Cookery classes; new Charleston shows, Mother's Day events and Fossil Festival
The March 2025 issue of the Lewes List
Get involved with a new edition of the Lewes List
Welcome back to the Lewes List. A reminder that later in the spring we’re launching an extra edition of the Lewes List which will be for paid-for subscribers only, featuring discounts, offers and competitions to enjoy in Lewes. If you’re a local business interested in taking part, please email us here. We’ll share more details soon on how to subscribe, but don’t worry: your monthly, what’s-on Lewes List will remain free and packed full of things to do.
Have your say on the local plan
The South Downs National Park – the planning authority for Lewes – is updating its local plan, a document that sets out policy in areas such as landscape, climate, local economies and transport and allocates sites for future development. There’s more here on the Lewes Town Council website about how you can have your say on these important changes.
Food
News: Cook, learn new skills and enjoy food together at Grow, Cook, Eat & Compost, a series of free workshops at the Community Garden at The Dripping Pan. Everyone is welcome, and organisers say “especially those looking for a little support in feeding themselves and their families”. More here.
News: Field Food is hosting a fermenting workshop with Rachel de Thample on Saturday 10 May. More here.
News: Seasons has a range of Taster and Meet the Maker days throughout March, including magnesium drinks and DaisyMay aromatherapy sprays. More here.
News: There’s plenty on at Beak Brewery – including the brilliant Kabak – and an International Women’s Day lino print workshop on 8 March. More here.
Mother’s Day
Fork is creating a special three-course Mother’s Day menu for lunch on Sunday 30 March. At £40 per person, it includes a selection of meat, fish and vegetarian options (more here). Depot, meanwhile, is offering a Mother's Day Afternoon Tea with a selection of traditional finger sandwiches, red onion tart and a sweet treats, all served with a pot of tea, at £23 per person (more here).
Culture
News: Charleston in Firle and Lewes both have new line-ups of exhibitions starting this month, including work from Japanese artist, Izumi Kato, California-based artist Koak and Small Things, BIG! Ideas – an exhibition showcasing the work of Year 9 students at Priory School. More here.
News: As ever, there are some impressive names at Charleston Festival including Richard E. Grant, Roxane Gay, Nigel Slater, Ruth Jones, Led By Donkeys, Shirley Collins, Julia Donaldson and Shon Faye (and Nick Clegg is there, too…). See more here.
News: The legendary Nile Rodgers & CHIC join the line-up for Love Supreme 2025, taking place on 4-6 July. More here.
8 March: Pupils at Western Road school are raising funds to plant wildflowers across their school site to provide food and habitat for the pollinators that depend upon them to survive. Their designs will be on display at Lewes Climate Hub, 11am-3pm, in the Lost Flowers exhibition, with cards available to buy.
18 April: A Lenten Meditation from Baroque Collective Singers promises “dramatic masterpieces for Holy Week”: Manuel Cardoso’s Lamentations for Maundy Thursday and Heinrich Schütz’s St Matthew Passion at St Michael’s Church, at 7pm. Tickets £18 (under 16s free) here.
26 July: Strange Magic – a contemporary printmaking fair at Lewes Town Hall – promises incredible art from talented printmakers; contemporary and experimental hand produced works including screenprint, collage, zines, book arts, woodcut, lino and monoprinting. Applications are now open to take part. See more here.
Reminder: Artelium, the wine estate on Streat Lane, is hosting a talk from award-winning artist Sarah Emily Porter (26 March), while its Makers Market takes place on 22 March, 10am-4pm, promising “unique, one-of-a-kind items, handmade with passion and skill by talented creators from across Sussex”. More here.
8 May. The Mekons – who emerged during the punk era and were once described by rock critic Lester Bangs as the most revolutionary group in the history of rock’n’roll – are playing the Con Club. More here.
Sport & community
News: Chalk streams are one of the rarest freshwater habitats on Earth, with about 200 of them globally. The Winterbourne Festival, running now until 9 March, celebrates the Lewes waterway that snakes through (and under) the town. It features several events including a screening of Pure Clean Water at the Depot and an exhibition Of the Winter Born in the Old Gorringe’s Auction Huts. More here.
News: Harmonia Contemporary Choir is a new community choir that meets on Mondays, 7.30-9pm during term time at the Lewes Subud Centre, singing original arrangements of contemporary pop, rock and folk songs. The second term has just started and they’re on the lookout for some new singers. Everyone is welcome; no auditions or previous singing experience needed. The first session is free, after that it's £12 per session or £10 with a term pass. Get in touch here or see Facebook here.
News: Lewes Library of Things is looking for more volunteers since it hopes to open three days a week from March. Email for more, or to sign up – and begin borrowing utensils, tools and other gadgets for free – see its website here.
News: The Rooker Prize – a literary competition where you write and submit the first 250 words of your book – is now open for entries. Run by Lewes FC, the winner receives a hand-carved wooden trophy plus £250 to go to the charity of their choice, as well as an hour’s feedback and coaching session at Hachette UK’s offices in London where their entry will be discussed with an experienced editor. More here.
8 March: Clayful Hands, based at Offham Farm, just outside Lewes, is holding a Mother’s Day pottery painting workshop, 10 – 12pm. More here.
8 March: The Artists & Makers De-Stash Tabletop Sale is a “chance for artists and makers to find some creative treasures, be inspired, try something new, get some bargains and give new homes to unloved items.” 1 pm-4pm, Southover Church Hall, free entry for buyers (with stalls from £10 for sellers). More on Facebook here.
Family
8 March: The Lewes Fossil Festival is back, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the recognising and naming of Iguanodon by Lewes-born Gideon Mantell. Running from 10am-12.30pm, expect hands-on activities for children: fossil exhibitions, a treasure hunt and bookstall. Organisers say: bring along your own fossils to show our experts and identify them. Children £3. All children to be accompanied by an adult (who go free). More here.
News: NatureLinks – the community action project for young people at Lewes’ Railway Land Nature Reserve – has events for 14-25 year olds this month: the continuing Signal Box restoration project (4 March, 4-6pm); a monthly meet up (18 March, 4-6pm); and a birdsong workshop (29 March, 3-5pm). More here.