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About
Holmes Fest Theatre Show
19 and 20 September
The Groundlings Theatre, 42 Kent Street, Portsea, PO1 3BS
Doors and bar open at 7pm, show starts 7:30pm, with a 20-minute interval
£15 Regular / £35 VIP
Holmes Fest is back by popular demand, with the Holmes Fest Theatre Show kicking things off with two hours of non-stop entertainment, fun and silliness. A fantastic line up of short acts will get audiences laughing, thinking, singing along – and maybe even dressing up!
Join master of ceremonies Matt Wingett for a joyful Victorian Music-Hall variety, celebrating the life and times of Portsmouth’s world-renowned author Arthur Conan Doyle – who created Sherlock Holmes while he lived in Southsea! Actors, musicians, writers and Doyle fans present sketches, stories, poems and songs in a night of fun and surprises.
This star-studded programme features:
Mark Wingett (The Bill, Quadrophenia, Eastenders)
Hudson and LeStrade take you on a tour of Victorian music hall songs
Side-splitting japes from The BBC Holmes Service
Christine Lawrence writing an all new piece (last year she was a murderous Mrs Hudson!)
Jackson Davies delivering more of his word-magic
And of course… Sherlock Holmes himself!
If that wasn't all, audience members get a chance to win prize. Wear Victorian / Edwardian clothing – the best dressed Victorian will receive a special prize!
There will be a 20-minute interval. Refreshments available from the bar, and books, art and other items will be available to buy.
VIP package includes: Champagne & canape reception, meet and greet from the cast, a musical serenade from Hudson and Lestrade, and an exclusive Holmes Fest book – containing Conan Doyle and Sherlock-related places in Portsmouth and Southsea for you to explore.
Dinosaur and Fossil Fun - The Lost World Art Workshop
20 September
The Southsea Community Cinema and Arts Centre, 1-3 Palmerston Road, Southsea, PO5 3QQ
12pm to 4pm
Free – walk in any time between 12pm and 3.45pm
Kids are invited to get their hands dirty painting fossil dinosaur eggs or dinosaur skulls in this fun, free workshop.
When your kids enter Southsea Cinema and Arts Centre they can select the handmade egg or skull they want to paint, and James Waterfield will give them all the materials they need. Once a fossil is painted participants can take it home!
This is a fun way to celebrate the first dinosaur adventure novel The Lost World, and the amazing silent movie that turns 100 years old this year!
Note: This is a free walk-in event. James will take four kids at any one time. If you need to wait, Southsea Arts Cinema has coffees, other drinks and a great selection of snacks and cakes. Painting time can be 5 to 15 minutes depending on the age of the children.
James Waterfield is an Artist and Secondary school teacher with many years experience of delivering exciting Art Workshops for Children at events like Portsmouth Comic Con and Hastings Comic Con.
The Mysterious Case of the Haberdasher’s Scissors
21 September
Hunter Gatherer, 249 Albert Road, PO4 0JR
3pm – 4.30pm
£7.50
In this fun illustrated talk, local writers and researchers, Alison Habens and Matt Wingett claim to have discovered an extraordinary fact: three famous literary figures of the 19th Century, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling met each other in the early 1880s, in the old Drapery Bazaar, Hide’s Emporium, on King’s Road in Southsea. Even more amazing, they were involved in a dark mystery that might have come straight from one of their own stories.
Hear it unfold, through a series of extracts from their autobiographies, solve a few clues yourself – and work out where the boundary between true history and pure invention sits…
Is truth stranger than fiction? And it get in the way of a good yarn? You decide!
In Sherlock’s Footsteps - Guided Walk of Conan Doyle’s Portsmouth
22 September
Meeting point: Outside Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery
2pm
£15
Matt Wingett invites you to walk the streets that young Arthur Conan Doyle walked 140 years ago. You’ll meet at the Landport Gate and take a walk through Old Portsmouth to Southsea. On the way Matt will tell you some of his adventures in the town and you’ll discover:
where he got into a bout of fisticuffs on his first day
the site where the real Dr Watson once lived
why he was involved in real deaths, a stabbing and disasters in the city
the pub where he attended an inquest
how the town gave him place names for his characters
the place where he met his wife to be
how tragedy threw him and his first wife together
the place where he met his “Platonic mistress”
where he spent his last night before leaving the town in 1890
Zoinks! The Mystery Machine Meets Sherlock Holmes - The spooky folklore behind Scooby Doo, with special appearance by Sherlock Holmes
23 September
Hunter Gatherer, 249 Albert Road, PO4 0JR
7.30pm – 9.30pm
£7.50
For people who love a mystery this popular show is great fun – and has a Sherlockian twist never seen before!
The classic Hanna Barbera cartoon franchise ‘Scooby-Doo’ has been enjoyed by adults and children alike since the 1960s. It has seen various versions come and go, but at its heart it has always dealt with mystery and the supernatural.
Mark Norman’s groundbreaking book Zoinks, published in 2024, is the first to examine the myth and folklore behind the Scooby-Doo villains, removing the mask to expose how well, or badly, the show has represented the real-world in the show.
Now, a new live show, full of humour and interactive elements, presents some of the content of the book in the style you would expect from the show. In an exclusive adaptation of the usual show, written for Holmes Fest to include Sherlock himself, you can now experience Zoinks in Portsmouth for the first time.
Mark Norman is a public folklorist and author, and the creator of The Folklore Podcast – one of the highest-ranking shows in its genre worldwide, with over 2 million downloads behind it. He has variously written for Penguin, HarperCollins, the National Trust and many other publishers.
Zoinks: The Spooky Folklore Behind Scooby-Doo was written with input from many of the show’s writers and producers.
A Sherlock Double Bill: 1 Discovering Sherlock, 2 The Folklore Behind The Hound of The Baskervilles
24 September
Menuhin Room, Portsmouth Central Library
7pm
£10
Join two world-renowned experts to discuss how Sherlock was created, and the legends behind the Hound of the Baskervilles in this fascinating double bill.
Talk 1: Discovering Sherlock
How did Sherlock Holmes come into existence? What and who were the influences – cultural, intellectual, geographical, political etc – that went into his making?
In this fascinating discussion between biographer and Holmes authority Andrew Lycett and Victorian detective novelist William G Sutton, you will delve into the lives and era that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to create the world’s first consulting detective.
This engrossing talk will piece together the clues to reveal how Sherlock Holmes came to be – and what he’s all about!
Andrew Lycett wrote the definitive biography: Conan Doyle, the Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, a fabulous account of the great detective in his book The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes, as well as his study of Conan Doyle’s adventures around the globe in his fascinating Conan Doyle’s Wide World: Sherlock Holmes and Beyond.
Portsmouth resident Willam Sutton is an internationally published author known for his Campbell Lawless series of Victorian detective novels.
Break at 8pm for 30 minutes.
Talk 2: The Folklore Behind the Hound
Ghostly apparitions of black dogs are seen all over the world, but in the United Kingdom is the broadest cross-section of different types of sightings. However, unknown to many, the folklore which inspired Conan Doyle to pen his most famous Sherlock Holmes novel, ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ has been recorded since the 12th century.
This talk explains the wide variety of different folkloric black dogs, and looks at the truth and the myth behind the origin stories for the Baskerville hound.
Mark Norman is a public folklorist and author, and the creator of The Folklore Podcast – one of the highest-ranking shows in its genre worldwide, with over 2 million downloads. He administers the country’s largest collection of black dog material and is the author of the full-length study on the subject, ‘Black Dog Folklore’. He has variously written for Penguin, HarperCollins, the National Trust and many other publishers.
Murder Mystery Dinner at Chambers
25 September
The Chambers, 27 Landport Terrace, Southsea, PO1 2RG
Arrive from 7pm for a 7.30pm start
£40
Murder is most definitely on the menu!
Step into a candlelit parlour where secrets flicker in the shadows and the clink of silverware masks whispered conspiracies. As the evening unfolds, you’ll dine among suspects, examine hidden clues between courses, and piece together the fatal puzzle behind Major General Drayson’s death.
Head to Chambers restaurant for an immersive mystery dinner at 27 Landport Terrace. Will you unmask the murderer before the final toast? Only the sharpest minds will survive the verdict!
Tickets include three course dinner and an evening of intrigue. Going dressed in your best deducing attire is strongly recommended.
Tickets booked directly with The Chambers. Arrive from 7pm for 7.30 dinner, carriages at 10.30pm.
The Curious Case of the Open Mic
26 September
The Hideaway, 161-165 Highland Road, Southsea, PO4 9EY
Doors at 6.30pm, show starts at 7pm
Free entry. Donations welcome - give as much or as little as you like
Step into the foggy streets of Victorian Southsea for a night of mystery, creativity, and performance at The Curious Case of the Open Mic – a special Holmes Fest 2025 event!
Head to The Hideaway for an evening where words come alive and music stirs the soul.
Victorian attire is encouraged (but not required), as the floor is opened to poets, storytellers, monologuists and musicians.
The night unfolds in two acts: an open mic in the first half, followed by a curated showcase of featured performers. It's hosted by the charismatic Jackson Davies.
This free event promises intrigue, inspiration, and a touch of theatrical flair.
Whether you’re performing or spectating, book now to be part of the story.
Get your open mic tickets online.
The Lost World Centenary Screening
27 September
Southsea Community Cinema and Arts Centre, 1-3 Palmerston Road, Southsea, PO5 3QQ
7pm
£5
Celebrate the 100th anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle’s movie The Lost World!
Southsea Cinema and Matt Wingett invite you to Conan Doyle’s magnificent movie, The Lost World.
100 years ago this year the first ever dino-creature-feature, based on the 1912 novel by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, premiered in Hollywood. Produced and distributed by First National Pictures, the film is famous for its pioneering stop-motion special effects which became a staple of Hollywood fantasies – including King Kong.
But, to clear the way for King Kong, First National ordered all copies of The Lost World destroyed…
Thankfully, some were missed.
Enjoy the complete version reconstructed from collections around the world, beautifully restored in time for the centenary.
An introductory talk by Matt Wingett, dressed as Professor Challenger, will be followed by a free screening of the movie. It stars Wallace Beery as Professor Challenger, Bessie Love as Paula White and Lloyd Hughes as Ed Malone. (Look out for real dinosaurs that may be lurking!)
It promises to be a fun night and a screening of a classic - with drinks and snacks available.
Get your The Lost World tickets online.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Basil Rathbone
28 September
The Southsea Community Cinema and Arts Centre, 1-3 Palmerston Road, Southsea, PO5 3QQ
7.30pm
Adults £7, students / over 60s £5
Head to The Southsea Arts Cinema to celebrate the final night of Holmes Fest 2025.
There will be drinks, chats and fun - not to mention:
a prize for the best dressed Victorian
a drink with each ticket
the chance to chat with Holmes Fest organiser Matt
a free movie screening
nibbles and snacks
Mingle, chat and drink with other Holmes Fest attendees and Matt Wingett, Holmes Fest organiser, then settle down for a brief talk on The Hound of the Baskervilles before revelling in the inimitable Basil Rathbone classic Sherlock Holmes movie from 1939.
After the screening there will be more time to mingle and chat, as well as to meet other Sherlock and Doyle fans, or just have a pleasant time with a few drinks.
Following the presentation of a prize for the best dressed Victorian on the night, Matt will officially close Holmes Fest 2025.
Opening Times
| Holmes Fest 2025 (19 Sept 2025 - 28 Sept 2025) |
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