Ramsgate Festival of Sound 2025 – Music, Creativity & Community Vibes

With less than a week to go, Ramsgate Festival of Sound is back for its eighth year and this time it’s bringing some exciting changes! Mark your diaries for Friday 12th to Sunday 14th September 2025 for a weekend full of live music, sonic adventures, community spirit, and more than a few surprises.

Kicking off the event is none other than, local legend and jazz singer extraordinaire, Sabina Desir! Scroll down to find out how to book.

Festival Lowdown

Friday 12^th – Sunday 14^th

• Sonic Trail – every afternoon from midday to 4pm (keep scrolling for more info!)
• Debut Screening of The Little Ships in Concert, is an evocative, large-scale community project inspired by Operation Dynamo. This 12 minute film has been specially produced and edited over the summer using footage from the actual live performance on 18th May and will debut at Festival of Sound! It will be shown on a loop (every 15 minutes) from midday – 4pm at Royal Temple Yacht Club, 6 West Cliff Mansions, CT11 9HY.

Friday 12th September

• Doors open 6.30pm, Show starts at 7.30 – 10pm – Afro Blue: Listening in Colour. Sabina Desir and her band will perform a powerful celebration of music first made famous by the likes of Roberta Flack, Earth Wind & Fire & Gil Scott-Heron. This show sold out at last year’s London Jazz Festival so be sure to get your ticket when it comes to Ramsgate! Bar & snacks available pre-show & at interval. Chatham & Clarendon School, Cavendish Street, CT11 9AL  

Saturday 13th September

• 12–6pm – Busk Until Dusk Free live music across Ramsgate pubs & bars (more details below plus map for venues). Slice in Harbour Street is the official Busk Until Dusk Hub. It’s where you can purchase festival merch and they’ll be putting on a BBQ from 12-5pm (associated costs for food and merchandise of course!). 
• 6pm – The Samba Ya Wantsum band will be wearing their silver spacesuits and beating their drums, ready for lift off from the East Cliff Bandstand, leading a sparkling procession to Winterstoke, just in time for a Buskers Singalong at 6.30pm followed by The Future Psychedelics, The Future who will launch their set at the Winterstoke Sun Shelter from 7pm.
• 7–9pm, Winterstoke Gardens –The Future Psychedelics The Future Present: The Anti-Gravity Groove Machine headline set. Expect psychedelia, futurism, and groove on a cosmic scale. Free but let them know you’re coming by clicking here!

Sunday 14th September

• 1-3.30pm – St George’s Church –Big Gospel Sing (1-2 pm) Followed by Tasty Treats (2-3.30pm) with Sabina Desir & Jessica Lauren. Uplifting singing followed by delicious food, what’s not to love? Book your space here (free, donations welcome)
• Afternoon at Slice – Teenage Kicks showcase 16–19 yr old emerging talent.  This is a another free event so head along to Slice and support these young musicians! 34-38, Harbour St, CT11 8HA
• The award-winning Jazz Ambassadors documentary with Q&A,
• Michael McEvoy’s Metanoisia Collective, an immersive audiovisual performance in a private residence overlooking the sea at 4 Paragon, CT11 9JX.
• Sisters with Transistors, recreates the story of pioneering women in the area of music and sound production. which will take place at Ramsgate Community Cinema’s new venue; Paragon Works, Albert Street, CT11 9HD.
• Rounding off this extraordinary weekend, will be a festival wind down like no other with Ellie Yankah’s Floating Frequencies. This experience will take place at Winterstoke Gardens Sun Shelter and audiences are invited to sit, lie, or move through the space during the 40-minute meditative session, engaging with the sound in their own way. Listen to the relaxing sounds of crystal quartz bowls, gongs, drums, chimes, voice, and percussion weaved together into a layered, harmonic soundscape that responds directly to the garden’s contours and atmosphere. Book your space here!

Sonic Trail – Music Meets Architecture 12^th – 14^th (FREE)

Running 12–4pm daily, the Sonic Trail brings specially commissioned sound installations to unusual spaces around Ramsgate, tying into the Heritage Open Days theme of Architecture.

Featured artists include Catrin Osborne, Grenville Horner, Katherine Peddie, Emily Peasgood, Steph Dickinson and Howard Griffin.

A little taste of what to expect:

• Emily Peasgood’s Listening Desk Create your own sound collages at Emily Peasgood Studios, Unit 2, St Lawrence Industrial Estate, Manston Rd, CT11 0QZ
• Kat Peddie and the Free Range Orchestra – A Voice for Radio presents a sound installation inspired by Ramsgate’s maritime history and present. St George’s Church, CT11 8RE
• Catrin Osborne – Explore ‘home’ depicted through an immersive installation using textiles, film, movement and sound. Hold Creative Spaces, Penstone House, Albert St, Ramsgate CT11 9HD
• Grenville Horner – Eavesdrop transforming tiny spaces into vessels of audio architecture. Arts in Ramsgate, 46 High St, CT11 9AG 
• Karen Vost -The Love Booth 402 portraits celebrating love and memory, exhibited at The Crane Shed at Ramsgate Harbour (on the west crosswall, just before the Commercial Quay and Lifeboat House), CT11 9RN
• Howard Griffin – Dynamo Revisited An immersive and evocative audio-visual display using 3D mapping to connect with the Dunkirk Evacuation & World War II. A development of a project from earlier this year exhibited as Dynamo: The Spirit Of Ramsgate. Howard’s installation can be found in the crypt at St George’s Church and will be shown every 30 minutes (display runs for 17 minutes)
• Steph Dickinson (Kkailou) – Meet at the Youth Club Created in collaboration with young people at Pie, the piece captures the heartbeat of their shared space. Pie Factory Music Youth Centre, High St, St Lawrence, CT11 0QG. Please note, this installation is only taking place on Saturday, 12-4pm and Sunday, 2-4pm

Busk Until Dusk

One of the festival’s most-loved features, Busk at Dusk, is evolving! This year it becomes Busk Until Dusk, running from 12–6pm on Saturday 13th September and taking over pubs and venues across town.

Expect up to 20 acts roaming Ramsgate, bringing music to the heart of the community. Inspired by Hastings’ Fat Tuesday Unplugged, it’s the brainchild of Alex Gillings (The Great Malarkey / Salt House Barbers) “What better way to bring music to this town than through its pubs, which are the beating heart of the community?”

You’ll be able to catch brilliant performers including:

• Morrison Ford
• Andreas Jensen
• Adventurine
• Lo Barnes
• Will Rees
• Callum Sutton
• Gaddzukes
  …plus up-and-coming talent via Ramsgate Introducing – Lucy Taylor, Take Too, and Kingfisher.

Grab a pint (if that’s your thing!), settle in your favourite pub, and let the music find you or bar-hop around town to catch different acts.

Venues include (see map below): The Honeysuckle Inn, Elephant & Castle, Montefiore Arms, The Pub, Queens Head, The Red Lion, Horse & Groom, The Fermentorium, Penelope, Seabird, and The Bedford.

Hub Central: Slice on Harbour Street – the venue for Saturday’s after-party and Sunday’s Teenage Kicks session. Teenage Kicks is all about giving young musicians an opportunity to perform live so please come along and support.

The weekend’s events are being hosted in a variety of venues across town! Check out the map below to help find your way around and get the most out of what’s on offer.

Behind the Festival

Without this small but perfectly formed team, Ramsgate Festival of Sound would not be possible:

• Gemma Dempsey (Director)
• Darryn de la Soul (Production Manager)
• Sarah Whiting-Blowers (Producer)
• Selena Muscat (Volunteer Coordinator)
• Rob Warren (Design & Marketing)
• Rhea Lempert (Social Media)
  …plus a fantastic crew of volunteers who make it all possible.

How to Get Involved

Fancy volunteering, or just want to plan your weekend? Head to ramsgatefestival.org and follow on socials @ramsgatefestivalofsound.

Save the date: 12th–14th September 2025.
Music, community, creativity – and the unique Ramsgate vibe. Don’t miss it!