Arts & Crafts at the Bandstand

The nice people from Portable Art Space are offering local artists an opportunity to showcase their work.

Music on the Bandstand

Here's a date for your diaries...

Sunday 30th September, 11am-7pm at the Central Bandstand, Herne Bay.

Local musicians: Spex, Spyplane, David Shepherd, The Wrinklies, Disruptive Business, Mostly Brian and more...

Heaps of fun, and all for an excellent cause - fundraising in collaboration with Whitstable and Herne Bay Lions to raise funds for Kent and Sussex Air Ambulance.

Bandstand - rumours and speculation

Just weeks away from a deal

The café bar at the Bandstand is about to change hands, with a mystery punter just weeks away from taking over the whole seafront building, sources claim. Owners the Thorley family have told the Times they are close to a deal that would see their lease handed over to another business.

They refused to name the interested party, citing commercial sensitivity, but spokesman Phil Thorley said:

"We're in the middle of negotiations. That's all I can tell you. But we expect a deal very soon, hopefully within two weeks."

Speculation about the future of the Victorian seafront building has mounted since pub boss Frank Thorley told the Times he was looking to get out of the building – and blamed the council for the excessive rent it was charging.

Council sources told the Times at the time that the Café Bar owners had threatened the council with legal action after a row over the council's 20-year rent package for neighbouring Makcaris, which included a three-year rent-free period. After a secret meeting councillors agreed to a rent-reduction for the café bar as well.

The seafront site has been looked at by a number of Bay businessmen, including the boss of the Ship and Plough pubs, Tony Farrow, as well as Vivid nightclub owner Karl Ahmad. Makcari's bosses the Hassan family denied they were the bidders, after speculation mounted that the coffee parlour owners would be taking over. Makcari's boss Hassan Hassan said:

"It's categorically not us. I've given up trying to keep track of who is meant to be taking it over. Most sensible people have looked at the site and concluded it's just too expensive."

HB Times 3rd Feb 2012

Bandstand's French visitors

Visitors to the Bandstand were treated to a distinctly continental sound when a French band made a guest appearance. The tunes came courtesy of the Harmonie Municipal Band from Wimereux, a seaside town four miles north of Boulogne that is twinned with the Bay

The Band of about 30 people, ranging in age from teenagers upward, were treated to a buffet lunch at the ex-serviceman's club by the twinning association before their performance last month. They played a variety of music; from Michael Jackson's "Thriller", tributes to Edith Piaf and Tom Jones to light jazz and Disney movie themes.

Spokesman Alison Taylor said:

"The heavy rain showers didn't manage to spoil the afternoon and some of the comments overheard were 'a very talented group of musicians' and "what a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon despite the weather!"

HB Times 22nd Jul 2011