Thomas Hardy Birthday Weekend 2026
Join the Thomas Hardy Society for a whole weekend of Hardy-related activities to celebrate Hardy’s 186th birthday
- Friday 29th May at 7.00pm – Lecture: Comedy in Hardy, Mark Damon Chutter – Dorset Museum & Art Gallery
- Saturday 30th May at 11.00am – Walk: Hardy Buildings and Borough Gardens, Mark Damon Chutter
- Saturday 30th May at 2.00pm – Lecture: Law, Order and Subversion in Hardy, Mark Damon Chutter – Shire Hall Museum
- Saturday 30th May at 3.30pm – Hardy and Music, Dr Natalie Burton, Bonnie Sartin, John Dike, The King’s Arms
- Sunday 31st May at 11am – The Thomas Hardy Victorian Fair, South Street, Dorchester
- Sunday 31st May at 1.30pm – Procession to Hardy’s Statue for wreath-laying
- Sunday 31st May at 6.00pm – Evensong at St Michael’s Church, Stinsford
- Sunday 31st May at 7.00pm – Wreath-laying and readings at Hardy’s grave, St Michael’s Church, Stinsford
- Sunday 31st May at 7.30pm – ‘The Revolution of the Year’: A Sequence of Words and Music, St Michael’s Church Stinsford