Festival of Sheppey – June 2026

Festival of Sheppey – June 2026
Sheppey has been much maligned over the years but now Islanders are fighting back.
After the Kent holiday isle was described as being a “cultural desert”, Jenny Hurkett, the founder of a revamped music hall called the Criterion Theatre, has launched a month-long festival to put Sheppey’s heritage and arts under the spotlight.
She said: “Sheppey has much to celebrate. It was not only the birthplace of British aviation but it inspired the likes of Dickens, Pepys and Hogarth.
“It was where Lord Nelson first climbed aboard a ship and the place where his body was taken after the Battle of Trafalgar.
“We also have a number of sons of Sheppey to celebrate including showbiz legends Michael Crawford, Rod Hull and his Emu and, more lately Danny Dyer and his daughter Dani, who have taken over a caravan park at Leysdown and turned the experience into a Sky TV documentary.”
Almost 100 events will take place across the Island including 16 music shows, 14 workshops, 12 talks, 15 exhibitions and six films which were all shot on Sheppey.
For details, visit the Festival of Sheppey Facebook page