This year’s concert and performance programme runs from 9th –24th of September. The main programme starts with a gala concert on Saturday 10th by A Choir’d Taste, who got together following the Melbourne Festival “Come & Sing” workshop two years ago. The Library Theatre Company are back with Wind in the Willows on Wednesday 15th, Nigel John takes to the stage on Saturday 17th with his amazing Elton John tribute act, Friday 23rd Melbourne will be resounding with the Rhythms of the  World.

For more info visit www.melbournefestival.co.uk or download  http://melbournefestival.co.uk/downloads/Melbourne%20Festival.pdf 

Stunning cartoons depicting important local events will go on display for the first time at this year’s Ashby Arts Festival. This important exhibition will be one of the highlights of the festival and a must see for local people.

In 2010, Ashby Museum commissioned 28 cartoons, based on important events in the town and surrounding area’s history, from local illustrator and artist Di Lorriman.

The cartoons include pictures of The Statutes Fair, The Great Flood in Ashby, Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, The Ashby Canal, Ivanhoe Tournament and the 1941 bomb falling on Hill Street. The Ashby Arts Festival are delighted to be sponsoring ‘Lord Hastings builds his Tower.’ Seventeen of the cartoons will have been completed by the Festival week.

Di is a Fellow of the Nottingham Society of Artists and President of the Leicester Sketch Club. She runs residential ‘Watercolour’ and ‘Caricature’ courses, as well as art classes and workshops in the Midlands. She is particularly keen on promoting inclusion of disabled children and adults and those with learning difficulties in her work and is on the steering committee of the national charity SCOPE.

The Museum will be open throughout the Arts Festival (usual times: Mon-Fri 11.00-1.00; 2.00-4.00; Sat 10.00-4.00)

Entry to this Exhibition will be free, with donations requested.

For more information about all the Art About Town during the Festival pick up your free guide from Ashby Tourist Information Centre or download a copy from the festival website www.ashbyartsfestival.co.uk.

SECOND PLACE: WATCHING YOU
An ‘eye-catching’ image full of impact and vibrancy. It’s bitingly sharp – as it should be – with just enough of the bird to tell us it’s a parrot. It’s not only a superb close-up portrait, but also a fine study in colour and texture with an almost abstract quality to the image.

THIRD PLACE: FEELING DEFLATED
An image redolent of England with the frosted grass, bleak setting, louring clouds and bare goalpost. I would have preferred to see an old-fashioned brown leather ball to give the photo an even more nostalgic feel but, even so, the more modern ball has a lovely, crumpled, knocked-about look, suggesting that the game has been abandoned because this was the only ball the kids could play with. They’ve maybe left the scene, deflated themselves!

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

ST IVES – A very effective HDR (High Dynamic Range) treatment, giving the image a lovely, painterly look. I love the dramatic, broody sky and the shimmering movement in the water.
LITTLEWOOD TERRACE, ROBIN HOOD’S BAY – Thoughtfully composed evocation of an old rural street, taken at a perfect time with the wetness still on the stone floor adding to the impact and atmosphere of an attractive image, well suited to the monochrome treatment, too.
ALONG TICKNALL TRAMWAY – Suggestive of a Victorian photograph with its sepia treatment and its atmospheric evocation of childhood adventures in the great outdoors. I also like the feeling of the two pals heading towards the light where maybe greater adventures lie…
BATIK WORKER – The mono treatment superbly captures the atmosphere of this dark workshop. It’s very well printed, too, with the wisps of smoke perfectly rendered. There’s lovely light on the worker though I just wish I could have seen more of her face and the woman actually engaging in her work.
CRUMPETS – I can almost taste those crumpets! A very well set-up still life study, with every element well positioned. It’s been slightly let down by the pinkish and burnt out colour of the roaring fire but this is still a pleasing and technically impressive effort.

YOUNG WINNER – PUFFIN WITH SAND EELS
Puffins are quite small and difficult to photograph well. To get a puffin with sand eels in its mouth is a real bonus and may well have been the result of a lot of patience and perseverance by the photographer. This is a well captured study in a setting made all the more pleasing by the central placing of the bird surrounded by the flowers.

GENERAL COMMENTS

There was a satisfyingly wide range of imagery and overall the standard was good, though it was a shame to see a few images over-exposed and under sharpened.
The photos of the deer (Kind Eyes), Bleak Contemplation, the steam train (Ready To Go), Gnashers, The Cross, Lock Keeper’s Cottage, Whitby Steps and Abstract Nude Study were all placed in the initial selection of the best images.
I felt there was a thoughtful sense of composition and it was good to see a healthy display of monochrome entries along with attempts at something a little out of the ordinary. My only criticisms would be over the quality of most of the nature pictures. Many of the subjects were placed too big in the frame and too many were lacking in sharpness and detail. A few backgrounds were rather vivid or too cluttered; in nature photography, it’s important to remember that the background can be just as important as the foreground.

Here’s a round up of the events happening over the coming week:

Mon 30 May

 Digital Photography Exhibition 

Craft Fair

The Hub Cafe, Market St

Legion House

Free

On the Cusp of Summer – Music for the next generation

Lucy Ward and Green Fortune (and the male voices of Consencio)

Lyric Rooms

 Ashby TIC

Tue 31 May

Chinese Watercolour Painting Workshop

 Legion House

Kate May

 Photography Exhibition 

Cartoon Exhibition 

Library

Museum

Free

 Art Workshop for children 

Manor House School

Zoe Potter

Wed 1 Jun

Film Night – Exit Through the Gift Shop

 Lyric Rooms

 Ashby TIC

 Cartoon Exhibition 

 Library

Museum

Free

Art Workshop for children 

 Manor House School

Zoe Potter

Cartoon Workshop for children

Hood Park Leisure Centre

01530 412181

Thu 2 Jun

Judging a Book by its Back Cover - Play in a Day Project

Venture Theatre

Chorus Theatre

Comedy play – ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

Ashby School

 Ashby TIC

 Pyrography Workshop for Children

 Hood Park Leisure Centre

01530 412181

Photography Exhibition 

Cartoon Exhibition

Library

Museum

 Free

  Film – Rainy Day in CromerSimplicity

 Ashby TIC

 Fri 3 Jun

Judging a Book by its Back Cover - Play in a Day Project

Venture Theare

Chorus Theatre

 Comedy play – ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

 Ashby School

 Ashby TIC

 Photography Exhibition 

Cartoon Exhibition

Library

Museum

Free

 Sat 4 Jun

Comedy play – ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

 Ashby School

 Ashby TIC

 INS i DECongregational Church

 Ashby TIC

 Photography Exhibition 

Cartoon Exhibition

 Library

Museum

Free

See the website www.ashbyartsfestival.co.uk for more details or call the Ashby TIC on 01530 411767.

See you there!

Craft Fair- 10am- 4pm Legion House, Ashby de La Zouch. Free Admission

Easy Does It- 7pm at The Lyric Rooms. Tickets are available on the door!

See www.ashbyartsfestival.co.uk for more information.

Come and join us!

Ashby Arts Festival Opening Day – We would like someone to co-ordinate volunteers on Sat 28th May and direct the general public to events and activities.  A full 6 hours of street events is planned including, Morris Dancing, Maypole Dancing, Fashion Show, Lindybombing, African Drumming, Belly Dancing, Jaks Academy, Art Workshop (decorate the sheep), 6 Farmers’ market type stalls, street entertainers. Full briefing will be provided.

We are also looking for volunteers who can do Front of house, taking tickets, guiding people to seats, etc. for various events throughout the week of the festival. 

Would you like to be one of our ‘Marvellous Marigold Team’? In order to get our exhibition spaces up to scratch we would like to request your help.  Have you got a spare morning to help us prep some rooms in Ashby?

You can do as much or as little as you like. Please contact us through the blog using the comment section or through the website www.ashbyartsfestival.co.uk if you think that you can help!

Thankfully we’re not suggesting full waterproof attrire, but thanks to the generosity of Mick Warren, we are able to provide indoor space for the stalls if the weather takes a turn for the worst.

The Art Mart is a fantastic opportunity to sell your art; no commissions gallery commissions mean more competative prices for your work.

Come along and join us at the following times:

Saturday 28th May- 10.30am-5pm

Sunday 29th and Monday 30th May- 11am-5pm

If you’re interested in selling your art work to the wider public, contact Martin Vaughan at  m.vaughan@homecall.co.uk 

www.ashbyartsfestival.co.uk

Ashby Arts Festival is pleased to promote the following project on behalf of Chorus Theatre who are taking part in this year’s Ashby Arts Festival (Judging a Book by It’s Back Cover).

Chorus Theatre have been commissioned to stage a brand new community play in Ravenstone (near Coalville), Leicestershire telling the fascinating story of the local Almshouses.

The project will involve performers from the local community coming together to devise the play under the guidance of a professional creative team.

The open air performances will take place around the grounds of the Almshouses in September 2011.

This exciting community play is due to begin in early June and will feature music, songs and the stories of the Almshouses brought to life.

We are currently looking for members of the community to participate in this project. This could be acting, singing, dancing, playing music, backstage, front of house etc.

If you would like to take part in any capacity then please contact us. And it doesn’t cost anything to participate!

The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with support from North West Leicestershire District Council.

Contact andrew@chorustheatre.co.uk for more information!

The competition is looking for creative individuals to design a Festival T-Shirt based on this year’s festival theme of ‘DANCE’. The winner will have their design produced and put on sale at Marbu Clothing!

Free competition open to all ages, closing date for entries Saturday 14 May 2011.

Go to www.ashbyartsfestival.co.uk for an entry form or pick one up from Marbu Clothing.

Good luck!