SALISBURY International Arts Festival, back after a year’s absence, and now under the aegis of Wiltshire Creative, was a huge success and a great boost to the city, with a record number of first-time visitors. It is good news for Salisbury, which had such a hard year in 2018. More than 42,000 people came to…
DEVON’s rural touring arts scheme, Villages in Action, has been shortlisted for the award for touring scheme collaboraton of the year in the National Rural Touring Awards, which will be announced at the beginning of July. The nomination recognises the success of the partnership between Villages in Action and Cornwall’s Carn to Cove rural touring…
SALISBURY will celebrate the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Cathedral, one of the masterpieces of medieval architecture, in 2020, with a series of special events, which will include a spectacular flower festival. Originally built at what is now Old Sarum, the Cathedral was founded on its present site, on the water meadows of…
COMPOSER Jonathan Dove, the guest director of this year’s Salisbury International Arts Festival, has been awarded a CBE for services to music in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Jonathan has played a key role in the development and programming of the 2019 festival, which featured several of his compositions. These included the premiere of…
WORLD-famous light installation artist Bruce Munro is on Wiltshire home ground with his latest work, Confluence, created for Salisbury Cathedral’s Refectory restaurant. Confluence, a shimmering display of five large panels, each made up of 240 colourful recycled CDs, was inspired the Cathedral’s site at the confluence of five rivers – the Avon and its tributaries…
THE Gas Tower dance arena in the Shangri-La area of this year’s Glastonbury Festival will be made from plastic that has been collected during May from beaches, streets and in parks in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Glastonbury has banned the sale of plastic bottles at this year’s festival which opens on 26th June. This recycling…
SALISBURY’s Studio Theatre had three sell-out evenings in June, celebrating success in two regional drama competitions and the remarkable progress on the extension to the theatre in Ashley Road. Members, supportters and friends toured the backstage area and had a preview of the new building. Work on the extension began in March 2018, when the…
AS a film location, Lyme Regis is best known for the iconic scene in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, with a wind-swept and haunted Meryl Streep looking out to sea on The Cobb. But the town has had starring roles in two other films, 70 years apart. A few weeks ago, the national press was full…
BATH Theatre Royal has a line-up of stars and local favourites for this year’s pantomime, Beauty and the Beast, which will run from 12th December to 12th January. Wendi Peters, a much-loved star of television and stage, will play Fairy Bon-Bon, alongside comedian Jon Monie, who has been delighting Bath audiences for many years, and…
CHRIS Jarvis, who co-wrote, directed and played the title role of Dick Whittington, last year’s family pantomime at Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre, was named Best Principal Boy in the Great British Panto Awards, hosted by Christopher Biggins. Chris, who saw off competition from three Peter Pans and an Aladdin, dedicated his award to “all the…