Today's most viewed
| DALES FOLK |  | | | PICK OF THE PAST | | | READERS' LETTERS | | | COUNTRYFILE | | | | CARTOONS | | |
|
|
|
Village's summer with the stars
 |
| Toyah Wilcox |
It may be Good Friday, but summer is on the horizon already with the launch of the 2008 programme for Grassington's Festival of Music and Arts, 2008.
It promises to be yet another vintage year as festival director Amelia Vyvyan and her team, supported by title sponsor Skipton Building Society, have put together their most ambitious programme yet.
A programme of more than 70 events is set to transform the entire area into a celebration of every art genre imaginable for the last two weeks of June.
"We really try to challenge and excite our audiences with a huge variety of events of the highest quality," said Mrs Vyvyan.
"Alongside the famous faces, we really hope to encourage people to experience new and different performances from all around the world."
The headline performers for the four-night Festival in the Field finale, from June 25 to 28, are popular tenor Aled Jones, jazz star Clare Teal, Irish funnyman Dara O'Briain and 80s rock and pop icons Toyah Wilcox and Doctor and the Medics.
The festival organisers are delighted to have persuaded Courtney Pine to kick off the event in fine style on Friday June 13, with his unique fusion of jazz, reggae, hip-hop and drum-and-bass influences.
The first Saturday of the festival, June 14, is the Big Day of Dance - the morning is packed with workshops; the afternoon with performances - and belly dancing, clog dancing and break dancing make for a heady mix of styles. Then there's a traditional tea dance at the town hall followed by an energetic night of jive and swing with King Pleasure & the Biscuit Boys.
 |
| Claire Teal |
As the week progresses, there's a choice of classical music with celebrated pianist Joanna MacGregor; folk music with Scotland Blazin' Fiddles; a moving evening of music and poetry commemorating the First World War narrated by film, theatre and TV star Timothy West; laughs while sharing the reminiscences of entertainer Barry Cryer and edge-of-seat excitement listening to the daring adventures of mountaineer Stephen Venables.
The week is rounded off by the exuberance of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, whose repertoire encompasses everything from Tchaikovsky to The Sex Pistols.
Early risers have a treat in store on the second Saturday of the festival, June 21, with a dawn walk and sunrise concert with strings by the Skipton Building Society Camerata.
The rest of the day is dedicated to street theatre, with lots of free performances for all the family from as far afield as France, Canada and Cumbria.
The day rounds off with a magical and captivating concert of classical and popular favourites from renowned and classical soprano Natasha Marsh, who won the hearts of sell-out audiences worldwide when she toured with Russell Watson and Il Divo .
| “We really try to challenge and excite our audiences with a huge variety of events of the highest quality.” | | Amelia Vyvyan |
|
On Sunday June 22 there is a tribute to more unusual and exotic performance arts with a concert of Musical Rocks - yes, that's right, rocks! - and a cultural dramatic presentation by the Tashi Lunghpo Tibetan monks of their unique sacred dances, music and prayers, with colourful traditional costumes and ceremonial masks. Meanwhile, The Allegri Quartet, Britain's oldest still-performing quartet, will be playing Bach and Haydn.
Then, before the Festival in the Field four-day finale, listeners can get a fascinating insight into the country's military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan with General Sir Mike Jackson, former commander in chief of the British forces and now author and commentator; or grab a last chance to see acoustic rock group Magna Carta, performing for the last time at Grassington before their retirement next year.
But that's not all. A whole programme of walks and workshops will fill the days.
You can explore the countryside with historical or nature experts; perfect life-drawing skills, or even have a go at building sandcastles or dry stone walls.
Sing your heart out with Stile Antico; try a little of what you fancy at one of the wine or beer tasting evenings; or bring along your treasured family heirloom for Antiques Roadshow regular Eric Knowles to assess and value.
Wander through the village and enjoy the Art & About trail - 11 venues will be exhibiting paintings, photographs, printwork, sculpture and much more.
Special treats this year will include the sand sculptures of Simon Smith and a sand mandala by the Tibetan monks of Tashi Lhungpo Monastery which will be created from marble sand over several days and then dismantled in a special ceremony on Saturday June 28. Free music and poetry nights are taking place in many of the pubs in the locality too.
A new festival feature this year is film. Big screen showings include the Oscar-winning La Vie En Rose and Atonement, plus an evening of quirky, funny and frightening short films from today's upcoming filmmakers. And you can cast your vote to give the most talented new director the Grassington Festival Audience Film Award.
Tickets for all events can be bought from May 6 online at grassington-festival.org.uk; by phone on 01756 752691 or in person from the Festival Box Office at Grassington Town Hall, 48 Main street, Grassington BD23 5AA (not open Saturdays) and also the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Colvend, Hebden Road, Grassington.
10:40am Sunday 23rd March 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
