News
downsmail.co.uk Focus on space at arts festival
A NEW festival for the county town has set itself the challenge of getting more people involved in the arts.
Maidstone International Arts Fes-
tival brings together more organisa- tions than before to promote creative contributions at venues across the town. Workshops and performances ex- ploring art forms from publishing to painting and songwriting to singing will bring together artists and musi- cians from different arenas These include the Royal Ballet and
Royal Opera House with local choral and dance groups. The event will culminate in a gala concert at Mote Park Leisure Centre on Saturday, July 15, attended by the mayor of Maidstone. Other venues joining the three-
week tribute to the arts include schools, Brenchley Gardens, St Faith’s Church and All Saints’ Church. The festival opened at Maidstone Museum and the Mall Shopping Centre with an art exhibition on June 24. Taking its theme from the planet Mars, which has a crater called
Tributes paid to pensioner in
fatal accident FRIENDS say they are in shock fol- lowing the death of an elderly member of their community in the grounds of Maidstone Hospital. Jean Downing (94)was attending
an appointment at the hospital, off Hermitage Lane, when her wheel- chairwas hit by a car that mounted the pavement at about 2.40pm on Tuesday, May 30. She was airlifted to King’s Col-
lege Hospital, London, but later died. Mrs Downing, who lived with
her daughter Myra and son-in-law Martin Knibbs in Chapel Road, Sta- plehurst, was well-known and loved in the village. Pam Payne, secretary of Staple-
hurst Women’s Institute, said the thoughts of members were with her family. She added: “Jeanwas a long-term member andwill be sadlymissed.” A minute’s silence will be ob-
served as a mark of respect at the start of the next meeting of the WI on June 13, where Mrs Downing’s daughter is also a member. Kent Police are appealing for anyone who saw the accident near the hospital’s birthing centre, in- volving a red Toyota Yaris. Contact the appeal line on 01622 798538, quoting reference number DS/MW/116/17.
18 Maidstone July 2017 Pianist Reinis Zarins and musical painter Maryleen Schiltkamp
Maidstone, the festival – from June 24 -July 16 – will bring together art, space and science. Ken Scott, chairman of Maidstone
Area Arts Partnership – one of the groups behind the event – said: “The festival offers wonderfully var-
ied entertainment and the challenge to imagine a new future.” Until Thursday, July 20, creativity workshops inspired by Mars and space travel, will take place in five Maidstone secondary schools, run by Heather McRae from Venture
Thinking and NASA Associate Dr Jancy Mc Phee. OnSaturday, July 1, from 10am to
5pm, there will be public giant painting by numbers at The Mall. The Mayor’s Gala Concert will be
held at Mote Hall, Mote Park Leisure Centre, at 7.30pm on Satur- day, July 15. It features Natalia Os- ipova and ground-breaking artists from Rambert, classical pianist Rei- nis Zarins, musical performance painter Maryleen Schiltkamp, The Dead Rat Orchestra, operatic tenor Jorge Colarado Navarro and mezzo soprano Maria Gulik performing a specially composed piece for the fes- tival. Maria will be accompanied by The Maidstone Singers and Mixed Blessings, who will also perform their own set.
If you would like to know more about the festival, click onto
www.maidstoneinternationalarts-
festival.org for further details of events, times, venues and ticket pricing.
Lions’ fun event is roaring success
FIVE Lions’ clubs fromacross the region have helped relaunch a fun tournament for disabled youngsters. The It’s A Knockout event at
Aylesford Sports College, in Teapot Lane, attracted five teams of six fromclubs covering areas including Maidstone and the Medway Towns. Competing against each other in
skills including fishing for a duck, netting the ball and bursting balloons, the winner’s trophywent to The Village People, from Maidstone. Hot on their heelswas The Fast and Furious team, with The A-team Cookery Group and Rock ‘n Rollers happy with joint third. The Options Care team took the title for best-designed Joker. Lions Zone 3 chairman Richard
Broomfield, fromLarkfield, who resurrected the games last played in 2013, hopes the event will now have a future.
He said: “The smiling faces proved
what a success itwas.” The testwas fought between the
carers and the Lions, who had to demonstrate their skill at hanging washing on a line. Mr Broomfield said: “The carers,
whowere much younger, won by a mile. I think the boys in our team showed they need a little more practice.” Each of the Lions groups paid for
the hire of the hall, while the ladies made the sandwiches. Richard said: “We found the equipment for the games fromfour years ago, so itwasn’t expensive to put on and the rewards of the event for those taking part and our 17 Lions volunteerswere huge.” The Lions organisation, which this year celebrates its centenary, raised £1.6m for communities in the South East alone last year.
Castle draw for motor enthusiasts
A MASSIVE 15,500 car enthusiasts turned out to Leeds Castle’s Motors on the Moat event. This is the second year the venue,
near Maidstone, has hosted the car show – one of dozens of new and regular events on the castle calen- dar. It follows VIP visits to the castle
by HRH The Princess Royal and Very Important actress Dame Judi
Dench, who were there for the Woodland Trust’s dinner on May 4. Before that, the princess - who is patron of the Woodland Trust’s First WorldWar Centenary Woods Appeal - joined chief executive Sir David Steel for afternoon tea in the castle’s newly-refurbished Yellow Drawing Room. Writing in the parish magazine, Sir David said: “I am not sure that
the events programme has ever been so full and I hope that all our neighbours and those in the sur- rounding parishes will take full ad- vantage of what is on offer. In all that we do here, we work hard to promote Kent and to show off the UK in the best possible light. “My earnest hope is that you too
are proud of your Castle neigh- bour.”
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