Green shoots and rising sap

The daffodils are out - so that can mean only one thing: it's Spring! Except that it is only February 1st. [We appreciate that some people had daffs flowering before Christmas but up here in the hills things move according to different rules and our daffodils flower well into May normally).

Anyway we're all excited by this and other news - some of which we share now. The rest will follow in due course. The Buxton Festival programme has been published on-line. The printed version will be out in March and tickets on sale around about Easter. But you'll be wanting to plan your visit. Plenty of appetising morsels. Dr Lucy Worsley, Julia Bradbury, Ed Vulliamy and Alexi Sayle among many household names in the Literary programme. On the music side Ensemble 10:10 return to Buxton to reprise the world premiere they gave us last November (please don't miss that). There is a whole clutch of top-notch chamber music scheduled too.

If you want an excuse to be in Buxton for a festival at Easter then the Festival of World Cinema may be just the ticket. 22 films over 8 days from 12 countries with a programme of free talks and workshops for children. Box office hits such as The Lady In The Van, Brooklyn, Inside Out as well as award-winning documentaries such as A Syrian Love Story and The Gleaners & I also feature. Other recent releases include Taxi Tehran, Macbeth and Crimson Peak. Stories to make you laugh, gasp in amazement and cry!

The latest Discover Buxton podcast features a terrible bunch of rogues and ne'er do wells. That said the Billerettes, Michael Clement and some Fringe officers have a certain following. 

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe

2016 and all that

Good job our New Year's resolution wasn't to Blog more - not that it was to Blog less. Anyway we've been quiet - not that anyone has been complaining. Some news to bring you up-to-date with - lest you haven't read or seen it already.

We now have the artwork that you'll be seeing all over the place for the next six months. Buxton-based artist Helen Mint worked hard for us over the Christmas period on a design that we love. Helen probably had to eat a crate of oranges to get the raw materials for the design - but from our point of view it was worth it.

It is still early days so far as the programme content - rather than the cover - is concerned. Though we had a phone call today about arranging for some interesting cultural experiences for some Chinese students who will be visiting in July - so you interesting cultural practitioners had better set up plenty more events.

Those of you who find the wait until July a bit of a strain may want to know of some Fringe performers who can be seen this January. On Friday, January 22nd, Ava Hunt is at the Pavilion Arts Centre for one night reprising her Fringe show "Acting Alone": Acting Alone is a heart-breaking, witty and confrontational piece of theatre which asks whether we really stand up for what we believe in.
Inspired by visits to the West Bank and Tel Aviv, actor, writer and director Ava Hunt weaves together stories of fragile humanity with the frequently hilarious experience of touring as an actor. In Acting Alone she asks; can one person really make a difference?

The night before (that must be Thursday January 21st) a trip to the Peak District village of Bonsall will be well rewarded. Poet Mark Gwynne Jones will be at the Barley Mow (a "pub" I am told) hosting an evening of poetry and drinking. The fun starts at 8pm - and it will be fun, and many other things besides.

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe