UP and down the country, people (often with no particular connection to Scotland) gather to celebrate the birthday of Rabbie Burns – but Dorset has its own dialect poet, and this year the annual Tea with William Barnes on Sunday 22nd February coincides with what would have been Barnes’ 225th birthday. For the past nine…
KLEZMER, the music of Jewish Eastern Europe and the Balkans, is haunting and poignant, but it can also be infectiously energetic, urging you to join in with its fast and furious dance rhythms. Catch the Zeffe klezmer band at the Beehive Centre at Honiton on Saturday 31st January at 7.30pm. It’s just the thing to…
YES, we know, it’s mid-winter – but right now we all need something to look forward to, and we’re looking ahead to the end of July when Poole Harbour Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary, and the Kaiser Chiefs headline the main stage. So, in this gloomy, cold, wet January, let’s try to imagine long summer…
MOSCOW Drug Club are hard to pigeon-hole – but hugely poplar, appealing to lovers of gypsy jazz, Berlin cabaret and French chanson. The group has two tours, starting in January, with Dorset’s Artsreach and Somerset’s Take Art. The local dates begin on Friday 30th at Drimpton. The late winter tour continues at Salisbury Arts Centre…
CABARET should always have a frisson of wanton wit, a hint of burlesque, some risqué songs … and even a pinch of decadence. In the capable hands of Charlie Bicknell and Louise Innes it also has balls or claws – or Claus, if you will. The always in-demand duo picks up its tour in on…
SARAH McQuaid is a singer-songwriter with an international background and a reputation both for the quality of her singing and multi-instrumental musicianship. She is coming to Dorset for a short tour with Artsreach, starting on Thursday 22nd January at Shipton Gorge village hall. On Saturday 24th she is at Studland and the last concert is…
DORSET folk musician Alastair Braidwood is leading several folk events in Dorchester over the weekend 9th to 11th January, starting with an evening of European folk dancing at the Brownsword Hall at Poundbury on Friday from 7pm. The weekend is a celebration of folk music and traditional customs with something for everyone, whatever their age…
COMEDY classical music quartet Graffiti Classics explode onto the stages of Dorset halls to launch the Artsreach 2026 programme. The three date tour starts on Thursday 8th at Wootton Fitzpaine village hall, followed by Lytchett Matravers on Friday 9th and the Corn Exchange at Blandford on Saturday 10th, all at 7.30pm. With 16 strings, eight…
A WORLDWIDE hit show that taps into the enduring love for one of the great icons of 1950s rock and roll, Buddy Holly, comes to Bath Theatre Royal from 13th to 17th January as part of a 2026 tour. Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story has been seen by an estimated 22 million people around…
IF you love folk and traditional music with a festive flavour, you probably already know that Christmas and the Mellstock Band go together like turkey and cranberry sauce. This December, the delightful quartet, who recreate the music of Thomas Hardy’s time, come to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 13th December at 7.30pm. The name Mellstock…