Book club at socialbar
First Wednesday of the month - February 4th
Doors open 6.30 pm

We're a book club for people who love reading as much as they love a good drink. No stuffy meetings, just great books, good conversation and a relaxed atmosphere. We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6.30 pm at socialbar.

Come find your next favourite story — and a few new friends.

What to expect:
– Relaxed atmosphere
– Small group discussions
– Facilitated reading and book choices
– Wine, coffee & snacks, including mini brioche sandwiches and cheese and charcuterie boards, available to buy. 

We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home

Doors open a 6.30 pm | group runs from 7.00–8.30pm | Bar open until 10pm

Seats are limited – reserve yours now. If you can’t make it, please let us know at hello@visitsocialbar.com so someone else can join.

The Sustained Creative

A monthly meetup for creative professionals

Sign up

Being a creative and building a professional life has always been challenging. Now though, in a time where the rate of change - economic, cultural, political and technological - is staggering. these challenges can feel overwhelming. 

The Sustained Creative is a brand-new gathering for emerging and established artists, actors, writers, filmmakers, designers, makers, musicians, producers, sculptors, photographers and anyone building a life around creative work.

A Life That Works

Creative work can be meaningful and deeply human. It can also be precarious, underfunded, isolating and difficult to hold together, especially against an economic backdrop that often fails to recognise the value of creative labour.

The Sustained Creative meetup exists precisely to address to this reality.

This monthly event offers up a space for conversation, connection and practical support. The aim is simple: to help creative professionals meet, share what's happening in their working lives and build the kind of community that makes creative work more sustainable, more energising and more motivating.

this is not just a networking evening, though meeting people is central to it. It is also a place to explore the pressures creative professionals carry, the resources they might need and the practical knowledge that helps them to continue to make, earn and flourish over time.

MAKE GOOD SHOP LAUNCH

MAKE GOOD opens its doors in Saxmundham this October — a new shop bringing together beautifully made objects for home and living from independent makers across East Anglia.

Thoughtfully curated, tactile and quietly distinctive, it’s a space to discover things made with skill, character and purpose. Join us for the launch weekend on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October, 10am–4pm, at No. 1 High Street.

Saxmundham Wholefoods

Long Tables - A Celebration

Join us at socialbar to celebrate one year of Saxmundham Wholefoods* with a generous seasonal vegan sharing feast, served around one long table.

The idea is simple: good food, passed around, with time to talk. Some guests will come with friends, others may arrive knowing nobody. The food is designed to create an easy, sociable evening — shared dishes, conversation and connection around the table.

We’ll begin a welcome drink - an autumn spritz (non-alcoholic available). The first course with warm focaccia, whipped cannellini bean dip, sea vegetable salsa verde, confit cherry tomatoes, marinated olives and pickled fennel.

The main feast will include flamingo pea cassoulet, roasted squash with sage oil and toasted hazelnuts, charred seasonal vegetables using the best available produce from Maple Farm served with a mixed seasonal leaf and herb salad with lemon dressing.

For dessert, Eton mess made for sharing — vegan whipped cream and cream cheese, seasonal fruit coulis and fresh fruit, piled onto big platters for everyone to spoon generously into bowls at the table.

A relaxed, abundant dinner celebrating local food, seasonal produce and the simple pleasure of eating together.

Tuesday 26 September · 7pm
3 courses · £30
socialbar, 15 High Street, Saxmundham

* This event is subsidised by Saxmundham Wholefoods

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night

Share your sounds at our monthly vinyl night.

For Summer - if the weather’s good, Vinyl Night will take place at socialbar’s sister site - tap.social taproom. Just across the high street, tap.social has outdoor seating so that people can enjoy the grooves outside.

Whether it’s a cherished classic, a dusty B-side, or your latest crate-digging gem, bring your vinyl and we’ll play it on the bar’s turntable.

No DJ skills needed — we’ll provide those. Just bring your vinyl, your taste and a love for music.

Drop in, drop the needle, and enjoy drinks, snacks, and good company while the records spin.

No tickets, no fuss — just come.

Meet. Hear.

Every month.
Free to attend | Booking essential

Meet. Hear. is a small-group peer listening evening exploring how attentive hearing strengthens connection, resilience and community.

This evening centres on two simple ideas: that people have shared emotional needs, and that respectful, structured listening helps those needs be met. Rather than advice-giving or problem-solving, we focus on attention, presence and mutual understanding.

This is the first of three monthly gatherings designed to build listening skills and deepen supportive community ties in a calm, structured setting.

Free to attend.
Booking essential via email or in person at socialbar.

Everyone’s welcome.

Come by yourself or with friends. Bring your own board game or use one of ours!
We’ll help you get set up. Play with friends or someone entirely new and make a new friend.

Steve and Sarah will be on hand to serve soft drinks, wine, beer and simple snacks. We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home.
The bar will be open until 10 pm.

No need to book - just turn up. It will be a chilled out, relaxed atmosphere.

See you there!

Monthly Poetry Night

with Tamar Yoseloff (Poetry in Aldeburgh)

An evening of contemporary poetry in the heart of Saxmundham, with a special guest reader and a curated open mic.

Hosted by Tamar Yoseloff (Poetry in Aldeburgh), this is a monthly event for established writers, emerging voices and anyone who relishes the poetic realm.

What to expect:

• Guest reader (each month)

• Curated open mic (limited slots)

• An attentive audience... and the relaxed atmosphere of socialbar

Want to read?

Open mic slots are limited and curated to give every reader a proper audience.

• Reserve a slot in advance
  Email: chair@poetryinaldeburgh.org

• On-the-night slots: a small number may be available on a first-come basis 

Tuesday February 17
Doors: 7pm
Entry: £5

Location: socialbar, Saxmundham

Book club at socialbar
First Wednesday of the month - February 4th
Doors open 6.30 pm

We're a book club for people who love reading as much as they love a good drink. No stuffy meetings, just great books, good conversation and a relaxed atmosphere. We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6.30 pm at socialbar.

Come find your next favourite story — and a few new friends.

What to expect:
– Relaxed atmosphere
– Small group discussions
– Facilitated reading and book choices
– Wine, coffee & snacks, including mini brioche sandwiches and cheese and charcuterie boards, available to buy. 

We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home

Doors open a 6.30 pm | group runs from 7.00–8.30pm | Bar open until 10pm

Seats are limited – reserve yours now. If you can’t make it, please let us know at hello@visitsocialbar.com so someone else can join.

The Sustained Creative

A monthly meetup for creative professionals

Sign up

Being a creative and building a professional life has always been challenging. Now though, in a time where the rate of change - economic, cultural, political and technological - is staggering. these challenges can feel overwhelming. 

The Sustained Creative is a brand-new gathering for emerging and established artists, actors, writers, filmmakers, designers, makers, musicians, producers, sculptors, photographers and anyone building a life around creative work.

A Life That Works

Creative work can be meaningful and deeply human. It can also be precarious, underfunded, isolating and difficult to hold together, especially against an economic backdrop that often fails to recognise the value of creative labour.

The Sustained Creative meetup exists precisely to address to this reality.

This monthly event offers up a space for conversation, connection and practical support. The aim is simple: to help creative professionals meet, share what's happening in their working lives and build the kind of community that makes creative work more sustainable, more energising and more motivating.

this is not just a networking evening, though meeting people is central to it. It is also a place to explore the pressures creative professionals carry, the resources they might need and the practical knowledge that helps them to continue to make, earn and flourish over time.

Beyond Fear and Tribalism: Conscience in Uncertain Times

Format: Presentation & Discussion

Doors: 6.30pm

Event: 7pm - 9pm

In an increasingly polarised world, we can easily find ourselves trapped in moral and political conflicts with family, friends, colleagues and even strangers online.

With strong emotions locking our attention, how do we get better at understanding other people’s moral points of view? 

How do we recognise and work with our own blind spots or fixed ideas?

Could the answer lie in a recognition that stages in our moral development are shaped by our needs to feel safe, valued, heard and to belong?

Can this knowledge help us to understand other people's behaviour and, indeed, our own?

This evening with Ezra Hewing (Suffolk mind) explores how to reach beyond our own emotional needs, towards a liberated conscience which is not ruled by our own biases.

We will explore:

• The needs behind our moral development

• The evolutionary value of conscience

• Navigating relationships within polarised communities

• Establishing a moral footing amongst competing versions of reality

Sacred Mayonnaise

with Miche Fabre Lewin

Sunday 26 July 2026

2–6 pm

A ritual experience, hands-on workshop, conversation and seasonal food sharing with artist-cuisinière Miche Fabre Lewin.

For more than two decades, Miche has enacted Sacred Mayonnaiseas an ecological food ritual across food, farming, agriculture and arts festivals. In this intimate workshop, you will learn the slow, alchemical art of making mayonnaise by hand with organic eggs, oil, lemon and salt — transforming simple ingredients into something unctuous, healthful and alive with attention.

More than a cookery class, this is an invitation to cultivate the senses, re-enliven our relationship with food and honour the sacred in the everyday. Together we will make, talk, taste and share seasonal produce, before each participant leaves with their own pot of sacred mayonnaise.

Includes: ritual workshop, conversation, seasonal food sharing and a pot of sacred mayonnaise to take home.

Doors 14.00 · Meal at 16:00

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night

Share your sounds at socialbar’s monthly vinyl night.

Join us at socialbar for an evening dedicated to your records and the stories behind them.

Whether it’s a cherished classic, a dusty B-side, or your latest crate-digging gem, bring your vinyl and we’ll play it on the bar’s turntable.

No DJ skills needed — we’ll provide those. Just bring your vinyl, your taste and a love for music.

Drop in, drop the needle, and enjoy drinks, snacks, and good company while the records spin.

No tickets, no fuss — just come.

tap tap… what’s coming?

After a bit of building and plenty of tasting, tap.social taproom will be opening its doors.

Join us for our public launch event: a first chance to see the space and sample some craft on draught in our open air courtyard backing onto Fromus Square!

Craft beer, a courtyard seating on Fromus Square and a few opening-night surprises.

Everyone’s welcome to tap in and be social.

Monthly Poetry Night

with Tamar Yoseloff (Poetry in Aldeburgh)

An evening of contemporary poetry in the heart of Saxmundham, with a special guest reader and a curated open mic.

Hosted by Tamar Yoseloff (Poetry in Aldeburgh), this is a monthly event for established writers, emerging voices and anyone who relishes the poetic realm.

What to expect:

• Guest reader (each month)

• Curated open mic (limited slots)

• An attentive audience... and the relaxed atmosphere of socialbar

Want to read?

Open mic slots are limited and curated to give every reader a proper audience.

• Reserve a slot in advance
  Email: chair@poetryinaldeburgh.org

• On-the-night slots: a small number may be available on a first-come basis 

Tuesday February 17
Doors: 7pm
Entry: £5

Location: socialbar, Saxmundham

Doors: 6.30pm

Orchestra of Samples

Musicians across the world. Filmed. Sampled. Reimagined.

What happens when a kora player in Senegal, a violinist in Eastern Europe and a percussionist in South America end up performing together without ever meeting? In this fascinating talk and screening, we explore Orchestra of Samples — an extraordinary global music project built from recordings of more than 200 musicians gathered across five continents. Through film, field recordings and discussion, discover how fragments of performance become entirely new compositions, blurring the boundaries between technology, culture and collaboration.

Expect music, storytelling and a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most inventive musical journeys of recent years.

Thursday 16 July
Doors 6.30
7.00–9.30 pm
socialbar, Saxmundham

To book, email hello@visitsocialbar.com

The evening includes a screening, talk, discussion and audience Q&A.

Everyone’s welcome.

Come by yourself or with friends. Bring your own board game or use one of ours!
We’ll help you get set up. Play with friends or someone entirely new and make a new friend.

Steve and Sarah will be on hand to serve soft drinks, wine, beer and simple snacks. We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home.
The bar will be open until 10 pm.

No need to book - just turn up. It will be a chilled out, relaxed atmosphere.

See you there!

The Sustained Creative

A monthly meetup for creative professionals

Sign up

Being a creative and building a professional life has always been challenging. Now though, in a time where the rate of change - economic, cultural, political and technological - is staggering. these challenges can feel overwhelming. 

The Sustained Creative is a brand-new gathering for emerging and established artists, actors, writers, filmmakers, designers, makers, musicians, producers, sculptors, photographers and anyone building a life around creative work.

A Life That Works

Creative work can be meaningful and deeply human. It can also be precarious, underfunded, isolating and difficult to hold together, especially against an economic backdrop that often fails to recognise the value of creative labour.

The Sustained Creative meetup exists precisely to address to this reality.

This monthly event offers up a space for conversation, connection and practical support. The aim is simple: to help creative professionals meet, share what's happening in their working lives and build the kind of community that makes creative work more sustainable, more energising and more motivating.

this is not just a networking evening, though meeting people is central to it. It is also a place to explore the pressures creative professionals carry, the resources they might need and the practical knowledge that helps them to continue to make, earn and flourish over time.

Book club at socialbar
First Wednesday of the month - February 4th
Doors open 6.30 pm

We're a book club for people who love reading as much as they love a good drink. No stuffy meetings, just great books, good conversation and a relaxed atmosphere. We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6.30 pm at socialbar.

Come find your next favourite story — and a few new friends.

What to expect:
– Relaxed atmosphere
– Small group discussions
– Facilitated reading and book choices
– Wine, coffee & snacks, including mini brioche sandwiches and cheese and charcuterie boards, available to buy. 

We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home

Doors open a 6.30 pm | group runs from 7.00–8.30pm | Bar open until 10pm

Seats are limited – reserve yours now. If you can’t make it, please let us know at hello@visitsocialbar.com so someone else can join.

WFH? Join the socialbar coworking meetup

Working from home has its perks, but it can also get a bit samey. Our monthly WFH meetup is a relaxed way to get out of the house, settle into a different environment for a few hours, and be around other people doing the same.

Whether you want to crack on with some work, have a change of scene, or simply spend a bit of time around other local professionals, this is an easy, low-pressure space to drop into. Come for an hour or stay for the full session.

Each meetup includes time to cowork, catch up and connect, with drink and food available throughout. We’ll also feature a monthly keynote: a short, useful talk designed to give the afternoon an extra point of focus.

This month’s keynote

The importance of sleep for performance

This month we’ll be looking at why sleep matters so much for how we think, feel and function. From concentration, mood and decision-making to energy, resilience and productivity, sleep plays a bigger role in performance than most of us allow for. Expect a practical, accessible session with takeaways you can use straight away.

When

Last Monday of the month
3–6pm

Where

socialbar
15 High Street, Saxmundham

Drink and food available.

Booking

Book in via hello@visitsocialbar.com
or visit www.visitsocialbar.com/events

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night

Share your sounds at socialbar’s monthly vinyl night.

Join us at socialbar for an evening dedicated to your records and the stories behind them.

Whether it’s a cherished classic, a dusty B-side, or your latest crate-digging gem, bring your vinyl and we’ll play it on the bar’s turntable.

No DJ skills needed — we’ll provide those. Just bring your vinyl, your taste and a love for music.

Drop in, drop the needle, and enjoy drinks, snacks, and good company while the records spin.

No tickets, no fuss — just come.

Meet. Hear.

Weds 24 Jun
Free to attend | Booking essential

Meet. Hear. is a small-group peer listening evening exploring how attentive hearing strengthens connection, resilience and community.

This evening centres on two simple ideas: that people have shared emotional needs, and that respectful, structured listening helps those needs be met. Rather than advice-giving or problem-solving, we focus on attention, presence and mutual understanding.

This is the first of three monthly gatherings designed to build listening skills and deepen supportive community ties in a calm, structured setting.

Free to attend.
Booking essential via email or in person at socialbar.

Monthly Poetry Night

with Tamar Yoseloff (Poetry in Aldeburgh)

An evening of contemporary poetry in the heart of Saxmundham, with a special guest reader and a curated open mic.

Hosted by Tamar Yoseloff (Poetry in Aldeburgh), this is a monthly event for established writers, emerging voices and anyone who relishes the poetic realm.

What to expect:

• Guest reader (each month)

• Curated open mic (limited slots)

• An attentive audience... and the relaxed atmosphere of socialbar

Want to read?

Open mic slots are limited and curated to give every reader a proper audience.

• Reserve a slot in advance
  Email: chair@poetryinaldeburgh.org

• On-the-night slots: a small number may be available on a first-come basis 

Tuesday February 17
Doors: 7pm
Entry: £5

Location: socialbar, Saxmundham

socialbar Saturday night wiht funky house DJ Funky R

Join us for our an evening of funky house grooves as DJ Funky R takes over the socialbar decks. Expect a steady flow of groovy sounds, blending the soulful rhythms and driving melodies combined with Nu-disco.

Funky R’s selections will provide the perfect bounce for your Saturday night cocktails and pizza!

No tickets, no fuss — just come.

Everyone’s welcome.

Come by yourself or with friends. Bring your own board game or use one of ours!
We’ll help you get set up. Play with friends or someone entirely new and make a new friend.

Steve and Sarah will be on hand to serve soft drinks, wine, beer and simple snacks. We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home.
The bar will be open until 10 pm.

No need to book - just turn up. It will be a chilled out, relaxed atmosphere.

See you there!

Beyond Fear and Tribalism: Conscience in Uncertain Times

Format: Presentation & Discussion

Doors: 6.30pm

Event: 7pm - 9pm

In an increasingly polarised world, we can easily find ourselves trapped in moral and political conflicts with family, friends, colleagues and even strangers online.

With strong emotions locking our attention, how do we get better at understanding other people’s moral points of view? 

How do we recognise and work with our own blind spots or fixed ideas?

Could the answer lie in a recognition that stages in our moral development are shaped by our needs to feel safe, valued, heard and to belong?

Can this knowledge help us to understand other people's behaviour and, indeed, our own?

This evening with Ezra Hewing (Suffolk mind) explores how to reach beyond our own emotional needs, towards a liberated conscience which is not ruled by our own biases.

We will explore:

• The needs behind our moral development

• The evolutionary value of conscience

• Navigating relationships within polarised communities

• Establishing a moral footing amongst competing versions of reality

Glasseye Comedy Night at socialbar

As part of Saxmundham Arts Fest, join us for an evening of live stand-up at socialbar, hosted by Glasseye Comedy and headlined by veteran UK comic John Mann.

With more than 35 years on the comedy circuit, John has performed across the UK and internationally, with TV credits including The Stand Up Show, The Comedy Store, The Big Breakfast, Live at Jongleurs and The 11 O’Clock Show. His writing and warm-up work includes Lenny Henry, Harry Enfield, Paul O’Grady, Phill Jupitus, Father Ted, Blankety Blank and Ant & Dec.

The night will also feature guest spots from local comedians, bringing a mix of sharp observations, new voices and live-room comedic energy to Saxmundham.

Come for the festival, stay for the comedy: good wine, local beer, sourdough pizza and a room full of people laughing together.

Presented by Glasseye Comedy at socialbar for Saxmundham Arts Fest.

Book club at socialbar
First Wednesday of the month - February 4th
Doors open 6.30 pm

We're a book club for people who love reading as much as they love a good drink. No stuffy meetings, just great books, good conversation and a relaxed atmosphere. We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6.30 pm at socialbar.

Come find your next favourite story — and a few new friends.

What to expect:
– Relaxed atmosphere
– Small group discussions
– Facilitated reading and book choices
– Wine, coffee & snacks, including mini brioche sandwiches and cheese and charcuterie boards, available to buy. 

We kindly ask that you leave outside drinks and food at home

Doors open a 6.30 pm | group runs from 7.00–8.30pm | Bar open until 10pm

Seats are limited – reserve yours now. If you can’t make it, please let us know at hello@visitsocialbar.com so someone else can join.

The Sustained Creative

A monthly meetup for creative professionals

Sign up

Being a creative and building a professional life has always been challenging. Now though, in a time where the rate of change - economic, cultural, political and technological - is staggering. these challenges can feel overwhelming. 

The Sustained Creative is a brand-new gathering for emerging and established artists, actors, writers, filmmakers, designers, makers, musicians, producers, sculptors, photographers and anyone building a life around creative work.

A Life That Works

Creative work can be meaningful and deeply human. It can also be precarious, underfunded, isolating and difficult to hold together, especially against an economic backdrop that often fails to recognise the value of creative labour.

The Sustained Creative meetup exists precisely to address to this reality.

This monthly event offers up a space for conversation, connection and practical support. The aim is simple: to help creative professionals meet, share what's happening in their working lives and build the kind of community that makes creative work more sustainable, more energising and more motivating.

this is not just a networking evening, though meeting people is central to it. It is also a place to explore the pressures creative professionals carry, the resources they might need and the practical knowledge that helps them to continue to make, earn and flourish over time.