About the Lewes Guitar Festival

The Lewes Guitar Festival was born in 1999 through a desire to celebrate the town's strong connection with the instrument. Boasting five full time workshops, the small town of Lewes has become a hub of guitar making whilst a constant flow of students of all ages keep the many guitar teachers with full books. We are now in our eighth year and stronger than ever!

The general format of that first year has stayed with us, staging artists from around the globe as well as down the road. Perhaps the most exciting development since the start of the festival is that for the first time we will have a 1500 capacity big top venue for the weekend evening concerts. This replaced the traditional Flamenco finale at Sussex University and we again hope it brings that summer festival atmosphere and some well known names into the heart of Lewes.

The weekday evening concerts have always striven to showcase the length and breadth of the guitar world, featuring Jazz, Blues, Folk and World genres. They are again held in the All Saints Centre (don't forget to come early for food this year provided by 'Chaulas').

Our signature free lunchtime concerts in the Castle and Grange Gardens are always a great family occasion and a free opportunity to sample the flavour of the festival over a chilled beer!

Past acts have included :

This year sees the continuation of the Pelham House late afternoon concerts held in the old council chambers in the Pelham House Hotel. This wonderful venue provides a more intimate setting for only a lightly amplified performance.

As ever there will also be an opportunity to visit the makers and their workshops during the festival. The Guitar Exhibition has run since the first year and will run again every day this year. It's a chance to see instruments from the makers mixed with a variety of historical pieces. We are also continuing our guitar makers forum. This is a chance for guitar makers and interested parties to get together and hear a talk by a guest speaker who this year is well known classical guitar maker, Paul Fisher.

Workshops and master classes have always been a key part of the festival and continue to be so with performers and local teachers offering day courses for all playing abilities. We are again offering a full week of workshops and master classes.

The festival has always been run on donation, sponsorship and hours of voluntary work which has helped to provide its unique atmosphere. Due to the success of last year's festival we are proud to bring you the most comprehensive list of events to date. We do hope that you continue to support this unique event.