Pleasure Gardens Theatre

Leas Cliff Hall is an entertainment and function venue situated in Folkestone, on the Kent coast of England. The Grand Hall seats 900 and it has a standing capacity of 1500. It currently presents a varied programme of touring shows including concerts, comedy, ballet and wrestling.

Folkestone and Hythe is a local government district in Kent, England, in the south-east of the county. Its council is based in the town of Folkestone. The authority was renamed from Shepway in April 2018, and therefore has the same name as the Folkestone and Hythe parliamentary constituency, although a somewhat narrower area is covered by the district. Most of the population live in the coastal towns of Folkestone and Hythe. The north of the district mainly consists of landscape villages interspersed with woods along parts of the North Downs, while the south features a coastal expanse of lower lying, periodically reclaimed villages in less forested Romney Marsh, which has a number of communities extensively built in the medieval period and 17th century as centres of the Romney Marsh wool trade. The district's economy is influenced by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the M20 motorway, while the tourism and allied retail sectors provide key sources of employment.

Lower Leas Coastal Park is in Folkestone, in Kent, England. The park is split into three broad recreational zones, starting at The Leas Lift (on Lower Sandgate Road) and heading west. The formal zone comprises pine avenues and flower gardens, planted for all-year-round interest. The fun zone comprises the large free adventure play area and the amphitheatre. The last area, the wild zone, has been created for a diverse wildlife habitat, with careful management.

The Creative Folkestone Triennial is an arts festival held every three years in Folkestone, Kent, England.Site-specific artworks are commissioned for what are often unusual locations around the town, a number of works remaining in place permanently after the end of each festival as part of the permanent Creative Folkestone Artworks exhibition. The 2021 Triennial will be the first to break the usual three-year cycle following a postponement from its original 2020 dates due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.Artists who have exhibited at the Triennial include Lubiana Himid, Tracy Emin, Cornelia Parker, Martin Creed, Myles Stephens, Emma Hart, Sir Anthony Gormley, Andy Goldsworthy and Bob and Roberta Smith. During 2014, graffiti artist Banksy contributed Art Buff to the town, announcing that it was "Part of the Folkestone triennial. Kind of."The Folkestone Triennial was curated by Andrea Schlieker in 2008 and 2011, and Lewis Biggs in 2014, 2017 and 2021.

Folkestone ( FOHK-stən) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. There has been a settlement in this location since the Mesolithic era. A nunnery was founded by Eanswith, granddaughter of Æthelberht of Kent in the 7th century, who is still commemorated as part of the town's culture. During the 13th century it subsequently developed into a seaport and the harbour developed during the early 19th century to provide defence against a French invasion. Folkestone expanded further west after the arrival of the railway in 1843 as an elegant coastal resort, thanks to the investment of the Earl of Radnor under the urban plan of Decimus Burton. In its heyday - during the Edwardian era - Folkestone was considered the most fashionable resort of the time, visited by royalties - amongst them Queen Victoria and Edward VII and other members of the English aristocracy. The architecture of the town, especially in the West End part of the town is a testimony of this period with many impressive buildings, townhouses, villas, private squares and large hotels built to accommodate the gentry. After two world wars and the boom of the overseas holiday package, the town quickly declined. The harbour's trade diminished following the opening of the nearby Channel Tunnel and the ending of ferry services from Folkestone, but it still remains in active use.

Folkestone Central railway station is on the South Eastern Main Line in England, and is the main station serving the town of Folkestone, Kent. It is 69 miles 73 chains (112.5 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. All trains that call are operated by Southeastern.

South Kent College (SKC) was a college of further and higher education in southeast England. The main campus was in Folkestone, with satellites in Dover and at several sites in Ashford. Following a KPMG report in 2008 that recommended a merger, in April 2010 SKC joined West Kent College to form South & West Kent College, trading as K College.

The Leas Lift is a grade II* listed funicular railway that carries passengers between the seafront and the promenade in Folkestone, Kent. Originally installed in 1885, it is one of the oldest water lifts in the UK.The lift operates using water and gravity and is controlled from a small cabin at the top of the cliff. It has carried more than 36.4 million people since it opened, in a process that is especially energy efficient. The lift has a very small carbon footprint, as it emits no pollution and recycles all of the water used to drive the cars.On June 1991, the lift was seen in an episode of The Darling Buds of May.In June 2009, Folkestone and Hythe District Council’s lease ran out and it was decided that the lift was too expensive to run. Campaigners subsequently protested against the closure of the lift and in April 2010, it was announced that the lift was to be restored.

The Royal Victoria Hospital, Folkestone, is a community hospital located on the edge of Radnor Park in Folkestone, Kent, in England. It is managed by the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

Folkestone Lifeboat Station was located on the shore side of Marine Parade, between the Leas Lift and Marine Gardens, in the harbour town of Folkestone, in the county of Kent. A lifeboat station was first established here in 1893 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Folkestone lifeboat station was closed in 1930.

Folkestone War Memorial is a First World War memorial situated in The Leas area of Folkestone, Kent. Designed by Ferdinand Victor Blundstone and unveiled in 1922, it commemorates the 578 men of Folkestone who served in the war, and those who passed through Folkestone Harbour when Folkestone Harbour railway station nearby was an important point of departure and return for passage to the Western Front via Boulogne. The road from the station to the harbour was renamed the "Road of Remembrance" after the war.

The history of Folkestone stretches back to ancient times, with evidence of human habitation dating to the Mesolithic and Paleolithic ages over 12,000 years ago. Its close proximity to the Continent means that it has often been a point of transit for migrating peoples. The area has successively been occupied by groups of Britons, Romans and Saxons. During the Iron Age, a large oppidum and quern-stone workshop were situated on the eastern headlands of the bay. By the Roman era, it had been transformed into a large Roman Villa overlooking the sea. During the Anglo-Saxon period, Folkestone was part of the Kingdom of Kent. After the Norman Invasion, a Norman knight held the Barony of Folkestone, by which time the settlement had become a fishing village. In the 13th century, it became part of the Cinque Ports, and had the privileges of a wealthy trading port. By the start of the Tudor period it had become a town in its own right. Wars with France meant that defences had to be built here; and plans for Folkestone Harbour were made. At the beginning of the 18th century the harbour finally became a reality, and Folkestone, like most settlements on the south coast, became involved in smuggling. However, it was the coming of the railways in mid-19th century that were the making of the town's prosperity: with it came the tourist trade, and the two industries, port and seaside resort, benefited the town until changes in tourist opportunities in the mid 20th century brought about its present somewhat depleted fortunes.