19 September 2026
I love the concept of the Good Grief Weston festival, which offers a varied programme of events and activities that open up compassionate conversations around death, dying and bereavement. I feel lucky and honoured to be hosting a ★ listening event: The Stars Look Very Different Today: An Evening with David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ Ten Years on – with Leah Kardos.
This is the write up from the listing:
On his sixty-ninth birthday in January 2016, David Bowie released Blackstar. Two days later he died. Made through illness, the album looks death in the eye and meets it with creativity, mischief and grace.
Ten years on, join musician and writer Leah Kardos for an evening in the album’s company. The author of Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie (Bloomsbury, 2022), Leah will reflect on how Blackstar was made and what it can mean: how Bowie turned his own ending into art, and how his final work invites us to cherish our transience rather than fear it.
Then, as night falls, we listen to the album Blackstar together. Bring a warm layer. Weather permitting, we end the evening with the stars.
I think this is going to be a special night! Here's hoping for clear skies...
Info: 16 October, 2026, 7.30pm - 9pm
Tickets from £5
Where: The Grand Pier, Marine Parade, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1AL