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KPMG Castle Nights
Experience an evening of great local music and entertainment in the grounds of Castle Cornet this summer, with this year’s Castle Nights series, starting next Friday the 10th July at 6pm!
A variety of acts for all the family will be performing throughout the historic castle grounds in the South Battery, Outer Ward and Middle Ward to create a festival atmosphere.
Pack a picnic and soak up the atmosphere!
This Friday the 17th from 6pm, you can enjoy: The Hope Singers, Isabelle Lees, Matt Bonnerville and The Cageshakers, Space Pirates of Rocquaine and The Coastal Connections Takeover!
Kindly brought together by KPMG, Guernsey Arts and Guernsey Museums & Galleries.
SWALLOW SINGS PRESENTS: APOLLO E DAFNE BY G F HANDEL
This Saturday the 18th of July at St James, Swallow Sings take to the stage for a spectacular performance!
Starting at 7:30pm, Apollo e Dafne (Apollo and Daphne, HWV 122) is a secular cantata composed by George Frideric Handel in 1709–10. Handel began composing the work in Venice in 1709 and completed it in Hanover after arriving in 1710 to take up his appointment as Kapellmeister to the Elector, the later King George I of Great Britain. The work is one of Handel’s most ambitious cantatas and is indicative of the brilliant operatic career to follow in the next 30 years of his life.
Like so many musical stories in Handel’s time, Apollo e Dafne is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a first-century extended poetic retelling of mythology with a bit of actual Roman history thrown in. In Ovid’s version, Apollo has just killed the giant serpent Python with many arrows from his bow. Impressed with himself, the sun god establishes the Pythian Games to commemorate his triumph, and belittles Cupid’s prowess as an archer. Cupid responds by telling Apollo, “your bow may strike at all things, but mine can strike at you.” He then shoots Apollo with a golden arrow that will make him fall immediately in love, and shoots the nymph Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus, with a leaden arrow to make her reject all love. Apollo falls in love with Daphne, who flees from him. As he is about to catch her, she prays to her father to destroy her beauty so Apollo will leave her alone. Peneus, perhaps overly enthusiastic in granting her wish, turns her into a laurel tree. Foiled forever in his pursuit, Apollo nonetheless honors her by making a laurel wreath the symbol of victory.
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759), was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Handel spent his early life in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a British citizen in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel’s music forms one of the peaks of the “high baroque” style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognised as one of the greatest composers of his age. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its “Hallelujah” chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music.
Live at the Manor 2026
After a powerful first edition in 2025, we’re back at Sausmarez Manor for another unforgettable summer night!
Taking place this Saturday the 18th of July from 4pm, you can expect world-class live music, heritage atmosphere and that unique Manor energy.
More groove, more connection, same spirit.
Thank you to our sponsors PWC, Sure by Beyon, and Tourism Management Board
Live at the Manor 2026 is coming – get your tickets today!
Rocquaine Regatta and the VEF Mini Fest!
The Rocquaine Regatta is a staple in Guernsey’s Summer events calendar; a fun-filled day at Rocquaine Bay on the west coast of the island! Unusual boat races take place throughout the day with fishing boats, small sailing boats and motor boats participating in casual yet highly competitive races!
You can join the fun as a spectator or get the children involved by joining events such as the Junior sand events (apple bobbing, wheelbarrow races, pick a pint of winkles, three legged race) or the new ‘Wife Carrying’ event (self-explanatory).
Pavement artists, the Guernsey Majorettes and live music will accompany participants, spectators and visitors all day and an evening barbecue will conclude a fantastic day of fun.
There will also be free entry to the fascinating Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum all day, so you can combine your family day out with some fascinating history.
This year, the Vale Earth Fair will be returning to the Regatta on a larger scale than ever before, with tunes to get you moving from midday until 10pm!
You can expect: live music from Its Own Animal, Nexus, Out of Sync, Grace Taylor and more, DJs all day, a kid friendly zone, and cool beverages all day and evening! Why not bring a picnic and join us for an excellent day of chilled vibes.
Live music at The Terrace
A wonderful and varied lineup of performances are taking place at The Terrace this summer!
This Friday the 17th of July, enjoy a set from Dj Jimbo Jonez from 5pm, followed by a performance from The Vinyls Unplugged from 7pm on Saturday the 18th July! The Terrace will be wrapping up the weekend with music from Colin Falla on Saxophone on Sunday the 5th of July from 3pm. Free entry!
Cartier, Jewellers to Royalty and Stars: An Arts Society Guernsey Lecture
The Guernsey Arts Society return to Les Cotils next Wednesday the 22nd July from 6pm, as lecturer Andrew Prince gives a fascinating talk on Cartier.
It was only when king Edward VII proclaimed Cartier “the king of jewellers and the jewellers of kings” that the three brothers’ fortunes were assured. Previously, celebrated courtesans had been their clients, which was not an assured path to fame. With tiaras for the Coronation in 1902 and again for the Delhi Durbar in 1911, Cartier became synonymous with royalty from their late Majesties the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II to Diana with her Tank watch always on her wrist. The interwar years saw the creation of some of the most spectacular pieces in Paris, New York and London, each operating separately but passing gems between them for whichever market seemed best. The post war years with stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly, who became princess Grace of Monaco, confirmed Cartier as the jeweller to Royalty and the Stars.
Previously Assistant Director of the British School at Rome from 1998 to 2002 and since 2004, Professor at the University of L’Aquila. Part of Andrew Hopkin’s PhD (Courtauld Institute 1995) on Venetian architecture was awarded the Essay Medal of 1996 by the Society of Architectural Historians (GB). A Fellow at Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti in Florence in 2003-2004, and in 2009 the Paul Mellon Senior Visiting Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Amongst his many publications are, with Arnold Witte, Alois Riegl, The Origins of Baroque Art in Rome (2010), and Baldassare Longhena and the Venetian Baroque (2012).
This lecture is kindly sponsored by Titan Wealth.
For information on attending this lecture and future Arts Society Guernsey lectures, please follow this LINK.
