2020 events... ​

Wotton Dramatic Society presents "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C S Lewis
Wednesday April 15th  to Saturday 18th The Town Hall, Market Street, 7.30 pm evenings, 2.30 pm Saturday matinee

The tale of four children evacuated from London during the Blitz to stay in an old house in the country. Whilst exploring, Lucy stumbles across the wardrobe, gateway to another world, and the adventure begins. The land of Narnia is under the spell of the wicked White Witch and very quickly the four find themselves caught up in a deadly struggle between good and evil.

Please note - Tickets for this event are available from www.wottondrama.co.uk, or after 14th March on Saturday mornings only from TLC Services, 43 Long Street.

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Art Exhibition Preview and Festival Opening
Friday April 17th  St Mary's Church, Culverhay, 8.00 pm. 
Please note new venue.  The Exhibition will not open on Sunday 19th.

 Come and enjoy a glass of wine whilst viewing local artists’ work and hear all that will be happening during this Golden Festival. Gordon Phillips, who has directed all fifty of the Festivals, will declare the Festival open.

Art Exhibition
Saturday April 18th   St Mary's Church, Culverhay, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.  Please note new venue.

The Art Exhibition will be open for you to view the local artists' work at leisure, and maybe to buy a picture that takes your fancy.

Wotton and District Silver Band Concert
Saturday April 18th, Renishaw Innovation Centre, New Mills, 7.30 pm

We look forward to another performance by Wotton's own band, well known to local people for its performances at many community events.
The Band is delighted to be joined by guest soloist, Zoe Lovatt-Cooper, the celebrated Flugel Horn player from Yorkshire's world famous Black Dyke Band.

Fantasy Orchestra
Sunday April 19th   The Baptist Church, Rope Walk,  3.00 pm

The Fantasy Orchestra is a community project led by Jesse D Vernon, based in Bristol and also in Paris, playing an eclectic repertoire to create an electric atmosphere.

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Art Exhibition
Monday April 20th   St Mary's Church, Culverhay, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.  Please note new venue.

The art exhibition is open for you to view the local artist’s work at your leisure and maybe buy a picture.

Where Could I Buy?
A walk led by David Baird (In collaboration with The Heritage Centre)
Monday April 20th   The Heritage Centre, The Chipping    6.45 pm

See where the shops of yesteryear Wotton under Edge were and learn about the amazing number of things that could be bought in Wotton.

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Art Exhibition
Tuesday April 21st   St Mary's Church, Culverhay,   10.00 am - 4.00 pm    Please note new venue.

A last chance to view the exhibition of local artists' work.

An Anthology of Gloucestershire Poems
Tuesday April 21st   Under the Edge Arts, The Chipping  8.00 pm

Gloucestershire poets will read some of their 'soon to be published' works.

Turning the Tables
Wednesday April 22nd, Blue Coat School  7.30 pm

Ali Vowles will once again be asking the questions and Philip Summers, minister at the United Church, and Gordon Phillips, the Festival Director, will be answering them.

Russia's Secretive Corners - A Talk by John Pilkington
Thursday April 23rd  Blue Coat School, Symn Lane 7.30 pm

John made his name as a travel writer and photographer. and more recently has become known for his thought-provoking, richly illustrated talks and his adventure travel documentaries for BBC Radio 4. He has spoken to over 1,000 audiences in six countries, and holds the Royal Geographical Society’s Ness Award for popularising geography and the wider understanding of the world. He has also made reports for BBC 4’s “From our own correspondent” programme.

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Passions are running high in Ukraine and the breakaway states of the Caucasus. Vladimir Putin’s adventures in Ukraine took the West by surprise. John thinks in some ways they followed a pattern that goes back more than a century to the time of the Tsars. Since the Soviet Union’s break-up, Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia have become Russia’s ‘forgotten’ satellite states – unrecognised and unheard of by most outsiders. Now Donetsk and Luhansk have joined the list, and Russia has full control of Crimea. Between May and October 2015 John met people on both sides of these disputed borders, and promises some surprising insights. An evening not to be missed.

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Folk Night with Spike and Ed
Friday April 24th  The Star, Market Street  7.30pm

Spike Woods and Ed Bloomfield, who performed in the very first Wotton Arts Festival, met in the early 70’s in folk clubs and formed a partnership soon after. They worked together on Radio Bristol, TV and gigs for fifteen years, singing much of their own material. Eventually Ed moved away in the 80’s but they still team up occasionally for special events.
 

St. George's Day Celebrations
Saturday April 25th   Town Hall, Market Street  10.30am to 12 noon 

A toast to St George will be made by the Town Mayor and the Town Crier (George Carpenter, Freeman of Wotton). Waterley Bottom Mummers and Morris Sides will entertain you.
 Come and join in the celebrations and drink a toast to St George.

Aardman Workshop
Saturday April 25th   The Chipping Hall 
9.30 am Shaun the Sheep,  11.30 am Lula,  and 2.00 pm Gromit

These are really fun, hands-on sessions where participants can get creative with clay and discover how to make their own model of one of our world-famous characters, which they then get to take home with them.
Each workshop will last approximately one hour and feature a different character.
The workshops are run by one of our expert model makers, who have worked on some of our best-loved titles. They are real pros, have loads of great anecdotes about the studio, and generally put on a really entertaining and engaging session. It’s also a great opportunity for participants to ask any questions about the tricks of the trade from the Aardman studio.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Sponsored by

The Oriana Singers
Saturday  April 25th   St. Mary's Church, Culverhay  7.30 pm​

The Oriana Singers performed at the first Festival in 1971. Tonight’s exciting programme includes Purcell’s glorious Come Ye Sons of Art and Handel’s rousing Coronation Anthems The King Shall Rejoice and My Heart is Inditing .  The second half of the concert features Bach’s Cantata No.21, which moves from the depths of darkness to a truly triumphant conclusion.
Oriana Singers have an international reputation, having performed in Seville Cathedral’s Royal Chapel and broadcast live from Rouen Cathedral. The professional soloists include local soprano Gillian Wells, and Wotton violinist Justine Tomlinson leads the orchestra.

Where Could I Buy?
A walk led by David Baird (In collaboration with The Heritage Centre)
Monday April 27th   The Heritage Centre, The Chipping  6.45 pm

A second opportunity (if you could not get tickets for the first walk)to see all the shops of yesteryear Wotton under Edge and learn about the amazing number of things that could be bought.                                                                                       

Poetry Evening with Shirley Wright
Tuesday April 28th   Under the Edge Arts, The Chipping   7.30 pm 

Shirley will tell how she writes and publishes her work. She is a former French teacher turned poet and novelist who lives in Bristol. In 2008 her poem “My Father” won the Sunday Telegraph Poetry for Performance competition, judged by Ben Okri and Andrew Motion. Since then her poetry has won or been placed in various competitions and appeared in magazines and journals.
There will be opportunities for members of the audience to read their favourite poems.

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Children's Literary Workshop
Wednesday April 29th   in the schools

Authors and illustrators Kate Frost, Roger Turner, Samantha Miles, Rachel Falber, Nicky Hill and Jerry Rhodes will host workshops with pupils at local Primary Schools during the school day, encouraging them to write and illustrate stories and enjoy reading stories and poetry.

All My Life's Buried Here
Film of the life of George Butterworth
Wednesday April 29th   Under the Edge Arts, The Chipping  8.15 pm

ALL MY LIFE'S BURIED HERE tells the story of George Butterworth's life and music from his earliest childhood to his final hours in the violent confusion of the trenches. We follow Butterworth on his forays collecting folk songs to discover what he found when he went out into rural England and how this informed his own music. We discover why Butterworth once described himself as a 'professional morris dancer', and explore what led him to destroy so many of his own compositions before he died. Tracing his journey to its tragic conclusion we go with Butterworth into the trenches of northern France where his participation in increasingly desperate battles on The Somme ultimately cost him his life.
The film will be followed by a question and answer session with the film’s director, Stewart Morgan Hajdukiewicz.

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Schools' Music Evening
Thursday April 30th  St. Mary's Parish Church, Culverhay  6.30 pm

Children from local primary schools and Katharine Lady Berkeley School combine to perform music through the ages.

The Lives of Rolls and Royce
A talk by Roger James
Friday May 1st  Wotton under Edge Historical Society, Civic Centre,   7.30 pm

Roger James will discuss the lives of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, and explains how they met and formed the Rolls-Royce Company, why it was (and is) so successful and then follows their stories to the end of their lives in 1910 and 1933 respectively .
This talk is dedicated to the memory of David and Danny Ward.

Wotton Spring Gardens and Open Studios
Organised by UTEA in collaboration with Wotton Arts Festival
Saturday May 2nd  10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Some of Wotton’s beautiful gardens and artists’ studios are open for you to enjoy. Refreshments will be available at some locations.

Writers Panel - My Era is Better Than Yours
Saturday May 2nd  The Library, Ludgate Hill  2.00 pm

Lucienne Boyce is an award-winning historical novelist and women’s suffrage historian.  She will chair a discussion between regency novelist, Jayne Davis, David Penny who writes about Moorish al-Andalus in Spain, and Anita Davidson author of historical mysteries set in 1900’s about their choice of era for their novels.  Debbie Young, local author of contemporary novels and director of Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival,will host the afternoon.

Festival Concert - Bristol Ensemble
Saturday May 2nd   St. Mary's Church, Culverhay   7.30 pm

The orchestra holds a pivotal position in South West music, presenting a varied programme of concerts and events in the region’s major venues. It was founded in 1994 by its Artistic Director and lead violinist Roger Huckle.  Roger now spends his time directing and developing the Bristol Ensemble as well as performing in Bergen, Norway.
The  programme will include Mozart’s Symphony No 29, Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and Vaughan Williams’ Greensleeves. There will also be a new work to celebrate the 50th Festival– Divertimenti for Horn and Strings.  Local young violinist, Anna Geary will join the ensemble to play Beethoven’s Romance in F.

Wotton Spring Gardens and Open Studios
Organised by UTEA in collaboration with Wotton Arts Festival
Sunday May 3rd  10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Some of Wotton’s beautiful gardens and artists' studios are open again for you to enjoy.  Today Swinhay House and Stancombe Park gardens will be open as well and there will be Plant Sales at the Chipping Hall.  Refreshments will be available at some locations.

Band on the Hill
Sunday May 3rd   Wotton Hill  11.00 am

Wotton and District Silver Band will play their traditional programme of hymns and marches on Band Sunday.
Continuing the tradition of over 100 years  of this event.

Festival Service
Sunday May 3rd   St. Mary's Parish Church, Culverhay   6.00 pm

A service in celebration of the arts in Wotton and giving thanks for the Festival will be led by Rev’d Canon David Russell bringing the Festival to a close.
 

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