Edith Festival 2026:
The 2026 Edith Festival is currently being planned for October as part of Hastings Week – further details will be announced in due course.
Edith Festival 2025:
The Edith Festival 2025 was held on Saturday 18th October at The Marina Fountain pub in St Leonards. Full programme below.
The Edith Festival 2025 was an immersive experience of our oldest English epic poem, Beowulf. The evening consisted of:
19.00-20-30: Reading of an abridged version of the poem in modern English, with accompanying images and a short video of its opening section in Old English with lyre accompaniment. The ‘performance’ was held ‘in the round’ amongst the audience (as if in an Anglo-Saxon meadhall) and involved speeches by the protagonists being spoken by the characters themselves.
20.30-21.00: Short break .
21.00-22.00: Presentation and discussion on the historical setting, meaning and possible interpretation of the poem and its importance, impact or potential influence on both Edith Swanneck and modern life today.
The pub was open from midday and themed food and drink, such as ‘Grendel Burger-in-a-basket’ (to catch the blood!) and mead-ale was available .