WARNING: Excessive glitter, uncontrollable laughter, and jaw-dropping fabulousness expected on 26th September.If symptoms persist, please attend another drag show immediately. Alton Assembly Rooms Doors 7pm | Show 8pm

SIX: Teen Edition Live in Bordon & Alton! Experience the smash-hit musical reimagined for a teen cast! The six wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix 500 years of history in a high-energy, empowering musical full of catchy songs and fierce storytelling. Forest Community Centre, Bordon 16th & 17th October 2026 Alton Assembly Rooms, Alton 23rd & 24th October 2026 Brought to you by 9 Yards Entertainment www.9yardsentertainment.com

Pumpkin Pantos return this festive season with the Fairy Godmother of all pantos... and youre invited to the ball! Prepare to be swept into a world of enchanted pumpkins, glittering gowns, and fairytale magic with Cinderella Altons brand-new, home-grown pantomime thats proudly local, joyfully silly, and fabulously affordable for families. Expect toe-tapping tunes, dazzling costumes, and bucketloads of belly laughs. This sparkling production is the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas celebrations. Featuring local favourites Josh Dixon and Ben Kennedy as the deliciously dreadful Ugly Sisters, the hilarious David Louch as Buttons, and singing sensationEllie Henry as Cinderella. Book early to avoid disappointment hurry, before the clock strikes twelve! For wheelchair access or group bookings of 8 or more, please [email protected] Running time: Approximately 2 hours, including a twenty-minute interval.

Bend your bows, whip out your arrows, and tighten your tightsPumpkin Pantos are back with a shaftload of filthy fun thats guaranteed to make you quiver! Join our wellendowed outlaw and his band of merry misfits as they take on the sordid Sheriff in a thighslapping romp stuffed with saucy songs, camp costumes, and grotesque gags thatll leave you hot under the codpiece. Is Maid Marian as innocent as she seems? Can Willy Scarlett keep his weapon under wraps? And is Little John packing a big surprise? Its Sherwood Forest like youve never seen it before! Book now for a night of naughtiness, medieval mayhem, and more wood jokes than you can shake a staff at!

A boardgame convention in which we pride ourselves on being family-friendly and where established gamers mix with absolute beginners. This is now our 10th convention, and due to our sell-out success, we are now moving to a bigger venue. A library of games will be available from which you can pick or we can recommend some. Teaching games to our attendees is also a big part of what makes MERRYCON the event that it is. We will be offering snacks on the day. There is plenty of parking in the town, and public transport is available.

Join us at our Jane Austen Midsummer Ball at the historic Alton Assembly Rooms. The Hampshire Regency Dancers to lead the dances and guiding us through the evening. Live music is provided by Vicky Swan and Jonny Dyer. It is a wonderful opportunity to wear your finest Regency outfit, but don't worry if this is a problem as you are welcome in smart summer evening wear. The ticket price includes a buffet supper, which is served at a convenient break (about 8.30pm), there is also a licensed bar if you would like to purchase a drink or two. The Alton Assembly Rooms has a disabled toilet and has level access throughout the ground floor. Seating and tables are provided in the Main Hall for your comfort. Do join us at the Alton Assembly Rooms and enjoy dancing. Dress either in Regency Costume or smart Evening Wear.

Come along to our Alton Country Ball and enjoy some sociable and light-hearted relief from the formal dances of court or the precise stepping at a Regency Ball. Country dances - were often referred to as Playford dances after the first publisher of instruction books - and these were popular from the 17th to early 19th century. Nigel Close will lead a dance practice for the first hour, then there will be a light buffet followed by the Country Ball. Live music will add an extra dimension and is provided by Pete & Sue Hall. It is another opportunity to wear your Regency outfits, but if you don't have one, don't worry as summer smart evening wear is a lovely alternative on a lovely summer's evening. There is a licenced bar run by the Alton Assembly throughout the evening. Timings: 6.30 - 7.30pm Workshop; 8pm - 8.30pm interval/buffet; 8.00pm - 10.30pm Dancing Price includes light buffet. The Alton Assembly Rooms has a disabled toilet and has level access throughout the ground floor. Seating and tables are provided in the Main Hall for your comfort. This event links to the Alton Country Ball workshop (Thursday 25th June 6.00pm - 9.00) where you can learn 2 dances start to finish.

Come along and try your hand at dancing, ready for the evening's Midsummer Ball. This is your chance to learn or remind yourself of the dance steps. You can wear 21st century clothes, benefit and enjoy live music played by Vicky Swan and Jonny Dyer who will accompanying the ball. The whole event is supported by the marvelous Hampshire Regency Dancers who will guide you through the evening. The practice finishes at 5pm. There will then be a break until 7pm, when the doors open again for the Ball, which starts at 7.30pm.

A guided walk of Alton with local historian, Jane Hurst. You will see the buildings and talk about the people that Jane Austen would have known. The walk starts outside of the Alton Assembly Rooms by the Jane Austen Statue.

Festival favourite Lucy Porter returns with a brand new show about the power of letting yourself go in every sense. Whether that means embracing your wrinkles and love handles whilst living in a slanket, or having a couple of babychams and dancing like nobody's watching (and if youre a middle aged woman, theyre probably not). It's also about letting go of the person youve always thought you are, and using your midlife crisis to pursue new goals and reinvent yourself. Known and loved for her appearances on Live at the Apollo, QI, Mock the Week and BBC Radio 4 stalwarts The News Quiz and Just a Minute, Lucy has spent two decades winning audiences over with her warmth, sharp wit and impeccably timed punchlines. We're delighted to welcome her to Alton for the first time with Let Yourself Go! a whip-smart, gloriously relatable show about the strange freedom that comes with loosening your grip on, well, everything. Impeccably punchlined anecdotes genuinely delightful The Telegraph A treat from start to finish The Herald

One of Britain's most captivating voices returns with something extraordinary. Katherine Priddy brings her headline show to Alton Arts Festival in celebration of These Frightening Machines: her stunning third album released March 2026 on Cooking Vinyl. Following two critically acclaimed records that cemented her place among the finest artists on the contemporary British music scene, this new chapter is her most ambitious yet: sonically wide-ranging, emotionally searching, and utterly unmissable live. Praised for her haunting vocals and distinctive fingerpicking guitar style, Priddy has sold out headline tours across the UK, graced the stage of BBC's Later with Jools Holland, and has recently collaborated with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage. These Frightening Machines asks the questions many of us carry: how do we keep going when things fall apart How do we hold onto each other in a world that pulls wants to divide us Where do we fit in the machines and systems that surround us Expect an evening of rare intimacy and power. With her momentum showing no signs of slowing, the release of These Frightening Machines is set to take Katherine Priddy's star even higher. Don't miss one of the UK's most treasured singer-songwriters at the peak of her powers. Advance tickets - £22.50 Door tickets - £25 Doors will open at 7.30pm. Music will start at 8pm.

Jordan Mackampa has a voice that will stop you in your tracks. Best known for his smooth, soulful sound, Jordan Mackampa has been making waves in the British music scene since the release of his debut album back in 2020. Born in the Republic of Congo, the artist came to London in 1995; he attributes his experiences as a young immigrant as inspiration for much of the music he creates today. From an early age, Mackampa grew up singing gospel in church music that shaped not just his voice but the warmth and emotional depth that runs through everything he creates. By twelve he was writing his own songs, and he has spent the years since building a devoted following on the strength of a smooth, soulful sound that feels both timeless and entirely his own. His debut album Foreigner drew on his experiences arriving in England as a young immigrant. His second, Welcome Home, Kid! released in 2024 turned that lens inward, telling the story of how he found his way to self-worth through decades of growth and hard-won lessons. Together they mark the journey of an artist who writes from the deepest part of his experience, and whose music has the rare quality of making you feel less alone. An evening of soul, story and that voice, in the stunning surrounds of Alton's Assembly Rooms. Don't miss it. Tickets: £18 advance, £20 on the door