REGIONSPOTLIGHT
REGION SPOTLIGHT: ISLE OF THANET CONT.
Other Reasons to Visit in 2020
2020 is a special year for the Isle of Thanet and there
are many different events taking place across the
next 12 months.
8 0th Anniversary of Operation Dynamo
Between 26th May and 4th June 1940 around 850
private boats sailed from Ramsgate to Dunkirk.
Their aim was to rescue the British and Allied soldiers
who were trapped on the beaches. They managed
to bring 336,000 men home.
2020 marks the 80th anniversary of this heroic feat,
so there is much to be seen regarding it. Visit the
Sundowner, the little boat that rescued 130 men. It
is berthed near the Maritime Museum in Ramsgate’s
Royal Harbour. You can also see models of the two
paddle steamers that brought over 10,000 men back
to the safety of the Isle of Thanet.
We Will Walk: Art and Resistance in the
American South (February to May 2020)
The next exhibition at Turner Contemporary is
We Will Walk: Art and Resistance in the American South.
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It runs from February to May 2020. This exhibition
celebrates the artists and makers from the Deep
South, and many of the works on show have
never been seen outside the US before.
Selected artists:
Mary Lee Bendolph; Hawkins Bolden; Thornton
Dial; William Edmondson; Ralph Griffin; Bessie
Harvey; Lonnie Holley; Ronald Lockett; Joe Minter;
Arlonzia Pettway; Noah Purifoy; Nellie Mae Rowe;
Emmer Sewell; Mary T Smith; James ‘Son Ford’
Thomas; Freeman Vines; Annie Mae Young; Dinah
Young and Purvis Young.
Dickens 2020 and Broadstairs
Another important date taking place in 2020 is the
150th anniversary of Dickens’ death. Over the year
there will be make different events to mark this date
– Dickens regularly visited Broadstairs between 1837
and 1859, and described the town as ‘the freshest,
freest place’. He wrote much of David Copperfield
here, and based the character of Betsey Trotwood
on Miss Mary Pearson Strong, whose home now
houses Dickens House Museum. It was also whilst
in Broadstairs that he wrote ‘Our English Watering
Place’, published in August 1852.
The annual Broadstairs Dickens Festival (19
to 21 June 2020), is a celebration of the author’s
connections with the town and events will include
a Dickensian beach party and picnic, musical
entertainment at the bandstand, festival play, and a
Victorian country fair.
www.dickensmuseumbroadstairs.co.uk
www.broadstairsdickensfestival.co.uk
Dreamland 100
Dreamland, Margate’s spectacular and iconic
amusement park, celebrates its 100th birthday
in 2020. Always a wonderful place full of
entertainment, in 2020 there will be even more to
enthral and entice you.
For further information on Margate, Broadstairs
and Ramsgate go to: www.visitthanet.co.uk
VisitThanet
www.visitthanetblog.com