A year of anniversary celebrations and a few famous faces

As The Arts Society 2023-24 season gets under way along the Costa from Gibraltar to Nerja, there are celebrations as Nerja celebrates its 30th anniversary.

While there are no big birthdays at the other four societies, Gibraltar, De la Frontera, Benahavís and Costa del Sol, they will still be enjoying a fascinating year of talks by leading art historians and experts.

There are even one or two well-known names coming to the Costa and the various societies will be taking turns to transport members and guests on creative journeys through Italy and India, back to the Swinging Sixties and further back to the 19th century, visiting Paris during its 'belle époque' and seeing it through the eyes of Oscar Wilde.

This coming week sees the start of a packed programme of lectures at all of the Arts Societies along the Costa. The first lecture of the season is with the Costa del Sol branch on Monday 16 October at the Salon Varietés in Fuengirola at 4.30pm, when Dutch art historian Sophie Oosterwijk will be asking the question Happy ever after? with her talk Love, Marriage and Fidelity in Western Art.

Nerja is hosting Sophie on Tuesday 17 October at 6pm at the town's cultural centre on Calle Granada.

"After retreating indoors in the heat all summer, we need some stimulation and lively company," said Billy Dawson, chairman of the committee at The Arts Society Costa del Sol.

Gibraltar and De la Frontera both start on Wednesday 18 October with Tyler Butterworth asking if it's 'an actor's life for me? All De la Frontera meetings are held at San Roque Club and commence at 11am and the Gibraltar lectures take place at the Garrison Library and start at 7.30pm.

One of the highlights is the next lecture at the Arts Society Benahavís: Simon Williams who played James Bellamy in the 1970s hit sitcom Upstairs Downstairs and is currently Justin Elliot in the long-running BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers, is giving a talk on Tuesday 31 October. Venues and times change depending on the lecture but take place in Benahavís, Marbella or Estepona and are announced in advance on their website.

Nerja is celebrating its milestone anniversary with an anniversary lunch for members on 21 October and has a series of other events planned throughout the season, including its first New Year concert on 20 January 2024 and in February the society is planning an art exhibition by 18 members from different nationalities and different art forms. There's a six-day trip to Tarragona, Poblet, Vall de Boí and Barcelona to visit seven world heritage sites in April 2024.

For more information visit: www.theartssociety.com