Am I alone in hoping that the marquee at Lamb House will not be used for the Rye Festival? Superb talks have been ruined by canvas flapping in the wind, or rain rattling on it. Slides are impossible to see, due to not being able to block out the light, and the crowning glory, people chatting directly outside the marquee, drowning out the speaker as happened on at least one occasion last year. It is difficult to access on cobbled streets and is a long distance from car parking facilities. I daresay there is some good reason why it is held there, but I shall not be attending any future events there. We have far more suitable and accessible venues than this.
Margot Dixon
Dear Mrs Dixon thank you for your comment. The literary talks this year will not be in the Lamb House marquee but will be in more suitable and accessible buildings
The Lamb House Garden Marquee was my favourite venue this last year. I must have been especially lucky in the events I attended as none of them suffered from the mentioned problems though they admittedly had to some degree the previous year (but I’d still liked it there then). To avoid the problems mentioned by a previous correspondent I understand that literary events will henceforth be held elsewhere in town but I do hope there will be other occasions to use Lamb House and the garden and even the marquee for one or more Festival events. (We certainly always enjoy the outstanding Shakespeare productions put on by the Lamb Players in the garden and the Readings and Music events at Christmas and the current tenants at Lamb House are so welcoming and generous. ) A further point worth making is that the prospect of performing at Lamb House is a strong reason for some invitees to the Festival to say ‘Yes’, whether or not the topic can be related to Henry James or E F Benson. For that matter, the prospect of attending an event there is also a pull factor.