Sixteen acts, eight venues, one big party and everyone’s invited

The culmination of Hastings Fat Tuesday festival, the evening of February 12 will see 16 bands play across eight venues, and promises fancy dress, music and mayhem.

Over the course of the evening catch some talented local acts, including some world class recording artists, not to mention a special guest act accustomed to filling much larger venues, which will not be announced until the day itself.

The pubs taking part are Dragon Bar, Porters, The Dolphin, The FILO, The Jenny Lind, The Royal Standard, The Nelson and The Carlisle.

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Participants in the festivities have the choice of spending the evening at a single venue, waiting for the acts to come to them, or moving between pubs to catch their favourite bands.

Entry is free to all the venues, though a £2 charity donation is recommended, which will go to local charities including Xtrax, St Michael’s Hospice and The Seaview Centre.

The Grammy Award-nominated James Hunter will be among those taking to the stages of The Nelson, The Jenny Lind and The Carlisle during the course of Tuesday evening.

He has played some of the worlds top jazz venues, and over 20 years worked with some of the best musicians jazz and blues have to offer.

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This is the second year that he has been involved with Fat Tuesday, and is looking forward to the unique experience.

He said of last year’s festivities: “One we got into it, it was more fun than we expected.

“This time we might chuck a couple of new ones in.

“When we do the trio, we change things a bit.”

James will be performing with a bassist and drummer as opposed to his usual six-piece line-up.

If the audiences are lucky, they may hear a couple of tracks from the new album Minute by Minute, set to be released in the UK this March.

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The other acts include Otti Albietz, Red Diesel, The Kid Kapichi, Vince Ray, Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs, Jamie Smart, Bobby Fuego and the Four Fingers of Funk, The Great Malarkey, Poppy Prescott, Super Dog, One Thousand Tons, Hannah and Hudson, Local Heroes, Dead Rabbits, and the hotly anticipated secret guest act, which is to be announced closer to the date.

The Fat Tuesday After Party will take place at Brass Monkey from 1pm to 3am. Tickets for the after party are £5. These are limited and can be bought in advance at www.hastingsfattuesday.co.uk/fat-tuesday-evening.

Hastings Fat Tuesday festival runs from today (Friday, February 8) until Tuesday, February 12.

Traditionally occurring on Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday (English for Mardi Gras) is a day of serious partying in some parts of the world, as people let their hair down before observing the restrictions of Lent.

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