Category: Exhibitions

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More Things To Do in York and beyond unlocked secret spaces & hidden places. Hutch’s List No. 40, from The York Press

Angela Hall’s artwork from York Created at Pyramid Gallery

FROM classic Coward in Present Laughter to Frayn’s finest farce, Noises Off, York’s unlocked buildings to Joe Jackson’s hope and fury, Charles Hutchinson piles up the good stuff for the week ahead.

Exhibition opening of the week: York Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until November 14

YORK Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City features a “collection of talented artists from across our fair city”. “Some have exhibited with us before, others are new to us,” says Pyramid Gallery manager Fiona Macfarlane. “All the works are for sale.”

Taking part are potters Danny Aitkin, Chiu-i Wu, Loretta Braganza, Ben Arnup, Emily Stubbs, Jessica Jenyns  and Ruth King, painters Rory Barke, Carolyn Coles, Jill Tattersall, Ric Liptrot, Lesley Birch, Mick Leach, Lesley Shaw and Angela Hall and stained glass artist Helen Bower. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.

Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, today and tomorrow

TODAY, Beppe Lombardo’s inaugural YorkJazzFest features: 6pm, Flowerden, The Winning Post; 6pm, Mutant DJ Jazz, Angel On The Green; 6.30pm, Emma Foulds Quintet, York Arts Barge; 7pm, SwanNek, Young Thugs Studios; 8.30pm, Al Morrison Quartet, The Winning Post;  8.30pm, Olivia Cuttill, York Arts Barge;  9pm, Borgia, Angel On The Green, and 9pm, Lovedancin’ DJ, Young Thugs Studios. For tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.

Tomorrow,  the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale runs from midday with free entry and no ticket required. On the bill are: 12 noon, YorkJazzFest Orchestra; 1pm, Vipertime; 2.15pm, Big Bamboo; 4.15pm, Fergus Quill Sextet, and 6pm, Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk! Ian Chalk concludes the event at The Phoenix Inn at 8pm; free entry.

Season finale of the week: York Late Music presents Federico Pendenza, Folk Roots To Classical Form, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviouragte, York, today, 1pm

UNIVERSITY of York guitarist Federico Pendenza concludes York Late Music’s concert season with Folk Roots To Classical Form, featuring William Walton’s only piece written for guitar (following a persuasive word from Julian Bream!), two intimate pieces by the “Chopin of the guitar”, Agustín Barrios, and two world premieres, Macey Collins’s Impressions Of Tension and Noor Hingorani’s Pomegranates On My Altar, which draws on the Persian Sofreh wedding ceremony, where pomegranates represent joy, passion and strength. Box office: latemusic.org/federico-pendoza-guitar or on the door.

Free discoveries of the week: York Unlocked, today and tomorrow

YORK Unlocked opens York’s most interesting, significant, even hidden and secret buildings to the public completely for free, although some buildings require free pre-booked tickets.  This weekend’s festival enables residents and visitors alike to see York in a new way and aims to educate and inspire a love of architecture this weekend. To download the full programme, go to: https://www.york-unlocked.org.uk/_files/ugd/972e50_ba8593730b26433e8b060829ff5bd5ac.pdf.

​Comedy gigs of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm and 8pm

LAUGH Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin has added an extra show at 4pm in response to ticket demand for tonight’s 8pm bill of Michael Shafar, Ant Dewson, Mike Carter and Gary Jennison.

Former lawyer Shafar left Australia to ply his comedy trade over here. Dewson is a comedian, mediocre piano player and singer of silly songs, many of them rude. Carter covers everything from living with your nan in your 30s to the realities of engaging in “kinky stuff” when you have a coordination disorder. Jennison promises dance-offs, game shows, magic and unbridled chaos. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 7.30pm

BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.

Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Coward classic of the week: Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Augusta Productions present Present Laughter, Grand Opera House, York, October 6 to 10, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

TRACY-ANN Oberman stars as hugely successful actress Geri Essendine – who has been 39 for the best part of a decade – in Lindsay Posner’s new touring production of Noel Coward’s celebrated portrayal of the temptations and pitfalls of theatrical celebrity. 

On the cusp of departing for a tour of Africa, Geri finds herself besieged by a bevy of would-be lovers, her long-suffering secretary, estranged husband and an obsessed young playwright. Will she ever disentangle herself from their tightening clutches and incessant demands? Then again, deep down, does she really want to? Box office: atgtickets.com/york. 

Slamming doors, falling trousers and flying sardines of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Noises Off, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

MICHAEL Frayn’s backstage farce Noises Off takes a wicked look at the follies of theatre folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss and passionate affairs turns every performance into a high-risk adventure.

This play-within-a-play captures a touring theatre troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Robert Readman directs a stellar York cast of Helen Spencer, Andrew Isherwood, Alexandra Mather, Rory Mulvihill, Pearl Mollison, Mark Simmonds, Craig Kirby, Jessica Hardcastle and Adrian Cook. Box office:  01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Gig of the week: Joe Jackson + Band, Hope And Fury Tour 2026, York Barbican, October 7, doors 7pm

JOE Jackson played York for only the second time at York Barbican on July 29 2022 as part of his Sing, You Sinners! Tour, having first shared a bill with Todd Rundgren and improvisational string quartet Ethel at the Grand Opera House in June 2005.

Now, the Portsmouth-raised singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, producer, author and campaigner, 72, returns with his regular band to perform work from throughout his career and to showcase his 23rd studio album Hope And Fury, released in April. Conner Youngblood supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

In Focus: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance.  Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.

Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.

Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.

“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.

“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our second visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”

Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”

Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.

Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.

Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.

“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”

Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.

Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”

In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class today (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.  

The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Roll up! Roll up! Sarah Hall Baqai spins the art of razzle-dazzle “distraction” in Bread & Circuses show at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Bread & Circuses, board, house paint, acrylic and metal leaf on plywood, the title piece from Sarah Hall Baqai’s exhibition. Note the harlequin balancing the letter ‘S’ on his foot

IN the words of Juvenal, the Roman poet circa 100AD, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”.

Roll forward to Autumn 2026AD when York mixed-media, multi-disciplinary artist Sarah Hall Baqai adapted that title for her Bread & Circuses exhibition at where else but the Bluebird Bakery in Acomb Lane, Acomb, York.

As chance had it, Russells International Circus  pitched up on Knavesmire in the week when  she launched her show.

Sarah Hall Baqai assembling her Bread & Circuses exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

“My work is inspired by traditional folk art and popular art forms, which include theatre and street performance, stories and decorative arts,” says Sarah, whose playful artworks draw on exuberant festivals and fiestas that bring people together with the aim of “delighting the senses and adding colour to life”.

Noted for her papier-mâché sculptures, paintings, collage and illuminated willow lanterns, Sarah has a particular interest in circus and fairground and folk traditions from around the world.

This has led to her, making lanterns and installations for Giffords Circus in Gloucestershire, as well as the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (Wakehurst), and making props and developing her sign-writing skills, along with behind-the-scenes painting and drawing the performers, at Fools Delight Circus, Lil Rice and Dave Cross’s dinner cabaret circus at Ham Court, Bampton, Oxfordshire.

Roll Up Roll Up…for Sarah Hall Baqai’s Bread & Circuses exhibition at Bluebird Bakery

 “The slim format of many of the paintings echoes the traditional circus poster format,” says Sarah of her Bread & Circuses works, created at her home studio in Main Street, Fulford. “Also, the paintings are done on plywood, cut to size and then prepped for painting. I hand-build the boards on the workmate outside – part of my set-building skill set.”

Lettering echoing the Art Deco and Jazz Age of the Twenties and Thirties, graphic work celebrating York Minster and large willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks are prominent in the new show too.

Raised in North Yorkshire, Sarah completed an art foundation course at Harrogate College of Art before training as a graphic designer at London College of Printing, graduating in 1989.

TA-DA!, by Sarah Hall Baqai, house paint and metal leaf on MDF

Composition, design, typography and letter forms have always significant in much of her work, but after a period of working in Andalucia, Spain, in the 1990s she began experimenting with working in papier-mâché to create sculptural forms inspired by the many fiestas held throughout the year.

Her years of working in Shoreditch and Amsterdam, along with travel to far-off places, inspired her work too, where paper, wire, found objects and other things, together with folklore and a desire to make you smile at the familiar or ordinary made different, have been central to her creativity.

Exhibitions and major commissions for large-scale installations in London and Paris fashion stores came her way, while her work has been commissioned widely and exhibited in the UK, France, the Netherlands and the United States.

Artist Sarah Hall Baqai, in harlequinesque attire, stands beneath her willow lantern juggling sticks as she raises a glass to the launch of her Bread & Circuses exhibition

Sarah, who moved back to Yorkshire in 2010 and last took part in York Open Studios in 2025, is exhibiting at Rise@Bluebird Bakery for the first time. Among the exhibits is the Cabaret series. “Recent travels to Berlin gave me food for thought,” says Sarah.”I’ve included a four-part Cabaret series which relates to the themes of escapism in challenging times.

“The opening lyrics of the musical Cabaret welcome an international audience to the Kit Kat Klub with signs in three languages, Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome and  Fremde, Etranger, Stranger, painted in waxed gesso – a very opaque chalk point – on grey board, which mirror the Bauhaus designs.”

Look out for Box Act (acrylic on plywood). “It’s based on a contemporary contortionist performer, Bendy Em, from Australia, who squeezes herself into a tiny 40cm Perspex cube, the same dimensions as my painting,”  says Sarah.

Box Act, by Sarah Hall Baqai, compressing Australian contortionist Bendy Em into a 40cm by 40cm painting, replicating the dimensions of the box into which she squeezes in her act

Twin Towers Of Human Endeavour (Anniversary Edition) is available in a limited edition of ten pairs. “In 2027 York Minster celebrates the 1,400th anniversary of its founding, dating back to the baptism of King Edwin of Northumbria in 627AD,” says Sarah.

“Inspired by the mass-produced ‘New York’ poster, I took ten of the posters, cut up and collaged, to create one ‘York’ poster. The similarities in the name and the architectural status and function of the buildings reflect the shift from religious to commercial power over the 450 years which separate their construction.

“Both cities are impressive, historic monuments of human endeavour in different ways and both are magnets of mass tourism, defined by their iconic buildings.”

Twin Towers Of Human Endeavour (Anniversary Edition), by Sarah Hall Baqai, available in a limited edition of ten

Sarah has printed an unlimited anniversary edition of Blue York too. “It’s a nod to Bluebird Bakery and Blue Note Records,which gave musicians complete artistic autonomy to rehearse, experiment and play what they wanted,” she says.

Summing up an exhibition rooted in Juvenal’s assertion that bread and circuses would provide distraction from more grave matters to prevent unrest and revolution, Sarah says: “Bread & Circuses represents glamour laced with all sorts of other elements, seeking escapism while Rome burns, which is where we are now.”

Fellow Yorkshire artist David Hockney passed away [on June 11], while Sarah was working on the title work, Bread & Circuses. “I was painting the legs when I heard the news, and I wanted to do an homage, so I painted the harlequin figure, without being too specific,” she says.

Wilkommen, waxed gesso on board, from Sarah Hall Baqai’s four-part Cabaret series on show at Bluebird Bakery

As for her love of circus and festivals, Sarah says: “There’s something about being in a muddy field, with the lights and the sequins, or watching a village pilgrimage in Spain or a fire festival in Valencia, where it’s all over in a blink of an eye. I’m  so absorbed by it. Rather like ballet, circus skills can make something look effortless despite all the hours that go into it.”

Sarah concludes:  “The circus theme is a fixture with me now. The day this exhibition comes down I’m back at the circus, at Giffords’ winter show at Fennells Farm, Lypiatt, just outside Stroud.”

Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19

Circus Dogs, by Sarah Hall Baqai, enamel on steel

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 40, from Gazette & Herald

Bread & Circuses, by Sarah Hall Baqai, from her exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York

FROM the terrors of Paranormal Activity to circus art, York’s four-day jazz festival to Brian Bilston’s egg-laying poetry, Charles Hutchinson looks ahead to October cultural opportunities.

Exhibition opening of the week: Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19

YORK artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s new collection of artworks has the theme of Bread & Circuses, a phrase taken from Roman poet Juvenal’s work Satire X, written in 100AD. In a nutshell, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, on account of being distracted.

Distraction does not come brighter and more entertaining visually than Sarah’s paintings inspired by life behind the scenes at the circus (from her work with Gifford’s Circus and Fools Delight Circus at Ham Court, Bampton), complemented by lettering and graphic work celebrating York Minster and willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks.

James Bye’s James arms himself with a baseball bat in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Credit: Johan Persson

Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.

When James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Roham Bayat’s poster for the inaugural YorkJazzFest

Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, tomorrow to Sunday

BEPPE Lombardo, soprano saxophone player in his Italian teenage days and supremo of Trinicria Sicilian Ristorante in Bishopthorpe Road for 15 years, is running the inaugural YorkJazzFest with funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor David Skaith.

Angel On The Green, York Arts Barge, Young Thugs Studio, the Phoenix Inn and The Winning Post play host to concerts on the first three days, culminating in the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale on Sunday, topped off by sets by Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk and Ian Chalk. For full listings and tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.

Masked up: Pop Yer Clogs Theatre in Doctor Faustus. Picture supplied

Devil in the detail of the week: Pop Yer Clogs Theatre in Doctor Faustus, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York , tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Pop Yer Clogs Theatre delivers a devilishly clever new twist on Doctor Faustus, placing a woman, Doctor Joan Faustus, at the epicentre of Christopher Marlowe’s late-16th century cautionary tale of ambition, temptation and damnation.

Director Lydia McCudden plays Faustus, who strikes a terrible deal by selling her soul to Lucifer in exchange for knowledge, power and worldly pleasures, only to encounter the Seven Deadly Sins.  Cue masks, commedia dell’arte, dark comedy and gothic tragedy as Hell awaits. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ben Portsmouth: Performing Presley’s pearls with his Taking Care Of Elvis Band at York Barbican

King of The King tribute shows: Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

REGARDED as the “closest living performer to the legendary Elvis Presley”, Ben Portsmouth has enjoyed success in more than 20 countries and became the first European to be crowned by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis in 2012.

This Is Elvis takes an immersive journey through Presley’s greatest hits from his rockabilly roots to the dazzling Las Vegas years in the company of Portsmouth and the Taking Care Of Elvis Band.  Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican: Satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments from Barnsley

“Sexy knitwear” gig of the week: The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm

FOUNDED in Barnsley Rock City in 2006 by their outspoken and energetic ringleader Scott Doonican, The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican are on a mission.

Anything but a typical folk ensemble, this collective of like-minded knitwear enthusiasts – Scott, Mo-Jo Doonican, Dave Doonican and the Reight Reverend Jeremiah Rickenbacker III – are determined to follow in their spiritual father’s immortal footsteps, keeping his legacy alive while Bar-Stewardising other famous people’s songs with satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments, from Jump Ararnd to Goat Yoga. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Mark Harrison Band: Songs and stories at Helmsley Arts Centre

Where folk meets the blues: Mark Harrison Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

MARK Harrison writes original songs for today in the spirit of the great troubadours, coupled with stories to make you smile, move and think in a world where blues, roots and folk collide.

Finger-picking and slide guitarist Harrison is joined by Charles Benfield on double bass and Ben Welburn on drums and percussion to create a rhythm section that defies convention, as heard on eight albums to date. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Alchemy Live: Performing the songs of Dire Straits at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

In Dire Straits: Alchemy Live, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

ALCHEMY Live were formed in 2020 by life-long Mark Knopfler fans and full-time musicians Martin Ledger and Neil Scott, who used the Covid pandemic and resultant lockdowns to put their Dire Straits tribute project in motion. Rehearsals started in 2021 after the worst of the pandemic was over, their first show being scheduled in York for Friday the 13th of May 2022 (what could possibly go wrong)?

They have never looked back, progressing to playing theatres since 2023. “It’s always been our ethos to concentrate on getting the music and sound right, rather than just putting on headbands and shiny jackets,” says frontman Ledger. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Brian Bilston: Showcasing his latest poetry collection at Milton Rooms, Malton

Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm

BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.

Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded in collaboration with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Olly Murs: Enjoying a Knees Up at Live At York Museum Gardens next July

Gig announcement of the week: Futuresound presents Olly Murs, Live At York Museum Gardens, July 9 2027

ESSEX singer-songwriter and The Voice UK coach Olly Murs is the first headline act to be confirmed for next summer’s Live At York Museum Gardens 2027 season, when the event will be expanded to two weekends for the first time. Special guests for that day’s bill are still to be announced.

Murs, 42, returns to the York outdoors after his hat trick of appearances at York Racecourse in 2010, 2017 and 2024. He rose to fame on The X Factor in 2009, since when he has released eight studio albums of pop, indie, ska and disco, the latest being last November’s Knees Up. Box office: York postcode pre-sale from today at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256?pre=postcode; general sale from Friday, 10am, at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256.

In Focus: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 1, 7.30pm, October 2, 2pm, and October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque. Picture: Johan Persson

IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance.  Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.

Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.

Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.

“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.

“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our second visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”

Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”

Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.

Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.

Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.

“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”

Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.

Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”

A post-show discussion with the company will follow Thursday’s 7.30pm show. In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class on Saturday (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.  

The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when circuses at the double pitch up. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 39 from The York Press

Bread & Circuses, by Sarah Hall Baqai, from her exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

FROM the terrors of Paranormal Activity to circus art and entertainment, Tony Blackburn’s Sixties’ celebration to the debut York Jazz Fest, Charles Hutchinson heads into a fruitful autumn.

Exhibition opening of the week: Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19

YORK artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s new collection of artworks has the theme of Bread & Circuses, a phrase taken from Roman poet Juvenal’s work Satire X, written in 100AD. In a nutshell, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, on account of being distracted.

Distraction does not come brighter and more entertaining visually than Sarah’s paintings inspired by life behind the scenes at the circus (from her work with Gifford’s Circus and Fools Delight Circus at Ham Court, Bampton), complemented by lettering and graphic work celebrating York Minster and willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks.

Russells International Circus: Intent on delivering in-tent entertainment on Knavesmire this weekend

While on the subject of circuses: Russells International Circus, Knavesmire, York, today, 3pm and 6pm, and tomorrow, 12 noon

ROLL up, roll up, as Russells International Circus, voted Britain’s best circus six years running, brings its new show for 2026 to York. Each two-hour performance is jam-packed with mesmerising aerial displays, jaw-dropping stunts, comedy and more besides. Box office: russellscircus.co.uk.

The Jake Leg Jug Band: Songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption at Kirk Theatre, Pickering 

Ragtime gig of the week: The Jake Leg Jug Band, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, tonight, 7.30pm 

THE Jake Leg Jug Band delivers the authentic sounds of 1920s and 1930s’ America – jazz, blues, ragtime and gospel – in songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption.

Since self-releasing debut album Cotton Mouth, Duncan Wilcox, vocals and double bass, and Warren James,  vocals, guitar and banjo, have released a further eight albums in 12 years, among them Next Stop!, Everythin’s Jake, Break A Leg, Fifth Avenue, Goodbye Booze, Hello Central and 2024’s spirituals collection Some Glad Morning. Box office: kirktheatre.co.uk.

Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey: Heading to York Barbican tonight

Eighties’ double bill of the week: Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, York Barbican, tonight, doors 6.30pm

REMEMBER the Thompson Twins, makers of such 1980s’ hits as Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor, In the Name Of Love, Love On Your Side, If You Were Here, Lies, Lay Your Hands On Me and King For A Day? Tom Bailey, the Sheffield-founded group’s lead vocalist and instrumentalist, now performs under the name Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, revisiting his past and showcasing debut solo album Science Fiction.

Tonight he closes his autumn tour at York Barbican, the only Yorkshire location on his 14-date itinerary, when fellow 1980s’ chart act Blancmange support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Lou and James Bye’s James on terror alert on the stairs in Paranormal Activity, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Johan Persson Credit: Johan Persson

Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, September 29 to October 3, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.

When James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Sounds Of The 60’s Live: Sensational Sixties show at York Barbican

Sixties’ celebration of the week: Sounds Of The 60’s Live, hosted by Tony Blackburn, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm

BBC Radio 2 presenter Tony Blackburn hosts an evening of stories and songs from “perhaps the most iconic ten years in music, fashion and popular culture” on the Sounds Of The 60’s tour, 62 years since his first broadcast on pirate radio station Radio Caroline South in 1964.

The Sounds Of The 60’s All Star Band and Singers perform hits by The Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Marvin Gaye, a Rolling Stones medley, The Walker Brothers, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder and more besides. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Roham Bayat’s poster design for the four-day York Jazz Fest

Festival of the week: York Jazz Fest, October 1 to 4

BEPPE Lombardo, soprano saxophone player in his Italian teenage days and supremo of Trinicria Sicilian Ristorante in Bishopthorpe Road for 15 years, is running the inaugural York Jazz Fest with funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor David Skaith.

Angel On The Green, York Arts Barge, Young Thugs Studio, the Phoenix Inn and The Winning Post play host to concerts on the first three days, culminating in the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale next Sunday, topped off by sets by Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk and Ian Chalk. For full listings and tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.

Katy Cawkwell in the poster for Lilith at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

“Shocking, seductive and entertaining” show of the week: Katy Cawkwell in Lilith, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, October 1, 8.30pm

BEFORE Eve, there was Lilith, as revealed in Katy Cawkwell’s uplifting one-woman storytelling showin an exploration and celebration of female power through the mythological figure of Adam’s first wife.

Lilith was not prepared to lie down and accept what was given to her. Thrown out of Eden, she slithered back in to take her revenge and wake up Eve to what her body could do.

“Viewed as a demon, worshipped as a goddess, adored as the Queen of Sheba, Lilith slips out of the Bible, reclaims the narrative and is dancing with us still, forever free,” says Cawkwell, who mixes myth from Arabia, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia and Jewish tradition with a dash of feminist flavouring and a large dollop of her own wild dreaming. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Ben Portsmouth: Presenting This Is Elvis with the Taking Care Of Elvis Band at York Barbican

Tribute gig of the week: Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis, York Barbican,  October 2, 7.30pm

REGARDED as the “closest living performer to the legendary Elvis Presley”, Ben Portsmouth has enjoyed success in more than 20 countries and became the first European to be crowned by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis in 2012.

This Is Elvis takes an immersive journey through Presley’s greatest hits from his rockabilly roots to the dazzling Las Vegas years in the company of Portsmouth and the Taking Care Of Elvis Band.  Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

In Focus: Say Owt Slam, featuring Kirsty Taylor and KG, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm to 10pm

Bradford writer and educator Kirsty Taylor. Picture: Carolyn Mendelsohn

SAY Owt, York’s loveable gang of loveable gang of performance poets, brings the best working-class poets and rappers from Bradford tonight to complement the Say Owt Slam clash of the verbals.

“Since 2014, we’ve hosted high-energy nights of words and verse, bringing together poets, musicians, spoken-word artists, rappers and anyone with a story to tell,” says artistic director Henry Raby.

“We’re always proud of our line-ups, but this could be our most exciting parade of poets yet. It wouldn’t be possible without buzzy audiences showing up and being loud and demanding more and more shows! And it wouldn’t be a Say Owt season without a poetry slam!”

Henry continues: “Say Owt Slam is an energetic battle of words where judges in the audience score the poets and the top-scoring poet is crowned Say Owt Slam champion at the end of the night. Tonight, as well as a top crop of York poets, we have slammers from Glasgow, Manchester and Halifax hoping to win the competition.”

Kemmi Gill: Rapper, poet and youth worker

Tonight’s bill also features  two guests from guests from  Bradford, Kirsty Taylor and KG (Kemmi Gill). “Kirsty is a writer and educator inspired by her beloved home city of Bradford,” says Henry. “She is passionate about storytelling through poetry and has performed all over the country telling tales about people, class and the realities of Broken Britain.”

Taylor was a BBC Verb New Voice in 2017 and was awarded the Apples and Snakes & Jerwood Arts Poetry in Performance award in 2020. She is the creator of Front Room Poetry, which takes nanna-style living rooms and world-class poets to unusual settings such as car parks and housing estates.

Kirsty opened Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025 in January last year when she performed her words to 20,000 people over the first weekend.

KG (Kemmi Gill) is a Bradford-born rapper, poet and youth worker, hailed by Wordplay Magazine as “one of the sharpest lyricists” in the UK rap scene. “Kemmi combines lyrical storytelling and wordplay to explore themes of struggle and hope and has contributed writing and performance work to major civic projects, such as  the open-air spectacular Rise and Common/Wealth’s sell-out show Public Interest,” says Henry.

To book tickets, go to: sayowt.co.uk

In Focus Too: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 1, 7.30pm, October 2, 2pm, and October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque. Picture: Johan Persson

IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance.  Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.

Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.

Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.

“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.

“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our second visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”

Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”

Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.

Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.

Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.

“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”

Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.

Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”

A post-show discussion with the company will follow Thursday’s 7.30pm show. In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class on Saturday (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.  

The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque: the intersection of Baroque lush artistry with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance. Picture: Johan Persson
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Last Chance To See: Kai West, A New Collection of Art, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until September 24

Skylark, by Kai West, at Bluebird Bakery

YORK illustrator, screen print artist, Bull and Hyde Family Jam bassist and event organiser Kai West has made a name for himself over the past decade from screen printing posters for bands, both in Yorkshire and globally.

From his studio in Rogues Atelier Art Studios, in Walmgate, Kai has developed a unique style, using bold colours and striking imagery to grab people’s attention, while applying  traditional screen-printing methods to realise the power of contrast and shape.

York artist Kai West with assorted artworks from his Bluebird Bakery exhibition, placed either side of the Acomb bakery & cafe’s signature bluebird mural

His Bluebird Bakery exhibition sees Kai move away from posters. Building on previous exhibitions and intrigues, he explores Great Britain’s native ground-nesting birds, concentrating mainly those threatened on the UK Red List.

“I explores their folklores and stories as a means to learn more about our relationships with the creatures, and what this might mean in a world that’s heating up and rapidly changing, and where bird species are ever more at risk of extinction,” says Kai.

One of Kai West’s screen prints at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

Kai West mounting his exhibition at Bluebird Bakery

Toad, by Kai West, from his Bluebird Bakery exhibition

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 38, from The York Press

Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey,  by J.M.W. Turner, 1829, on loan from National Gallery, London, for Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman at York Art Gallery. Copyright: National Gallery, London

GHOSTLY sculptures in gardens, the best in class in brass bands, Mikron Theatre’s mobile library tribute and 60 years of Gilbert O’Sullivan are among Charles Hutchinson’s cultural highlights.

Exhibition opening of the week: Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman, York Art Gallery, on show until running until January 17 2027

J.M.W. Turner’s masterpiece Ulysses deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey, generously lent by the National Gallery, is making an epic journey north to go on display at York Art Gallery in the wake of the Odyssey’s comeback into popular culture in Christopher Nolan’s film.

Turner, Wedgwood  Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman features an ‘Odyssey wall’ in an exhibition that reflects on the life and legacy of York-born sculptor, illustrator and designer John Flaxman (1755 –1826). Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.

 One of 70 ghosts in the Ghosts In The Gardens trail through York this autumn. Picture: Amy D’Agorne 

Trail of the week: Ghosts In The Gardens, York, September 19 to November 1

GHOSTS In The Gardens is back for its sixth haunting season and this time the ghosts are bringing even more friends as 70 ghostly sculptures appear in gardens, on balconies, along the city walls and in unexpected corners of York city centre.

Ten new ghosts join familiar faces from York’s past, each sculpture offering a snapshot of history, bringing fascinating York people, creatures or stories back to life. Some ghosts will return to old haunts, others will be found somewhere new. Admission is free.

John Bramwell: Heading for Selby Town Hall

Humble agenda of the week: John Bramwell, Selby Town Hall, September 19, 7.30pm

AS the singer in I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014, John Bramwell achieved a Mercury Prize nomination for 2010’s The Sky At Night, a top ten chart position for 2013’s Let It All In, numerous UK and European tours and a triumphant orchestral farewell at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Now, as a solo artist, Bramwell travels a very different path, a path that criss-crosses the length and breadth of the UK with a humble agenda of taking his heartwarming songs to the stage for his devoted fans. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

York Railway Institute Band: Taking part in National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain at York Barbican. Picture: Keith Meadley Photography

Brass clashes of the week: National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2026, York Barbican, September 19 and 20 from 9am and 3pm each day

THE National Brass Band Championships bring more than 70 of the country’s finest brass bands to York for the Sections 1 to 4 national finals. Among the Yorkshire bands competing will be York Railway Institute Band, Wetherby Silver Band and Swinton & District Excelsior Band, all having qualified to compete for National honours. Tickets: Only available to buy in-person on the day. No advance tickets.

Piff the Magic Dragon and Penn Jillette in Piff & Pop’s Magic Shoppe at Grand Opera House, York

Magical show of the week: Piff & Pop’s Magic Shoppe, Grand Opera House, York, September 19, 7.30pm

LEGENDARY magician Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller fame, is touring the UK for the first time without his 50-year companion Teller, teaming up instead with London-born, Las Vegas-based comedy-magician phenomenon Piff the Magic Dragon (alias John van der Put), from America’s Got Talent.

Act One feature a solo act from both Pop (Penn) and Piff along with Mr Piffles,  the world’s only magic-performing Chihuahua.. In Act Two, they blend into a one-of-a-kind double act. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Georgina Liley, left, Robert Took, Catherine Warnock and James McLean in Mikron Theatre’s Top Of The World, on tour at Clements Hall, York. Picture: Robling Photography

Touring theatre show of the week: Mikron Theatre in Top Of The World, Clements Hall, York, September 20, 2pm

MARSDEN’S travelling troupe Mikron Theatre makes its second visit of 2026 to York, this time with Maeve Larkin’s celebration of the importance of mobile libraries as sanctuaries, beacons of hope, public services that connect people and communities in a digital age where human connection is more important than ever.

Top Of The Wold invites audiences to hop aboard the charmingly quirky mobile library for a heart-warming journey via Bempton, Bridlington, Hornsea and Howden in an exploration of a region barely noticed by the nation it feeds, celebrating the forgotten, the resilient and the wonderfully eccentric. Tickets:  available from Pextons, Bishopthorpe Road, York; Clements Hall,  01904 466086; by email to [email protected] or 07974 867301.

Tim Key: Serving up Loganberry comical whimsy at York Theatre Royal

Unpredictable comedy gig of the week: Tim Key, Loganberry, York Theatre Royal, September 20, 8pm

TIM Key, from The Ballad Of Wallis Island and Tim Key’s Late Night Poetry Programme, pops his suit on again to plod about in new show Loganberry. In Key’s own words, “Bit gutted he’s old. Guzzling continental lager. Magnetic LOL. Decent reviews for previous shows. Played a pigeon in Bong Joon Ho’s latest movie. Been on Richard Herring’s podcast. Book out: “L.A. Baby!”. Met Steffi Graf in 1998/9. This show has poems in, and he’ll stamp and howl.” Who knows what else may lie in wait on Sunday! Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Mark Thomas: “Taster menu of government and personal mayhem, jokes, rants and a state of the nation broadcast”

Comedy landmark of the week: Mark Thomas, 40 In Stand-Up Years, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, September 20, 8pm

WHAT?! Mark Thomas has been “standing up” for 40 years? Impossible! But how old does that make you…? Alas it is true: one of our oldest-surviving alternative comics celebrates 40 years at the mic as he takes his new show on the road this autumn.

Expect a taster menu of government and personal mayhem, jokes, rants and a state of the nation broadcast as Thomas tries to turn ‘what the **** is going on?’ into a cogent night of stand-up.Box office: leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/mark-thomas-2026/.

Gilbert O’Sullivan: Songs old and new at the Grand Opera House, York

Seventies’ chart topper of the week: Gilbert O’Sullivan, Celebrating 60 Years Of Music, Grand Opera House, York, September 22, 7.30pm

GILBERT O’Sullivan will celebrate 60 years of making music, revisiting his UK chart toppers, 1972’s Clair and 1973’s Get Down, as well as such O’Sullivan favourites as No Matter How I Try, We Will, Matrimony, Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day, Why, Oh Why, Oh Why  and What’s In A Kiss?, his last of 16 Top 40 entries from  August 1980. Then add further selections from his 21 studio albums, the latest, On The Record, being previewed ahead of its November 6 release. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Nish Kumar’s tour poster for Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy

Political disquiet of the week: Nish Kumar, Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy, Grand Opera House, York, September 23, Leeds Playhouse, October 3, Hull Truck Theatre, October 9 and Scarborough Spa Theatre, November 14

“THE world is in chaos,” laments political comedian Nish Kumar. “Inequality is widening, autocracy is rising and political parties are collapsing. In these divided times, what this country desperately needs is Angry Humour From a Really Nice Guy. (In many ways it’s actually the last thing this country needs, but it’s what it’s getting, so tough luck).”

Pod Save The UK podcast co-host and former host of axed BBC Two show The Mash Report and Late Night Mash, Kumar has entered his 40s. His mind is breaking, his body is worse, “but audiences can still expect existential angst and political disquiet from comedy’s cheekiest boy”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Ceramics by Emily Stubbs and paintings by Di Gomery at Tinker Gallery

Last chance to view: Di Gomery & Emily Stubbs, Fracture and Flow: Conversations in Paint and Clay, Tinker Gallery, Church Street, Ilkley, until September 26

THIS exhibition by York artists Di Gomery (paintings) and Emily Stubbs (ceramics) is into its final week. Gallery owner and artist Joanne Tinker has refreshed the show since much of the work sold. Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm; other times by appointment.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond from September 12. Hutch’s List No. 37, from The York Press

The poster for the Pigeon Paint Off at City Screen Picturehouse, York, On Saturday

A COMPETIVE Pigeon Paint Off, the biggest of book fairs, top-drawer chamber music and Wright&Grainger’s new material are among Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for a particularly intriguing week ahead.  

Bird show of the week: Dead Toe Society presents Pigeon Paint Off, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 12 noon to 5.30pm

THE inaugural Pigeon Paint Off creative fundraising event in support of Columba Sanctuary and Advocacy for Pigeons features a live art competition with 11 artists and resulting picture auction, complemented by a Pigeon Social and Pigeon-themed Pub Quiz from 6pm, with the quiz starting at 7pm. Look out too for bird-themed arts and crafts on sale and a raffle with “some snazzy prizes”.

“Watch talented artists bring original works to life, each one inspired by our feathered friends, in two rounds of one-hour paint-offs with audience votes deciding the champion,” says organiser Sam Crick. “You’ll also be able to learn more about why pigeons are suffering, the issues they are facing, why they need our support and how you can help advocate for their wellbeing.” Tickets:https://www.tickettailor.com/events/deadtoesociety/2373410. 

Book event of the week: York National Book Fair, Knavesmire Suite, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, Saturday, 10am to 5pm

AT Britain’s largest antiquarian book fair, 186  ‘bookshops’ are set up under one roof with prices ranging from only a few pounds to tens of thousands for more than 100,000 books. All subjects, all dates, from medieval to ultra-modern, are on sale, along with ephemera, manuscripts, prints, photographs and posters, while trade stands are selling marbled papers and binding materials.

York Racecourse offers unlimited free parking and a free shuttle bus is running from the Memorial Gardens on Railway Street to Knavesmire every 30 minutes. Tickets on the door cost £2. Alternatively, head to https://yorkbookfair.com/one-day-complimentary-ticket-2/ to book a complimentary ticket. Children aged under 16 are admitted for free

Classical festival of the week: York Chamber Music Festival, Saturday and Sunday

THIS year’s festival has invited six of the best string players in Europe – Charlotte Scott and Tim Crawford, violins, Simone van der Giessen and Lilli Maijala, violas, and Adrian Brendel and festival artistic director Tim Lowe, cellos, to participate, along with regular festival artist Katya Apekisheva, the British-based Russian pianist.

On Saturdayy, at 1pm, at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, Brendel plays Imogen Holst’s The Fall Of The Leaf and J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor; at 7.30pm, at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, all seven perform Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, Mahler’s Piano Quartet (movement) in A minor – Nicht zu schnell and Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60. All but Apekisheva return for Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major Op. 29 and Brahms’s String Quintet in F major, Op. 88, on Sunday at 3pm at St Olave’s Church, Marygate. Box office: ycmf.co.uk or 01904 658338.

Artist trail of the week: Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage, Staithes, near Whitby, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

DISCOVER 113 artists exhibiting across 67 venues through Staithes. Explore galleries, cottages, studios and hidden spaces transformed into exhibition venues across the fishing village. Find out who is taking part at https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/artists.php.

Enjoy live music, buskers, creative workshops, demonstrations, outdoor cinema, family activities and festival extras too. For the full event programme, go to: https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/events.php.

Americana gig of the week: James Felice & William Lawrence, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm

JAMES Felice and  drummer William Lawrence, two members of New York State’s  Felice Brothers, are taking to the road to perform songs from their respective solo works in a dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling. James and William last appeared at Pocklington Arts Centre alongside Ian Felice and Jesske Hume in the Felice Brothers gig in June 2021. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Songs old and new of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, Saturday, doors 7pm

MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball promotes his 23rd solo album, Glow, on his 25-date tour.

“There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs, as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says. Liss Jones supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Comedy gig of the week: Urzila Carlson, Fatty On A Yacht, York Barbican, Sunday, 8pm

SOUTH African-New Zealander Urzila Carlson returns to the UK with her understated punchlines and signature deadpan delivery in Fatty On A Yacht. Ever felt like you don’t belong? Like everyone else got the memo – and you turned up in the wrong outfit, on the wrong day, on the wrong yacht? Carlson’s new show is for anyone who has ever tried to squeeze into a space, physical or social, and thought “This can’t be right”. “It’s about not fitting in, standing out and laughing about it anyway,” she says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Country gig of the week: Ward Thomas, Celebrating 10 Years Of Cartwheels Tour, York Barbican, September 14, 7.30pm

HAMPSHIRE twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas perform their second album in its entirety, revisiting the record – written at home and in Nashville – that made history as the first by a British country act to top the UK Albums Chart in 2016.

“We had to plan a celebration for its ten-year anniversary,” says Lizzy. “We’ll be bringing our full band, doing a type of show we haven’t done in a long time.” The Wandering Hearts support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

New music, words and stories of the week: Wright& Grainger, Scratch An Itch, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 18, 7.30pm

 IN a rare little moment of public-facing recklessness, Easingwold duo Wright&Grainger have some brand new stuff they wish try out in front of, and with, some other people. “It’ll defo involve a piano,” say Alex and Phil. “It’ll defo have music and words and story.

“There’s some tasty clues to follow, some sweet ideas to develop, some scary instincts to trust. And now there’s this big and warm open invite to you, to come join. So please do. We’d love that. Fingers crossed it’ll be good.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

In Focus: Navigators Art presents Moss Glow and Shadow Bloom, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, September 19, 7.30pm

Astral Light

YORK collective Navigators Art presents four inspiring York performers whose work conjures up unique worlds in a magical programme of electronic, acoustic and vocal sounds, influenced by folk traditions and environmental themes.

This bringing together of ancient and modern iconography, art, poetry and music in Moss Glow and Shadow Bloom: Folk, Myth & Magic has been re-arranged from the postponed original date of July 11 with tickets still valid.

Things Found And Made

Taking part will be:

Astral Light: Scrappy-folky-blues, spoken word and ritual, featuring a homemade menagerie of masks, microphones, dolls, instruments, sound equipment and magical implements.

Filipe Massumi: Cellist and singer whose original and beautiful songs derive from the culture of his native Brazil.

Filipe Massumi

No Spinoza: Welcome to the thematic universe of Thomas Pearson’s forthcoming album Jupiter’s Great Hurricane, bridging history and legend, ancient and modern, as featured in session on BBC Introducing.

Things Found And Made: Lost cinematic folk-tales comprising imagined histories and half remembered rituals of sound and nature.

Box office: https://www.ticketsource.com/navigators-art-performance or on the door. Doors and bar: open from 7pm. Venue is fully accessible.

No Spinoza

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Arts event of the week: Staithes Festival of Arts & Heritage, September 11 to 13

An artwork by Ian Burke, one of 113 artists participating in Staithes Festival of Art and Heritage at 67 locations in the fishing village

THIS weekend’s festival celebrates art, creativity, music and heritage throughout the historic fishing village of Staithes, near Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Enjoy a packed programme of live music, headline concerts, creative workshops, demonstrations, outdoor cinema, family activities and festival extras.

Many events are free to enjoy, while some require payment or advance booking. To book tickets, go to: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/staithesfestivalofartsandheritage. For the full event programme, visit: https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/events.php.

Preview Evening, today, 6pm to 9.30pm

Artist Trail, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

DISCOVER 113 artists exhibiting across 67 venues throughout Staithes, including 15 students from Northern School of Art (Middlesbrough campus) taking part in a group exhibition. Full-time students Sophieand Harry will exhibit independently at St Peter’s Centre and 1 Webster Steps.

Explore galleries, cottages, studios and hidden spaces transformed into exhibition venues across the village. Explore the artists at https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/artists.php.

Eliza Carthy: Performing at Staithes Memorial Village Hall tonight at 7.30pm with a new punk-spirited album to promote. Recorded with The Restitution, Frenemies is set for release on October 26, addressing themes of motherhood, the state of the modern world, forgiveness and personal resilience as Eliza turned 50. Guest contributors to the recording include Jools Holland, Robyn Hitchcock, actors Miranda Richardson and Tim McInnerny, and Queen Of Harps

Live Music

ENJOY ticketed headline concerts by folk fiddler and singer Eliza Carthy, of Robin Hood’s Bay, at Staithes Memorial Village Hall from 7.30pm to 9.30pm tonight and Saltburn-by-the-Sea shanty group Saltburn Smugglers, same venue, same show time, tomorrow.

Look out too for a packed programme around the village with full details at https://www.staithesfestival.com/music. Many performances are free to attend, with donations welcomed in support of Staithes Festival or the RNLI (from Lifeboat House performances). View music programme and book tickets.

Taking part will be Dire Staithes and Wall Of Noise tonight; Saltburn Ukulele Band, Men Of Staithes, Becky Foord, Nick Rooke Band and Andy Blackford’s WYSIWYG tomorrow; Irish Coalminers Fylingdales Folk Choir, Michael Nagasaka and Ben Beattie and Men Of Staithes on Sunday. Look out for buskers and pop-up performances around Staithes throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Heritage

DISCOVER the stories, history and landscape of Staithes through heritage talks, guided walks, geology, fossils and events celebrating the village’s artistic and maritime past.Some heritage events are free, while others require payment or advance booking at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/staithesfestivalofartsandheritage.

South Bank Studios seascape acrylic artist Carolyn Coles: Taking part in Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage at Kindly Light, Wesleyan Chapel, Chapel Yard, Staithes

Further highlights

Outdoor Cinema at Kippers Corner

Friday and Saturday, 9pm

Venue: Kippers Corner, High Street
Cost: Free
Presented by: Staithes Cinema Club

As the sun sets, join the gathering on the High Street opposite Kippers Corner. Bring your deckchairs and blankets for a screening of films about Staithes’ past and present, telling the story of thisremarkable village.

Booking: No booking required
More information: www.facebook.com/staithescinemaclub

Lighting Show

Friday and Saturday evening

Venue: Around the village
Cost: Free

As dusk settles over Staithes, visitors can look forward to the festival’s lighting show, adding colour, atmosphere and a little extra magic to the village after dark.

Booking: No booking required

Fossils, Science & Nature

Staithes Rocks: Guides rock platform walks

Saturday, 9.45am to12.30pm

Venue: Staithes Harbour Beach
With: Earth Science Outreach UK
Cost: £12
Booking: Advance booking required
Book tickets: Staithes Rock & Fossil Safari Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite

Explore the Jurassic world on a guided rock-platform walk between Staithes Harbour and Old Nab.

The people behind the Yorkshire Fossil Festival bring together a family programme of fossils, science and creativity, with walks, talks, craft workshops and hands-on activities exploring the deep-time heritage of Staithes and the surrounding area.

Suitable for beginners and enthusiasts.

More information: Earth Science Outreach UK

Yorkshire Marine Nature Partnership

Saturday, 10am to 4pm

Venue: Cowbar Staith
Cost: Free

Explore examples of Concrete Coast enhancements designed to blur the boundary between land and sea, helping coastal defences work for both people and nature.

Be inspired by coastal textures and your own relationship with the sea, then contribute to a collaborative community print tapestry.

Booking: No booking required—drop in throughout the day

Fossil Art and Palaeontology Workshop

Saturday, 1.30pm–3.30pm

Venue: Staithes Harbour Beach
With: Earth Science Outreach
Cost: Free

GO hands-on with creative activities led by creative scientists.

Part of the Staithes Rocks programme, this drop-in workshop brings together fossils, science and creativity while exploring the deep-time heritage of Staithes and the surrounding area.

Suitable for beginners and enthusiasts.

Booking: Staithes Rock & Fossil Safari Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite

More information: Facebook page

Needle felt/pyrography by Whitby artist Lacey Brown at St Peter’s Centre, Church Street, Staithes

North York Moors National Park: Information and Nature Activity

Saturday and Sunday, 10am to5pm

Venue: Garden of Poplar House, High Street, near Staithes Museum
Cost: Free

Visit the North York Moors National Park team to discover more about the diverse landscape surrounding Staithes.

You can take part in an activity to create a growing display of positive actions and inspiring ideas for nature recovery.

Booking: No booking required
More information: North York Moors National Park | NYMNP

The Amazing Technicolor Pendulums

Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am–4pm

Venue: Cleveland Corrosion, Bank Top
Cost: Free

Discover what happens when engineering and science become kinetic art.

Watch colour, movement and physics come together as swinging pendulums create constantly changing patterns in this family-friendly display.

Booking: No booking required

Heritage & Local History

Rod Jewell’s Staithes Experience: Heritage Exhibition

Saturday and Sunday, 10am to5pm

Venue: Granary Yard Garage Studio
Cost: Free

Roll up, roll up for a continuous and rare silent film showing the arrival of the motorised Staithes lifeboat in 1924, along with reels from Rod’s treasured Victorian magic-lantern collection of unpublished slides featuring bygone Staithes in the 1890s, the Staithes Group of Artists and fisherfolk.

Immerse yourself in collector Rod’s Staithes Experience. Photographs, antiques, ephemera and bric-a-brac will be on display and available to buy.

Rod is the author of the photographic village history Staithes: Between Two Nabs.

Booking: No booking required

An artwork by York digital photomontage and mixed media artist Adele Karmazyn. Find her work rooted in a fascination with antiquities, weathered textures and forgotten spaces at High House, Cinder Path, Staithes

Bill Hinchley’s Guided History Walk

Saturday and Sunday, 11am to1pm

Meeting point: Bank Top viewpoint, Staithes Lane
Cost: Donations in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance
Booking: Advance booking required

Join lifelong Staithes resident and historian Bill Hinchley for a captivating heritage walk through the village.

Equipped with coastal humour, personal memories and rich storytelling, Bill brings the historic fishing village vividly to life.

Book your walk:

Saturday, 11am–1pm Buy tickets – Bill Hinchley’s Guided History Walk around the village – Saturday 11am-1pm – Meet Bank Top viewpoint, Staithes Lane.
Sunday, 11am–1pm –Select tickets – Bill Hinchley’s Guided History Walk – Sunday 11am-1pm – Meet Bank Top viewpoint, Staithes Lane.

More information: Free video of a snippit of Bills walk – also available free to watch at Staithes Museum

Caroline Hawley Treasure Valuations

Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 4pm

Venue: Poplar House, High Street
Cost: £5 per lot consigned, payable on the day

Find out more about your family heirlooms, prized possessions or boot-sale bargains with Bargain Hunt’s Caroline Hawley and her auctioneer husband, John.

Hawleys Auctioneers will be on hand to value and share information about jewellery, watches, coins, silver, paintings and objets d’art.

For larger items, please bring photographs.

Booking: No booking required—pay on the day

More Information: Hawleys

Shoal, by Saltburn by the Sea wildlife artist Dennis Roddam, on show at Valley View, Staithes Lane, Staithes

Creative Workshops & Demonstrations

Live Festival Illustrations with Amy Lipscombe

Friday, 6pm to 9.30pm
Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5.30pm

Venue: Windsor House, Church Street
Cost: Prices from £20, payable directly to the artist

Commission your own A6 coloured-pencil illustration of yourself, your family or even your pet as a special reminder of this year’s festival.

Amy will take a photograph during your visit and complete your illustration later that day or post it to you afterwards.

Booking: No advance booking required

More Information: Amy lipscombeart Facebook

Spin Art

Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

Venue: Singing Waters Yard, High Street
Cost: £5, payable on the day

Spin your own masterpiece with Ed and Al in Singing Waters Yard – fun for the young and not so young. Create a piece of art to take home as a memento of your visit to Staithes Festival.

Booking: No booking required—pay on the day

Painting Demonstrations with Lynton Parmar-Hemsley

Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am to 4pm

Venue: Staithes Gallery, High Street
Cost: Free

Visit Staithes Gallery during the festival weekend to see painting demonstrations by artist Lynton Parmar-Hemsley throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Booking: No booking required
More information: www.lyntonartist.com

Chiaroscuro Portrait Relief Linocut Workshop

Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 12 noon

Venue: Sunday School beneath the Wesleyan Chapel, Chapel Yard
With: Artist Ian Burke
Cost: £15
Booking: Advance booking advised

Explore the dramatic effect of light falling across one side of the face using simple relief-linocut techniques. No drawing experience is required.

Ian will provide expressive black-and-white portrait images inspired by woodcuts, which participants will transfer onto lino and carve as the first printing block. A second lino block will then be created to print the light and bring out the features through contrast and tone.

During the session, you will create your own striking chiaroscuro portrait print and explore how light can define form and expression.

Book your workshop:

Saturday, 11am–12 noon Buy tickets – “Artist Ian Burke’s Chiaroscuro Portraits Relief Linocut Workshop Saturday 12th September – Sunday School under the Wesleyan Chapel, Chapel Yard
Sunday, 11am–12 noon Buy tickets – “Artist Ian Burke’s Chiaroscuro Portraits Relief Linocut Workshop” – Sunday school Chapel Yard

More information: www.ianburkepainterprintmaker.com

Preening, Staithes, by Yorkshire wildlife artist Tracey Waddington, whose work will be at Harbour Cottage, High Street, Staithes

Recycled Copper Ring-Making

Saturday and Sunday, 1pm to 5pm

Venue: Chapel Garth, High Street
With: Bean Creative
Cost: £7 per person, payable on the day
Session length: Approximately 20 minutes

Try something a little different by making your own unique copper-pipe ring using old plumbing parts. Become creative with files and hammers to produce a beautiful ring: the perfect piece of recycled festival jewellery.

Booking: No booking required
More information: Bean Creative Jewellery

Painting Demonstration with Sue Nichol

Saturday, 1.30pm–2.30pm

Venue: Laura Knight’s Studio
Cost: Free

Join artist Sue Nichol for a free drop-in painting demonstration. She will show how she creates her bold and colourful paintings inspired by the Yorkshire coast and its famous sailing cobles.

Booking: No booking required
More information: www.suenicholartist.com

Family Activities

Staithes Co-op Children’s Art Competition

Saturday, 10am to 4pm

Venue: Cowbar Staith
Cost: Free

View the artwork created by the talented winners of the children’s seaside art competition and have a go at winning raffle prizes.All funds raised will help support the festival.

Booking: No booking required
More information: Co-op

Poetry & Performance

The Stand-Up Tragedy Show

Sunday, 10.15am to 11.45am

Venue: The Lifeboat Shed
Cost: Free
With: Andy Blackford, Carmen Marcus and Bob Beagrie

The Stand-Up Tragedy Show features Andy Blackford—voted 1970’s Man Least Likely To Make 30—and his more talented friends, the poets Carmen Marcus and Bob Beagrie.

Booking: No booking required
More information: https://www.bobbeagrie.co.uk

Plan your visit

Please note, there is no festival visitor parking in the old village. Instead, festival parking will be available at Cowbar, with a free shuttle service for visitors who need assistance.

Check the latest parking, travel and accessibility information before setting off. For more information, go to: https://www.staithesfestival.com/plan-your-visit-to-staithes/parking.php.

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Fair of the week: 2026 York Book Fair, York Racecourse, York, tomorrow and Saturday

York artist Mark Hearld’s poster illustration for the 2026 York National Book Fair

YORK National Book Fair, the largest antiquarian book fair in Great Britain, will be held in the Knavesmire Suite at York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, on September 11 , from 12 noon to 7pm, and September 12, 10am to 5pm.

As many as 185 ‘bookshops’ will be set up under one roof with prices ranging from only a few pounds to tens of thousands. All subjects, all dates, from medieval to ultra-modern, will be on sale, along with ephemera, manuscripts, prints and photographs.

Two new exhibitors specialising in collectable posters will join this year’s line-up at a fair organised by Tony Fothergill, of Ken Spelman Books, Lucius Books, based in Micklegate, and Janette Ray, who runs a rare and and out-of-print bookshop, focusing on architecture, design, art, photography and landscape subjects, in Bootham, on behalf of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association.

A range of trade stands will sell marbled papers and binding materials, complemented by providers of services to the book trade, including software and packaging material suppliers,

From modest beginnings with only 20 exhibitors at the White Swan Inn in York in 1974, the York Book Fair has grown into the largest, and many say friendliest, rare, antiquarian and out-of–print book fair in the UK and Europe.

Anyone interested in books and reading is encouraged to attend a fair that is not only for dealers or traders but also is open to everyone young and old and is an ideal place to start collecting, with more than 100,000 books – some more than 500 years old – for sale.  

York Raceourse offers unlimited free parking and a free shuttle bus will run from the Memorial Gardens on Railway Street, to Knavesmire, every 30 minutes.

Tickets on the door cost £2. Alternatively, head to https://yorkbookfair.com/one-day-complimentary-ticket-2/ to download a complimentary ticket. Children aged under 16 are admitted for free.

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Pigeon Paint Off takes to the air on Saturday at City Screen Picturehouse for live art competition, picture auction & quiz

The latest poster for Saturday’s Pigeon Paint Off at City Screen Picturehouse, York

TICKETS are on sale for the inaugural Pigeon Paint Off creative fundraising event in support of @columbasanctuary and @advocacy_for_pigeons at City Screen Picturehouse, York, on Saturday. To book, go to: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/deadtoesociety/2373410

The live art competition – restricted to vegan art materials – and resulting picture auction will take place between 12 noon and 5.30pm, complemented by a Pigeon Social and Pigeon-themed Pub Quiz from 6pm, the quiz starting at 7pm. Look out too for bird-themed arts and crafts on sale and a raffle. Doors open from 11.30am.

Eleven artists will go head-to-head in two one-hour rounds to create a unique pigeon-inspired piece of art, and you can watch them in action from start to finish. 

Taking part will be :

J.P. Marsh – www.instagram.com/jpmarsh_illustration

Roots 0121 – www.instagram.com/roots_0121

Mel Rozario – www.instagram.com/TheMightyMindCircus

Emily Nunns – www.instagram.com/artby_emilynunns

George Chambers – www.instagram.com/geo.egrart

Jenni Reika – www.instagram.com/jennireikaartist

Leonie Briggs – www.instagram.com/leonie_makes

Emily Harley – www.instagram.com/drawn.in.the.fog

Nicola Fernandes – www.instagram.com/fernandesmakes

Jack Weller – www.instagram.com/jackwilliamweller

Penny Tristram – www.instagram.com/pennytristram

“After all the artists have completed their masterpieces, you will vote for your winner and decide which artist will be the very first Pigeon Paint Off champion,” says Dead Toe Society organiser Sam Crick.

“In addition to voting for your favourite artist, you’ll have the opportunity to bid on your favourite pigeon masterpiece. The highest bidder wins. You can own your very own unique piece of pigeon art while donating to help the pigeons.

“We’ll also be selling and raffling some snazzy bird-themed arts and crafts in the City Screen foyer. You can browse the goodies, have a drink or something to eat and view the exhibition.”

Event host the Dead Toe Society was founded by the Calder Valley-based @advocacy_for_pigeons, whose modus operandi combines art and activism in promoting pigeon rights.

 Pigeon Paint Off organiser Sam Crick, left, and City Screen Picturehouse general manager Cath Sharp

“We absolutely adore pigeons, but they’ve become a bird that is despised,” says Sam, who previously ran York Stringfoot Pigeon Rescue. “It’s love or hate with pigeons. There’s no-one that isn’t bothered either way. There are very strong feelings about them – we even get shouted out when we feed them or de-string them.”

In York, 608 pigeons were shot by London North East Railways between January 2025 and April 2026 at York Railway Station, making it the highest among state-managed rail operators, as a safety measure against slippery droppings on platforms.

Only the day before this interview, Sam had taken a wood pigeon to a vet after it had suffered a compound fracture when being kicked. The bird had to be put to sleep.

“In another incident, a pigeon was thrown out of a window of a moving car by children, which is an animal crime, and was reported to us by a lady from The Portal Bookshop in York,” says Sam.

“One of reasons some people hate pigeons in cities is they don’t want to see feral animals in urban spaces. There’s this disconnect, not wanting to allow wildlife to co-exist with us in these spaces.”

Sam continues: “Pigeons are some of the most misunderstood animals in the world and we think it’s time that changed. That’s why it’s important to draw attention to their maltreatment.

“So we’ve created Pigeon Paint Off, our pigeon-themed live art competition and accompanying exhibition that celebrates the wonderful pigeon and gives these amazing birds the appreciation they deserve.

“Get ready for the very first Pigeon Paint Off live art competition as talented artists bring original works to life, each one inspired by our feathered friends, in two rounds of one-hour paint-offs with talks taking place either side of that.

“You’ll also have the opportunity to purchase the artwork created during the competition, with proceeds supporting Columba Sanctuary and Advocacy for Pigeons, as well as the artists themselves.”

Alongside the main event, visitors can explore a curated exhibition featuring additional artworks by the participating artists. “Running from 12 noon till late, the day will be filled with talks, stalls and plenty of creative energy in this fantastic riverside venue” says Sam.

“The Pigeon Paint Off competition is a ticketed event, but the exhibition is free to visit, so even if you can’t make the live competition, you can still come along, see the artwork and support the artists and the cause.

A pigeon painting by York’s premier pigeon artist Sharon McDonagh, alias spAm, who has sent a message of support for Saturday’s event

“You’ll also be able to learn more about why pigeons are suffering, the issues they are facing, why they need us to advocate for them due to the challenges they face in their everyday lives.”

The Columba Sanctuary aviary is run by City Screen Picturehouse general manager Cath Sharp at Barmby Moor, near York.

“It’s a one-person, not-for-profit pigeon sanctuary created to save the lives of feral, homeless or non-releasable pigeons who would otherwise face euthanasia or a slow death from lack of care,” says Cath, who names her sanctuary after the Latin name for the larger breed of pigeon. “Alongside rescue, we provide compassionate education about the need for pigeon rescue.”

The sanctuary is run entirely by Cath, who helps pigeons and other birds simply for the love of doing it. She does so alongside her busy full-time job through the generous help of donations and volunteers. Please note, the sanctuary is unable to take baby birds that need feeding every few hours.

In addition to pigeons, Cath’s aviary houses nine crows, a rook, two jays, named Jay-Z and Jam Master, and a blackbird called Spike.

Looking forward to playing host to the Pigeon Paint Off at City Screen, she says: “It will bring people from all over the country to take part in the paint-off, which will be followed by the exhibition running for three weeks.” 

York’s premier pigeon artist, Sharon McDonagh, alias spAm, will not be able to take part in the Pigeon Paint Off on account of her own commitment that day, when artworks from the RARE Collective’s PaintJam at AcombFest in July will be auctioned off at an event hosted at the Carlton Tavern, in Acomb Road, in aid of SASH, York (Safe and Sound Homes).

“But I will be doing another Columba Sanctuary pigeon art raffle at some point this year,” says Sharon. “Pigeons remind me of my Dad. I’ve loved pigeons since being a kid, so he built me a huge pigeon loft down garden so I could rescue pigeons. My first one, Joey, had a broken wing and lived with my rabbits. 

“They’re the underdogs and were once held in high esteem but now they’re deemed as ‘vermin’ and treated really badly, which I find so upsetting and a tragedy after they did so much for us back in the day.

An earlier poster for the Pigeon Paint Off at City Screen Picturehouse

“They’re very affectionate and love human contact. They’re such a cool bird…and always make me smile.”

Saturday’s Pigeon Paint Off will be supported by York School of Art, Blueberry Academy, Beck Hall, Malham, Junk Soul Smothered and Little Green Pigeon.

What is the Dead Toe Society?

“DEAD Toe Society is an arts and activism initiative I founded that uses creative projects and community engagement to challenge harmful attitudes towards non-human animals,” says Sam Crick. “My main focus is on changing public perceptions on pigeons and promoting coexistence in our shared urban spaces.”

Why is it called the Dead Toe Society? “The reason I got into pigeons was that I saw an injured pigeon in my my lunch break one day, and I could see that the bird had something around its feet,” says Sam.

“It took a month to ‘catch’ the bird, after I studied a video on YouTube on how to catch them, and then a toe dropped off in my hand, hence the Dead Toe Society. There’ve been many injured pigeon toes that have dropped off in my lap since then.”

Sam is organising the National Pigeon Advocacy’s International Pigeon Advocacy Conference at Derby Conference Centre on October 10 & 11. “We’ll have the whole venue to ourselves; there’ll be vegan catering, lots of guest speakers, and I’ll be doing an art creative project,” she says. Tickets are on sale at nationalpigeonadvocacyassociation.co.uk.

Pigeon merchandise will be sold at the two-day conference, including clothes, gifts and cards from Little Green Pigeon (littlegreenpigeon.co.uk).

“It’s about teaching people to be kind and considerate, and hopefully being kind to pigeons can filter out into caring about other things too,” says Sam.

A good starting point would be to visit helpwildlife.co.uk, where a registry of bird rehab & rescue centres and sanctuaries can be found, giving a list of who to contact.

Did you know?

ON her wedding day, Sam Crick walked back down the aisle to Lieutenant Pigeon’s 1972’s four-week chart topper, Mouldy Old Dough, the second biggest-selling single of that year.

“I was dressed in grey and there were pigeon ornaments on the cake and on the tables, as well as naturally moulted feathers in my bouquet,” says Sam, who has two pigeon tattoos. “I also wore a pigeon necklace that Cath [Sharp] gave me.”

Feral: Pigeon Paint Off organiser Sam Crick showing one of her two pigeon tattoos

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