Lewes Hoedown

About the Event

In 2016 we brought you the Lewes’ very own Sausage ‘n’ Cider Festival.

Six successful years later we threw everything in the air to bring you a taste of Bavaria with our fabulous “Lewes Oktoberfest”.

In 2025, we’ve done it again!

This year, we’re excited to bring you a Country and Western bonanza!

On the 20th of September “Lewes Hoedown” is coming to the Corn Exchange.

Believe it or not, this will be even more fun than our previous offering.

There’ll be Live music from local bands including The Haystingers and The Sussex County Ramblers.

As a huge bonus, we have local line dancing group Steps Dance Club who’ll be getting as many of you as possible to give it a go.

That’s going to be interesting and a great laugh!

And if that's not enough, rounding off the evening will be our very own C&W DJ who’ll be pumping out some C&W classics for you to dance to.

It’s going to be a great night!

What about beers? We’re lucky to have a wealth of local breweries who each produce their own fantastic beers - Abyss, Beak, Only With Love, Burning Sky, Gun and Harveys.

See our list of beers below.

There’ll also be shots bar selling some weird and wonderful concoctions to experiment with.

Something to Eat?

With fantastic hotdogs from Richards butchers and a selection of nachos throughout the day, there’ll be plenty to eat while you’re here.

If you fancy something lighter, there’ll be various snacks available throughout the evening.

This isn’t just another local night out — it’s a full-on, foot-stompin’, hat-wearin’, dancefloor-swingin’ hoedown.

Bands

The itinerary for the day is....

3:00pm – Doors Open
3:00–3:45pm – DJ Gav
3:45-5:15pm – Steps Dance Club
5:15–6:00pm – Brad Shackleton
6:00–6:15pm – DJ Gav
6:15–8:45 – The Sussex County Ramblers
8:30–8:45pm – Break
8:45–9:15pm – DJ Gav
9:15-10:30pm – The Haystingers
10:30–11:00pm – DJ Gav
10:30pm – Last Orders
11:00pm – Close

The Sussex County Ramblers

More information on The Sussex County Ramblers to follow

The Haystingers

The Haystingers are a four-piece band based in, yep, Hastings. Formed in late 2017 with a mission to bring some good old hillbilly-boogie to the south coast of England, and beyond.

The band consists of Keith Osborne on lead vocals, lap steel, guitar and banjo, Clive Barker on electric guitar and vocals, Andy Maby on drums, and John Standen on double bass and vocals. There is a wealth of musical talent here, and between them these guys have played pretty much every style of music you can think of, but they all share a love of good honest country music. They’ve certainly been around the block, and over the years have recorded and played with lots of bands, from the Banderas, Helicopter Girl, the Cajun Dawgs, the Funking Barstewards to the House Of Love and many more.

Expect classics from Tennessee Ernie Ford, Moon Mullican, Tommy Sosebee, Johnny Horton mixed up with BR549, some self-penned tunes and a few surprises, the Haystingers are sure to get you on your feet.

Steps Dance Club

Founded in 1998, Steps Dance Club has been bringing people together through the joy of dance for over 25 years. What began with a few local classes has grown into a lively, welcoming community of dancers across East and West Sussex.

We run weekly line and partner dance classes in Ringmer, Barcombe, and Uckfield – open to all levels, no partner needed. Alongside our classes, we host social dance nights, weekend events, live music sessions, and support children's charities through energetic public performances.

Whether you’re here to learn, move, or just have a laugh, Steps is all about good music, great people, and dancing for the fun of it.

Come for the steps – stay for the smiles.

Brad Shackleton

Brad Shackleton is a unique ‘Rock, Country, & Soul’ singer, musician, and artist with a serious ‘rasp’ to his voice covering a variety of artists including Bruce Springsteen, Chris Stapleton,, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Paul Weller, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Leonard Skynard, and Bob Seger to name a few….

Having been a former ‘Judges House Finalist’ and making it into the final 20 of the global music reality TV show the ‘X Factor!’ singing “Walking in Memphis” (Marc Cohn) where Gary Barlow applauded him as the new “Boss Junior” (Springsteen) in the music industry….Brad has gone on to sing and gig not just on the Sussex circuit, but in London, the UK, USA, Singapore, and Australia.

Be prepared to be engaged and entertained from start to finish!!

DJ Gav

More information on DJ Gav to follow

Food & Drink

Food

Richards Butchers

Keeping with the local theme, we've once again teamed up with Richards butchers who will be making one off Hotdog sausages for the Fest.

Plenty of excellent options will be available including vegan and gluten free. All served with lovely bread, sauces and relishes

In addition to sausages, we have a great nacho options for you, with plenty of cheese, sauces and crispy onions. Perfect to wash down with some of our lovely beer.