THIS year’s Archaeology Festival at Salisbury Museum, in the Cathedral Close, on Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th July, will be one of the biggest for years, with a packed programme of events in the museum garden, the new hall and a demonstration marquee, featuring talks, participatory activities, folk music and more. As well as…
ELEVATE Festival, a celebration of new work by local writers, companies and performers, returns to Bath Theatre Royal for a second year, with a two-week programme in September in the Egg theatre. The festival is presented by the theatre’s Engage programme, which is dedicated to creating participatory opportunities across Bath for creatively curious adults and…
IF your thoughts go north of the border at the mention of “the Fringe” you clearly haven’t discovered the Shaftesbury Fringe, a weekend of entertainment, comedy, music, dance, theatre, cabaret, poetry, eccentricity and all-round original creativity. This year’s Shaftesbury Fringe, running over four days, from Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th July, features a massive line-up…
OPERA in beautiful rural settings is now almost as much part of the English summer (whatever the weather) as the village fete and strawberries and cream. The tiny village of Oborne near Sherborne has quietly but steadily been developing its own mini opera festival, and this year, from Friday 26th July to Sunday 4th August…
SIDMOUTH Folk Festival returns this year, from Friday 2nd to Friday 9th August – for the 70th anniversary, making it one of the world’s longest established celebration of traditional folk music and dance. Sidmouth has been at the heart of the English – and British, European and world – folk scene, championing traditional music, dance…
CRANBORNE Chase, with the Cursus, Badbury Rings and many prehistoric remains, is a magical landscape – where better to launch a new festival which aims to reconnect with nature and the rural environment, in a multi-arts programme of music, dance, storytelling and theatre for all the family? The Labyrinth Arts Festival will take place at…
IF you are among the many who think Thomas Hardy is not a barrel of laughs, Tom Browns at Dorchester will be looking to change your mind with Hardy Har, the town’s first comedy festival, on Saturday 13th July. Laughter comes to High East Street as Tom Browns pub joins forces with Dorchester Arts, The…
CERNE Abbas Music Festival, established in 1991 as a relaxed but high quality celebration of the chamber music repertoire, takes a new direction this year, with a new venue and an inaugural autumn series. Most concerts for this year’s festival, from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th July, will be in the usual venue, the village’s…
BIG band tributes and big flavours are on the menu at the Upton House Food and Music Festival at Upton Country Park near Poole, on 14th to 16th June. The popular three-day family-friendly festival features top UK tribute acts and some of the region’s finest food and drink producers in the beautiful setting with views…
DORSET Opera celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, with performances of one of the world’s best-loved operas and the premiere of an opera adapted from a favourite Thomas Hardy, with its roots firmly in Dorset. There will be seven performances of the two works at Bryanston School’s Coade Hall, Blandford Forum, from 22nd to 27th…