dance & clap & gasp

The desire for distant and lost sensations is what brings thousands of visitors to the Herstmonceux Medieval Festival every year. The largest three-day celebration of the Middle Ages offers an immersive, compelling journey into history's forgotten chapters.

Hastings' Jack in the Green Festival of Morris Dancing is a similarly overwhelming experience. The festival's centrepiece is its May Day climax where a glorious parade of dancers, drummers, sweeps and 'bogeys' follow 'the Jack', a symbolic representation of Spring that's slain in the hilltop of ruins of Hastings Castle to release the spirit of the Summer.

The Black Horse Music Festival is a little more conventional, keeping its activities confined to a series of tents but it is fast acquiring a reputation as one of Sussex's wildest and most raucous rock-outs!

Global Fusion, in the charming Pestalozzi Village near Sedlescombe, is the area's most inclusive festival. Bringing together poets, writers and musicians from all over the world, the festival is a true celebration of humanity at its best and attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Savour tastes of the world at a spectacular celebration of a vibrant community, St Leonards Festival. Wonder at the stunning music, food and activities and enjoy a jaw-dropping finale on a balmy summer evening.

Practice the delicate business of matching wines with fish, and learn from the best at our popular Seafood and Wine Festival, a highlight of the autumn. With a suitably sophisticated mix of music and other entertainment to complement the local produce on offer, this one is not to be missed!

Battle Abbey is the staging ground for an elaborate Re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings every October that draws hundreds of specialist performers from around Europe. If there's one season when the towns of 1066 Country truly come alive it has to be late Autumn.

The Rye Festival is a leading arts and literary celebration that rivals Edinburgh. A series of workshops and evenings with some of the world's finest poets and authors, the festival is ranked in the top ten by the cultural correspondents of almost every national newspaper.

The Hastings Bonfire and Fireworks Display is a truly awesome sight that begins with a wild and spectacular procession through the town's narrow streets and culminates in a pyrotechnic fantasia that enthrals tens of thousands of people from all over the UK and Europe. The market town Battle holds its own bonfire celebrations shortly afterwards and Robertsbridge and Rye also have celebrations which bring the season to a spectacular close.

Winter is barely a frosted breath away and there are late night shopping events in all of 1066 Country's towns with Battle High Street being transformed into a Dickensian wonderland for the night and snowstorms in Hastings Town Centre!