. The gravel paths across the site, now have deep channels in them, as water finds the path of least Read More
Preparing for the Spectacular: Behind the Scenes of our Halloween Open Day and Garden Preparations!
This month we have spent considerable amount of time preparing for the half term Halloween Open Day. It’s only the second time we have opened the garden this year, but it good practice for next year where we will be open once a month from March till November. Aside from the team working hard to weed all the paths, edge the lawns, tidy flowerbeds and finish cutting the meadows, time has been spent setting out and creating the ghost trail with twelve suitable spooky plants being chosen, plus sourcing and arranging pumpkins to go around our autumn pot displays in Read More