Pirates and Smugglers Day is this Saturday
It’s the second annual Rye Pirates and Smugglers Day this Saturday 8 August. Hundreds are expected to dress for the occasion with events all over town. You can see the full schedule below.
Shops in Rye have been getting into the pirate spirit, not least the Sue Ryder Shop on Rye High Street. The charity shop raises funds for palliative care and bereavement support and has a fantastic shop window with a pirate ship, smuggler’s outfit and so much more.
Shop manager Denise Ellis, who put the window together with store volunteers, said, “It’s an absolute privilege to be part of Pirates Day as the team behind it work so hard to make it happen. These events are vital to shops like ours as they bring in so many people and build up interest in our town. The shop window has had a great reaction so far, so do have a look and come and see us inside too.”
Tickets selling fast
Two of the seven headline tickets for this year’s Rye International Jazz and Blues Festival are almost sold out. Both the concerts in St Mary’s church by The Van Morrison Alumni Band on Friday 28 August and Mica Paris on Monday 31 August are now nearing capacity.
The festival features four days of music over the August Bank Holiday, and whilst there’s no Buttermarket stage this year, free live music will run across six venues in town and at the harbour.
More information and how to purchase tickets for the St Mary’s concerts here.
Drug driving conviction
A Peasmarsh man is among the latest to be convicted in court following the Sussex Police Christmas crackdown on drink and drug-driving. A total of 279 people were arrested during the operation, which ran from 1 December 2025 to 1 January 2026, with 112 convicted.
Adrian Fairbass, 43, a barber, of School Lane, Peasmarsh, was arrested in the village on 6 December and charged with driving with 48 micrograms of cocaine per litre of blood. At Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 10 June, he was disqualified from driving for 16 months and given a 12 month community order, requiring him to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
Not for sale
Rother District Council is not going to sell off its headquarters at Bexhill Town hall, writes Hugh Oxburgh, Local Democracy Reporter. It will not pursue the redevelopment of its headquarters at the current time, its leaders have confirmed.
On Monday 27 July, the council’s cabinet discussed a report setting out options for the potential redevelopment of the site. The report followed on from a decision taken last year, which saw cabinet members agree to spend £45,000 to investigate the feasibility of building temporary accommodation on the site.
Joe Powell, the council’s head of housing and strategic assets, told councillors options had been assessed but officers said “doing nothing for now” would be the best option. “In short, given all the uncertainty of Local Government Reorganisation and the poor function of this building as a civic building, which was going to be retained, almost certainly, in all scenarios, it seemed remiss to do anything beyond the current recommendation to do nothing for now.”
More art on show
There are three big art exhibitions taking place in Rye at the moment. As we reported last week, the Rye Society of Artists 75th annual exhibition started last week at the Dance hall at the Community Centre.
This week sees the long-standing Tuesday Painters Club show at the St Mary’s Centre on Lion Street from Saturday 8 August. You can read more about it here. LINK
Also on Saturday, the En Plein Air exhibition starts at Rye Art Gallery on the High Street. Art made by artists working outdoors will be on show.
Image Credits: Kt bruce , James Stewart , Rye Pirates , Rye Jazz Festival , Sussex Police , Google Map , Rye Art Gallery .