Category: Music

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AcombFest, York’s first international street art festival, is under way with 90 activities, events and murals across 22 venues

SledOne’s mural, What Walks Amongst Us, taking shape for Acomb Fest. Picture: Art of Protest

ACOMB is hosting AcombFest, York’s first international street art festival for York, from today to Sunday featuring 20 art installations, live mural painting, RARE Collective’s PaintJam and spray battles, plus 30 bands, DJs and performers, across 22 venues.

Look out too at this Return To Nature-themed festival for special events and tastings, community cinema, family-friendly interactive workshops, art market, Acomb history walks and talk, plus shopping opportunities in support of independent businesses.

Featuring more than 90 activities and events, AcombFest is the creative brainchild of Art of Protest, Jeff Clark’s York-based  street and urban art business “dedicated to transforming cities, towns and communities one spray can at a time in artist-led, community-shaped and stakeholder-driven projects”.

Funded by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Vibrant and Sustainable High Street Fund, Great Acomb Community Forum and City of York Council and supported by York St John University and York School of Art, AcombFest presents a long weekend of highly visual and participatory events.

The centrepiece will be the painting of four large-scale murals in and around Front Street by renowned international artists. This work will be complemented by a further ten art installation paints featuring York artists with community collaborations, alongside a range of workshops, music and cultural happenings.

“Nothing of this scale will have been seen in York before, never mind in Acomb” says Jeff, Art of Protest creative director and lead curator of AcombFest.

Jeff Clark: Art of Protest creative director and lead curator of AcombFest

“Normally, activities of this scale would be confined to the city centre, but this event is a fantastic example of how to broaden out creative and cultural engagement to the people in the wider city and wards.

“Not only does this inject life into local high streets to make them more vibrant and sustainable, it also does the same for the communities themselves.”

Jeff continues: “The ambition for AcombFest is to be a bi-annual event attracting the best international, national and more local artists from across the region to really put Acomb on the map as ‘the creative quarter’ of York.

“This is something that has been much needed as a way of balancing the city’s reliance on its fantastic heritage. Not only that, it will act as an inspiration and a pathway for young creative people in the Acomb and surrounding communities to develop their skills and start their own creative journeys – hopefully into related jobs and industries.”

The mural artist headliners will be Australian superstar SMUG, known as “the world’s best photorealistic artist”; Sheffield muralist Peachzz, 2024 runner-up for Best Mural in the World; wildlife artist Curtis Hylton and Acomb returnee SledOne.

Only one magpie? Phew, luckily plenty more are being added to SMUG’s mural, What Flies Around Us, at AcombFest. Picture: Art of Protest

Creative events and activities will be centred on Front Street with free street art workshops. Venues include Bluebird Bakery, SoJo, The Crooked Tap and all the way down Acomb Road to The Fox, connecting all the green spaces and parks.

Each venue will have its own bespoke offer – from bush craft and nature art to artist talks – with individual tickets, availability information and listings to be found on the AcombFest website at https://acombfest.co.uk/.

RARE Collective are putting on DJs and nine artists will be showcasing their skills in live spray battles at the Carlton Tavern. The community cinema will run at Acomb Explore library and spoken word events at Books & Bevs. 

A full programme of family-friendly free activities will run at Acomb Methodist Church; That Acomb Arty Thing will play host to an artist market; the Gateway Church will present art exhibitions; Fishponds Wood will run mini-beast trails. Further attractions will be history tours, light installations in Holgate Windmill and pop-up stalls for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and York Civic Trust. 

Specialist food and drink offerings throughout the festival will include Spirit of Yorkshire and an international mixologist.

The festival was shaped by speaking to more than 1,100 residents and nine schools to learn of Acomb’s rich tapestry of history, flora and wildlife, leading to the festival theme of returning to nature. Acomb Alive and Acomb Methodist Church have supported the event too, the church playing host to music therapy sessions, flower arranging with Acomb Flower Guild, drop-in crafts with Crafty Fox and an art fair with Acomb Artists.

The festival map for AcombFest

What’s On at AcombFest

Friday, July 3

Explore Library
9:30am – 12:30pm
Mosaic Workshop
10am & 1pm
Hidden History Walk

Gateway Centre
10am – 6:30pm
Oak Room Art Exhibition and Art Workshops – Exhibitions & creative workshops curated by That Acomb Art Thing.

The Carlton Tavern
2pm – 5:30pm
PaintJam – RARE Collective & Art of Protest setting up PaintJam ready for artists, DJs & mixologist
7pm – 9pm
Live World Cup Mega-Screen 

Acomb Front Street
3pm – 4pm
Art of Protest Street Art Workshops

The Fox
3:30pm – 6pm
Water Art – After-school fun! Join the Fox team in a free-for-all floor art event
4pm – 9pm
Clucking Oinks Fried Chicken
6pm – 8pm
Tri-Starss – Beer garden gig of 1970s-1990s rock

DJ Sola: Leading a bill of live music, dancing and craft beer at The Crooked Tap

The Crooked Tap
All weekend
RARE Collective Urban Art Exhibition
4pm – 10:30pm
DJ Sola & Friends – Live music, craft beer and dancing
6pm – 9pm
Philly’s Woodfired Pizza – Neapolitan wood-fired pizza

SOJO
5:30pm – 8:30pm
Yorkshire Beer & Cheese Tasting – Celebration of Yorkshire produce
8:30pm – 11pm
Live bands – Local bands performing live sets

Bluebird Bakery/Rise
6pm – 7:45pm
AcombFest Talks – Curator Jeff Clark and muralists discuss AcombFest (Whisky-Highball on arrival, tickets required)
7:45pm – 8:30pm
Whisky Tasting – Spirit of Yorkshire + Tulum Spirits (tickets required)
8:30pm – 10:30pm
Flour Power Sound System with Yeastie Boy – Live music (tickets required)

The Hand
8pm – 9:30pm
Josh Pulleyn – Live music

Inn on the Green
8:30pm – 11pm
Live music – Local bands performing live sets

Saturday, July 4

York pianist Karl Mullen: PIaying outside the bakery at Rise@Bluebird Bakery from 1pm to 3pm

Bluebird Bakery/Rise
9am – 12pm
Wild Bee Flowers – Sustainable florist & flower farm
10am – 3pm
Fresh Bakes – Bluebird’s fresh bakes & goodies
1pm – 3pm
Karl Mullen Live Piano – Busker extraordinaire playing outside bakery
All day
Craft Beer and Speciality Cans – Fridges of craft beers & small brewery cans in regular rotation
7pm – 11pm
Groovetone + The Unknown Stuntman – Jazz, blues, Latin, funk and Ska tunes (tickets required)

The Place
10am – 12pm
Leo Morrey Art Workshops
12:30pm – 2pm
Drummers
12pm – 4pm
Stephen Hodgkins Art Workshops

West Bank Park
10am – 3pm
Trapeze classes

Holgate Windmill
10am – 3:30pm
Wind, Soil, Rock Art Installation – Video, sound and life-size puppet

The Carlton Tavern
10am – 6pm
PaintJam – Watch nine artists begin their paints
10am – 10pm
RARE Collective DJs + Audiovisual – Eclectic mix of DJs and audio visual producers for PaintJam. Decks will be pumping out tunes while the paint dries
10am – 10pm
Tulum Spirits Collective – Flying in from Mexico, mixologist Craig Feather serves up menu of luxury bespoke cocktails from 11am, preceded by non-alcoholic delights from 10am
11am – 8pm
Streetfood

The Crooked Tap
All weekend
RARE Collective Urban Art Exhibition
10:30am – 12pm
The Art of Kokodema Workshop – tickets required
12pm – 8pm
Yuzu East Asian Street Food
12pm – 1:30pm
Charlie Swainton – Live music
2pm – 3:30pm
Amy & Rob – Live music
4pm – 5:30pm
Craig Long – Live music
6pm – 7:30pm
James Scanlan – Live music
8pm – 10pm
Melting Pot – 90s’ Indie, Britpop & dance tribute

Acomb Methodist Church
10:30am – 2pm
Bloom Baby – Fiona Price Baby Classes
11am – 2pm
Music Therapy
12pm – 1pm
Jazzy J’s – Live music
12:30pm – 6pm
Cafe
1pm – 2pm
Ten Thousand Pairs of Hands – Live music
1:30pm – 4:30pm
Acomb Flower Guild – Adult & Child Workshops
3pm – 3:30pm
Acomb Choir
3:45pm – 8:45pm
Acomb Community Cinema

Explore Library
11am – 3pm
Acomb History Group
4pm – 7pm
Open Cinema: Hoppers – Cinema with popcorn (tickets required)

Acomb Front Street
11am – 3pm
Art of Protest Street Art Workshops

Storyteller Lara McClure

Books & Bevs
12:30pm – 3:30pm
Storytelling with Lara McClure

Fishpond Woods
2pm – 3:30pm
Mini Beast Safari

The Fox
12pm – 8:30pm
Posca Doodle Wall
12pm – 9pm
Clucking Oinks Fried Chicken
2pm – 4pm
The Mothers – Live music
4pm – 6pm
Ten Thousand Pairs Of Hands – Live music
6pm – 8pm
Steam Pigeon – Live music
6pm – 8:30pm
Beermat Art Lost Property Collage

Inn on the Green
2pm – 11pm
Open Mic Night

The Sun
3:30pm – 5pm
BBQ
4pm – 8pm
Fireball Rockband

The Hand
8:30pm – 11pm
Pete Hale – Live music

Sunday, July 5

Fishpond Woods
10am – 11am
Moth Reveal

Acomb Methodist Church
10am – 12pm
Interactive Worship
12pm – 6pm
Pop-Up Cafe
1pm – 4:30pm
Crafty Fox Kids Club – Hands-on art & craft activities for two to four-year-olds
1pm – 4pm
Bio-Diversity Collage – Reacting to ecological crisis
6pm – 8pm
Art Speedquiz

West Bank Park
10am – 3pm
Trapeze classes

Freida Nipples: Baps’N’Bingo at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Bluebird Bakery/Rise
10am – 3pm
Bluebird’s Sunday Ritual – Sunday specialties such as Bengali five-spice rolls, spinach & chickpea rolls, plus artisan pastries.
6pm – 8pm
Baps’N’Bingo – Burlesque bingo with Dolly Trolly and Freida Nipples (tickets required)
8pm – 11pm
Guilty Pleasures Disco – Closing party of pop bangers, disco, R&B & power ballads (tickets required)

Holgate Windmill
10am – 4pm
Wind, Soil, Rock Art Installation – Video, sound and life-size puppet

The Crooked Tap
All weekend
RARE Collective Urban Art Exhibition
10:30am – 12pm
Posca Pebble Art
12pm – 8pm
Yuzu East Asian Street Food
12:30pm – 5:30pm
Acomb Artists’ Kids Art Classes
12:30pm – 11pm
Cask Ale Festival
6pm – 10:30pm
AcombFest Closing Party – DJ Sola & Friends of RARE Collective

The Fox
12pm – 4pm
Bush Craft and Nature Art – Session with Tom Rawson of Branch Out
12pm – 9pm
Clucking Oinks Fried Chicken
2pm – 4pm
Bare Brass Band – Live music
4pm – 6pm
V2 – Live music

Inn on the Green
12pm – 5pm
Sunday Roast – OMNI Darts challenge & simulators

The Carlton Tavern
1pm – 6pm
PaintJam – Artwork continues
10am – 10pm
RARE DJ Sets – Live music
10am – 5pm
Tulum Spirits Collective – Flying in from Mexico, mixologist Craig Feather serves up luxury bespoke cocktails from 11am, preceded by non-alcoholic delights from 10am
11am – 8pm
El Chappo – New takes on traditional Mexican from Sheffield, ahead of Mexico v England in the World Cup last 16
12pm – 3:30pm
The Tavern Sunday Roast – Traditional roasts
9pm – 11pm
Live World Cup Mega-Screen

Gateway Church
2pm – 4pm
Little Green Fingers – Plant up container pot to take home

The Sun
4pm – 7pm
BBQ
4pm – 7pm
York Turnpike Trust – Five-piece band’sR&B covers

The Hand
5:30pm – 9pm
The Dunwells – Leeds indie-folk/Americana band

The Dunwells: Plating at The Hand on Sunday

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Orchestral Manoeuvres look forward to playing not-so-dark in Museum Gardens

Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

ELECTRONIC new wave trailblazers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark will headline the first night of Futuresound’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts.

The Wirral synth-pop duo of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys will be joined on OMD’s Summer Of Hits bill on July 9 bill by two fellow Eighties’ synth-pop luminaries, Sheffield’s Heaven 17 and Kirkby’s China Crisis, and rising singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin.

“It’s gonna be lovely playing outdoors,” says McCluskey, 67, fresh from OMD’s 22-date February and March tour showcasing their 2023 UK top two-charting album Bauhaus Staircase. “The biggest difference quite simply is playing in daylight. We have a lot of lights and LED screens behind us, so it will have a different feel just because of the daylight. It won’t be dark until quite late in the show.”

The contrast with the indoor experience will come one night earlier at Bradford Live. “A lot of people in Yorkshire were frustrated that York sold out so quickly, so the promoter asked us to play Bradford,” says Andy, who is looking forward to performing at the new £55 million Bradford venue – in the former Odeon cinema – for the first time.

Roll on to the next night in York. “There’s a party element to playing outdoors, though you’re playing with the lottery of the weather in Britain.” Good news for these upcoming Orchestral manoeuvres in the not so dark: the weather forecast predicts sunny intervals with a gentle breeze – while Futuresound concert promoter Rachel Hill advises bringing Factor 50 sun cream.

Choosing the set list will be straightforward. “We’ve advertised the shows as the Summer Of Hits tour, as you’re going to get 18 hits regardless, but obviously in York we’ll have some great acts with us,” says Andy. “Heaven 17 are stunning live, as are China Crisis, both with amazing frontmen [Glenn Gregory and Gary Daly respectively], so that means we have to keep it tighter in York, playing for 90 minutes [to meet the 10.30pm curfew].

“We specifically asked to have Heaven 17 and China Crisis on the bill. At the beginning of March, I was on an Eighties’  rock cruise, out of Port Canaveral,  cruising around the Caribbean,  doing two 90-minute shows and the rest of the week as holiday, taking all the WAGs with us! Heaven 17 were there for that one – and we go way back with the China Crisis boys, who’ve done a couple of tours with us over the years.”

Formed by childhood friends McCluskey (vocals and bass) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards and vocals) in 1978, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark emerged in the pioneering early days of synth pop, when the proto-machinery was more erratic in its behaviour in making their electronic craft work. 

Contrast with 21st century technology. “The digital age has transformed everything,” says Andy. “For me, as the singer, one of the best things now is the in-ear monitor, where you can hear everything so clearly. You don’t need so many speakers on stage; you don’t need it to be so loud, and the sound guy doesn’t have to fight with that.

“You don’t have to keep changing your synths. Everything is loaded into the digital keyboard, so there’s a lot less work for the keyboard player and the songs sound perfect every night.”

Is perfection good  for live music, Andy? “Absolutely!  We love it. We’re happy with how our records sounded, so that’s how we try to re-create them live on stage, as why would you want to mess with treasured memories. Why change them? Let people treasure those memories,” he says.

“I don’t understand how bands can go on stage and say  to themselves ‘I’m so bored how this song sounds after playing it 1,000 times’. Don’t mess with your songs!”

Casting an eye over five decades of OMD, Andy says: “It’s quite remarkable to look back, and what I’m always reminding myself is that we’ve had a lot of hit singles doing the music just the way we wanted to. No-one was telling us how to record them or writing songs for us. We’ve been a 48-year rolling accident!

“I should have gone to Leeds to study Fine Art; Paul should have done a British Telecom apprenticeship in London [but turned it down]. Instead we created a band with a crazy name for a dare for one gig, and here we are, still together 48 years later.

“The broader picture is that what we’re blessed with is how we’re in a post-modern era where nothing is out of fashion any more – which is nice for us older musicians, where if you’re considered an icon, people will still come and see you, and if people saw those songs as the soundtrack of their lives back then, they’re still the soundtrack to their lives.

“In many ways, songs act as little memory pegs, upon which hang several different memories. One of the great things about being a songwriter is that you may not solve poverty or end warfare, but you create these little three-minute vignettes that become reference points for the most touching moments in people’s live,  like your songs being played at funerals.

“That’s the greatest compliment that someone can give you, that something you created has become a memory for an entire family.”

Futuresound presents Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Summer Of Hits featuring Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin, Live at York Museum Gardens, July 9, gates open at 5pm. SOLD OUT.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, on song in the pub until Saturday ****

The Choir Of Man : “Give into your freewheeling side and ‘bring tomorrow on’ while this lovely blast is in York”. Picture: The Other Richard

IF you really want to know how a show was, ask someone (carefully) in the next cubicle or at the next urinal afterwards. This was a taste from the Gents: “Incredible”. “The best fun you can have on a Tuesday” (the night your reviewer attended).

The Choir Of Man performance doesn’t start with the lifting of the curtain, but begins with cast and audience together on the stage decked out with a real working bar. This is the audience’s introduction to ‘The Jungle’: an idealised pub that feels familiar to anyone of a certain age. The sort of place where people talk, share, open up, drink, sing and don’t appear to worry too much about what comes next.

This is a show where everything is tilted to ensure you have a good time, and the performers  look like they do too. There is a nod to a back story (based on the actor’s own) but their names, such as “Hardman” and “Maestro”, tell you all need to know.

But who really needs a reason to go to a bar? The emphasis is rightly on the songs, the musicianship and the nine voices. It’s a careening blast through some well-chosen songs from the 1980s onwards (and no room for Vera Lynn).

Choirs need voices that work together, not overwhelming the rest. On Tuesday’s opening performance, Sam Walter’s Romantic, Oluwalonimi ’Nimi’ Owoyemi’s Poet, Jack Skelton’s  Handyman, Joshua Lloyd’s Barman, Gustav Melbardis’s Maestro, Levi Tyrell Johnson’s  Hardman, Rob Godfrey’s Beast, Aaron Pottenger’s Bore and Ben Mabberley’s Joker all seemed to have come from some superhuman school of acting and music.

The audience joining the fun and pub games in The Jungle on stage at Tuesday’s performance of The Choir Of Man. Picture: Paul Rhodes

One where everyone can sing, play several instruments, dance when required and shake their thang with the best of them. Where do such people come from? Not likely headhunted from your average local.

The set-up is simple. There are a few heartfelt words, albeit sometimes a little rushed from Nimi, our narrator, but what little story there is always serves the song, spanning 15 numbers and a reprise over two hours.

It is exactly the life-affirming, joy-giving experience you hope for, and it is easy to see why the show has gathered such plaudits over the past ten years. While a few liberties are taken with The Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), the emotion is raw for Luther Vandross’s Dance With My Father.

You do have to set aside any scruples about celebrating alcohol, and if toilet humour isn’t your thing, then there’s one (actually very funny) scene when you might want to take a loo break. Spoiler (free beer!) for those in the stalls and a greater chance of being whisked on stage by a handsome man, but go with it and you’ll wake up without regret. There are lots of laughs, with Lloyd’s Barman gamely mining the most.

While the idea of this sort of bar may be fading into folk memory, people no longer routinely gather around the “old Joanna” to sing together, the community and belonging these spaces create, and places like them still engender, live and breathe on.

Beers and cheers: The Choir Of Man cast takes in the applause at Tuesday’s performance. Picture: Paul Rhodes

The musical highlights are the a cappella choir numbers. They steal the show from some of the bigger and better-known hits by Bon Jovi, Queen and even Eagle Eye Cherry’s Save Tonight.

The wonderful interplay of nine voices is sensational. For the finale, the cast is joined by 102 local choir members from Some Voices, Stamford Bridge Community Choir and Sing Space Musical Theatre for Sia’s Chandelier. The standing ovation that follows is thoroughly deserved.

Much is made of the show’s invitation to enjoy life while we can, to raise another glass. There is always that drinker’s tension, held in the balance in the glass, between one sip and the next, revelry or regret. Fortunately for us, this show truly does go on.

Give into your freewheeling side and “bring tomorrow on” while this lovely blast is in York.

The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, 7.30pm tonight; 4pm & 8pm tomorrow; 2.30pm & 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Review by Paul Rhodes

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 27, from Gazette & Herald

Christina Meehan, left, Karen Holmes and Pippa Duffy in rehearsal for Calendar Girls The Musical at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

THE York Mystery Plays on waggon wheels, Calendar Girls in the round, early music beyond borders and Jim Hacker’s lust hurrah promise high summer times for Charles Hutchinson.

Make a date with: Calendar Girls The Musical, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until July 25

AS director Paul Robinson reveals: “Our new in-the-round staging of Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls brings the audience into the heart of the Rylstone Women’s Institute, making this true story of friendship and determination feel more personal and immediate.

“This intimate production will create a unique, shared experience, reminiscent of gathering around a community hall or a close friend’s living room, allowing for a deeper connection to the characters and creating a collective, communal atmosphere that fully immerses everyone in the moving story of these ‘ordinary women’ doing something quite extraordinary.” Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Cathy Sara’s Villeyn and Thomas Frere’s Jongleur in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Mistero Buffo at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: John Shepherdson

2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in Mistero Buffo, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Saturday, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on Friday and  Saturday

TWO wild strangers roll into York for the 2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe to tell tales destined to turn the city upside down. Combining ferocious wit and fearless physical storytelling, Paul Birch’s two-hander production for York’s Riding Lights Theatre Company tears into faith, power, profit and hypocrisy by turning ancient Bible stories into urgent, humorous modern theatre with a clear spiritual heart.

Written by Nobel prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo, translated by Ed Emery and performed by Yorkshire actors Thomas Frere and Cathy Sara, this 1969 take on the Mystery Plays will appeal to Fringe theatregoers with a taste for subversive and unapologetic comedy with bite. Box office: www.ridinglights.org.

Kirkgate in floral splendour for summer at York Castle Museum. Picture: Gareth Buddo

Flower power of the week: Summer at York Castle Museum, in bloom until September 6, open Mondays, 11am to 5pm; Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 5pm

YORK Castle Museum is capturing the essence of ‘grand days out’ and celebrating iconic summers across two contrasting centuries this summer season.  Drawing on the breadth of the museum’s social history collection, Victorian York Galas and the Swinging ’60s are the programme’s key focus with games, crafts and seasonal decorations providing nostalgia and summer fun for visitors.

Further highlights include Last Stop Before Kirkgate, Novo Theatre’s immersive experience replicating a 19th century coaching inn and arrival into York, and Yorkshire artist Pippa Dyrlaga’s paper-cut hot air balloons, telling the story of balloon rides during the galas. Tickets: yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk.  

The Choir Of Man: “The best trip to your local you’ll ever have”…at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: The Other Richard

Foot-stomping musical celebration of the week: The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, today and tomorrow, 7.30pm; Friday, 4pm and 8pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

SET in the The Jungle pub on stage, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have” as a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with tap dance and soulful storytelling in an uplifting celebration of community and friendship.

The debut UK & Ireland tour cast features Gustav Melbardis as Maestro; Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet; Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man; Ben Mabberley as Joker; Rob Godfrey as Beast; Jack Skelton as Handyman; Joshua Lloyd as Barman; Sam Walter as Romantic and Aaron Pottenger as Bore performing Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston: Presenting A Gentle Air with tenor Paul Agnew and lutenist Sergio Bucheli on July 9 at 2026 York Early Music Festival

50th anniversary event of the summer: 2026 York Early Music Festival, Beyond Borders, Friday to July 11

THE premier British early music festival marks its 50th anniversary with a celebration of “just how far early music has travelled – beyond the borders of the myriad historic venues of our city to a worldwide audience,” says director Delma Tomlin.

Opening with Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, presented by I Fagiolini, and closing with Solomon’s Knot’s rendition of Bruhns’s St Mark Passion, the festival welcomes The Sixteen, B’Rock Orchestra & Vocal Consort, Imago Mundi, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and NCEM Platform Artists Anacronia and Contre le temps, among others. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk/yemf.

Tribute show of the week: The Rat Pack, Las Vegas Live!, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

DIRECT from London’s Leicester Square Theatre, The 02 and a Royal Command Performance, David Alacey stars as Frank Sinatra alongside West End favourite Tim Harwood as Dean Martin and former Coronation Street and Hollyoaks star Ashley Campbell as Sammy Davis Jr in the original Rat Pack tribute show, now celebrating its 25th record-breaking year of re-creating their Las Vegas heyday at The Sands. BBC musical director Mac Shone will be at the piano alongside the Buddy Greco All-Stars. Box office:  01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk. 

Bodhan Pitel’s Herod in DSpace Ukrainian Theatre and the Guild of Scriveners’ The Massacre of The Innocents in the 2026 York Mystery Plays. Picture: John Saunders

Theatrical event of the week: 2026 York Mystery Plays, streets of York, Sunday, 10.30am to 4.50pm; Sunset in the Shambles Market, tonight, 7.45pm  

THE four-yearly staging on the York Mystery Plays on pageant waggons takes place at four locations across the city: free viewing at the Minster Refectory Gardens, Deansgate, (from 10.30am) King’s Square (from 11.10am), St Sampson’s Square (from 11.50am) and ticketed seats at Dean’s Park (from 12.30pm). Ten core plays will be complemented by further extracts to tell the story from The War In Heaven to Doomsday. For full details, go to: yorkmysteryplays.co.uk.

A special midsummer performances of five plays will be held in Shambles Market tonight, introduced by the York Waits musicians before Pageant Master Dr Alan Heaven guides the audience through each play, from the Creation sequence to the interactive show Doomsday. Tickets: ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

Clive Francis and Simon Rouse in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Michael Wharley

Political drama of the week: I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, Grand Opera House, York, July 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

JIM Hacker is back, older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Hoping for a quiet retirement from government as the master of Hacker College, Oxford, Jim (Simon Rouse) instead finds himself facing the ultimate modern crisis: cancelled by the college committee. Enter Sir Humphrey Appleby (Clive Francis), who has lost none of his love for bureaucracy, Latin phrases and well-timed obstruction.

Can Humphrey and Jim outmanoeuvre the hostile students, the Fellows and reality itself? Or is it finally time to say “I’m Sorry, Prime Minister”? Brimming with wit, nostalgia and more double-speak than a press briefing, the final chapter in the evergreen comedy series is written and directed by Jonathan Lynn,co-directed by Michael Gyngell and presented by The Barn Theatre, Cirencester. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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Wharfemede Productions to stage The Addams Family Musical in Halloween week at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Helen “Bells” Spencer: Director of Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical

REHEARSALS are well under way for North Yorkshire company Wharfemede Productions’ staging of The Addams Family Musical for Halloween week in York.

“Following our critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning productions of Little Women and A Little Night Music, we are delighted to be bringing this hilariously spooky musical comedy to Theatre@41, Monkgate,” says director Helen “Bells” Spencer. “We look forward to seeing you at Halloween – if you dare – and until then, we wish you just the right amount of darkness!”

The Addams Family, a devilishly funny musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, will bring everyone’s favourite kooky family to the stage in spectacular fashion from October 27 to 31.

When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” young man and invites his respectable parents to dinner, chaos, secrets and macabre mayhem unfold in true Addams style.

“Packed with sharp comedy, dazzling dance numbers and a brilliantly witty score, this spooky celebration of family, love and embracing the wonderfully weird promises an unforgettable night at the theatre,” says Bells.

“We are thrilled to return with a show full of heart, humour and Halloween spirit, performed during Halloween week itself, when audiences can expect the perfect seasonal treat packed with gothic glamour, mischievous fun and spectacular entertainment.

“The Addams Family is darkly delightful, gloriously gothic and wickedly entertaining. Whether you’re a life-long fan of the Addams clan or discovering them for the first time, this is one family reunion you won’t want to miss!”

In the cast will be: Zander Fick as Gomez Addams; Henrietta Linnemann, Morticia Addams; Abbie Law, Wednesday Addams; Matthew Warry, Pugsley Addams; Nick Sephton, Fester Addams; Rosy Rowley, Grandma; Chris Gibson, Lurch; Steven Jobson, Mal Beineke; Connie Howcroft, Alice Beineke, and Dan Crawfurd-Porter, Lucas Beineke.

In the ghostly Ancestors ensemble will be: The Ancestors: Adela Barrett, Benedict Merry, Catherine Foster, David Copley-Martin, Freya McIntosh, Madeleine Jones, Rachel Merry and Rianna Louise.

“At its heart, this is a brilliantly funny show, packed with wit, warmth and wonderfully eccentric characters, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be working with such an exceptionally talented cast,” says Bells, who is joined in the production team by
musical director James Robert Ball, choreographer Connie Howcroft, wardrobe mistress Suzanne Perkins, light and sound designer Will Nicholson and production manager Nick Sephton.

“From our first read-through, the room has been filled with laughter, creativity and a real sense of ensemble. I cannot wait for audiences to meet this company and experience the energy, humour and heart they are bringing to the production.”

One reason why Wharfemede Productions picked The Addams Family for its autumn show was that, beneath its gothic exterior, the story celebrated difference and the importance of family and community.

“The Addams family may be unconventional, but they love fiercely, support one another and find strength in their uniqueness,” says Bells. “These are values that resonate strongly with us at Wharfemede.

“We believe that our differences should be celebrated, that everyone deserves equality and respect, and that we achieve our best work when we support and learn from one another. This production is, in many ways, a celebration of those ideals.”

Bells is particularly excited to be bringing elements of commedia dell’arte into Wharfemede’s interpretation of the show. “Having had the privilege of working with commedia companies in Italy, I have long admired the genre’s physical storytelling, heightened characters and joyful theatricality,” she reasons.

“Those influences feel perfectly suited to the world of The Addams Family, and I look forward to blending them with the musical’s unique humour to create something that is both fresh and deeply entertaining.”

Wharfemede Productions presents The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 27 to 31, 7:30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: www.tickets.41monkgate.co.uk

Who are Wharfemede Productions?

CO-FOUNDED by Dr Helen “Bells Spencer, chief artistic director, and Nick Sephton, chief operating officer, who share a passion for bringing high-quality musical theatre and events to Yorkshire.

Since its formation just three years ago, the company has staged such shows as Little Women and A Little Night Music.

At the heart of Wharfemede is a commitment to artistic excellence, alongside a belief that theatre should be a place to learn, grow and have fun. The company prides itself on creating a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed, valued and encouraged to develop their skills. Respect, openness and community are central to everything the company does.

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Sam Meredith to open 50th anniversary York Early Music Festival with York Fanfare

Wakefield composer Sam Meredith

YORK Early Music Festival is to mark its 50th year with a spectacular new commission, the majestic York Fanfare, Flourish At 50, to be played several times during the opening weekend.

To create the fanfare, the festival joined forces with West Yorkshireman Sam Meredith and the all-female German ensemble [hanse] Pfeyffery – it translate as [town] pipes – to create this heraldic piece of music.

Born in Leeds and raised in Wakefield,  composer and multi-instrumentalist Meredith was a finalist in the 2023 NCEM Young Composers Award.

He was chosen from a strong line up of applicants, all alumni from the composers award, to be Commission Composer for the 2026 festival.

“We put out a call to all 100 of our award alumni, inviting bids from these composers,” says festival director Delma Tomlin. “[hanse] Pfeyffery then had conversations with selected composers and settled on Sam.”

Sam says: “In this piece, I wanted to emulate the rousing and awe-inducing nature of a traditional fanfare, while also creating a sense of playfulness, joy and celebration, more in the spirit of folk and dance music.

“The often syncopated landscape that emerged, first during the compositional process and then through working with [hanse] Pfeyfferey, is hopefully an exciting and an energetic tribute to the National Centre for Early Music.”

Last year, Sam completed his MA in Opera-Making and Writing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama after earlier studying for a BA in composition there. His work has been performed at the Barbican, London, and the annual Bauhaus Festival, London, under the tutelage of John Harle, who has commissioned him to write pieces for big band, large ensemble and most recently a duet for saxophone and piano. 

Sam has sung and toured with the Idrisi Ensemble and was proud to appear in the choir for Alan Bennett’s 2025 film The Choral, filmed in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, directed by Nicholas Hytner.

The Yorkshire Fanfare will be performed by 2026 festival artists in residence, [hanse] Pfeyffery, a Renaissance wind band that specialises in improvised and rediscovered music from around 1500.

[hanse] Pfeyfferey: 2026 York Early Music Festival artists in residence

The ensemble of Hannah Geisel, shawm, Lilli Pätzold, cornett, and Alexandra Mikheeva, slide trumpet and trombone, were finalists in the 2024 York International Young Artists Competition when they won the Cambridge Early Music Prize.

The York Fanfare will open this year’s festival on Friday (3/7/2026), played on the grass outside the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, at 6.20pm before the opening concert by I Fagiolini, and then will be performed outside the West Door of York Minster before The Sixteen’s concert on Saturday at 6.45pm, 7pm and 7.15pm.

The last chance to catch [hanse] Pfeyffery playing the fanfare will come on BBC Radio 3’s The Early Music Show, broadcast live from the NCEM, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, on Sunday at 5pm.

Sam has just returned from ten months of working in Japan. “I was teaching at an international school, everyone from Year 7 to A-levels,” he says. “My old music teacher had gone there to work and posted the job on Facebook. It was fascinating to be out there as it gave me the chance to look at the work of Toru Takemitsu, whose music is very modern sounding. Incredible music!”

Writing for early music specialists [hanse] Pfeyffery  was a  different kind of challenge. “It’s very exciting to be writing for instrumentalists and musicians who have that ethos of being excited by improvisation, which was later lost in classical music,” says Sam. “They have that very open way, often rooted in academic practice and theory, and they’re great at taking that off the page and putting into practice.”

To be selected, Sam had to submit earlier works, provide a pitch for what he would like to write, then conduct a short interview on Zoom with [hanse] Pfeyffery last November. “I ended up writing reams and reams of sketches as I wanted to cover all bases, because you think, what is a fanfare these days? Is it something rooted in history? It’s definitely to mark an occasion.

“The previous piece I’d written was an opera, which I’d been immersed in for a while, so I was trying to change my creative process, to write a short piece to be performed outside that had to be dynamic and  would need to attract people’s attention. That really shaped what I kept and left out in those sketches.”

Sam previously wrote two-minute pieces for the Bauhaus Festival in London. “That was for saxophone, drums and guitar – loud music! – so the brief was similar in condensing what I wanted to say in short time that would make its point and not go on too long, in the tradition of pieces written for the beginning and end of festivals, albeit with a very different  sound on cornett, shawm and slide trumpet.

“That was one of the joys of composing this piece: working out what each instrument could do, its individual voice within the trio, uncovering each of those voices. The piece is made to be entertaining for [hanse] Pfeyffery to perform, while encouraging people to come into the concerts – and hopefully not put them off!”

For the full festival programme and tickets, visit ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf.

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The Choir Of Man cast to perform stomping excerpts on Parliament Street on Wednesday to showcase York run

The Choir Of Man cast: Swapping The Jungle pub for Parliament Street on Wednesday

THE cast of The Choir Of Man will head to Parliament Street, York, at 1.30pm on Wednesday to give a one-off taster of live excerpts from this week’s production, running at the Grand Opera House until Saturday.

 Set in the on-stage pub The Jungle, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have” as a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with tap dance and soulful storytelling in an uplifting celebration of community and friendship.

The debut UK & Ireland tour cast features Gustav Melbardisas Maestro; Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet; Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man; Ben Mabberley as Joker; Rob Godfrey as Beast; Jack Skelton as Handyman; Joshua Lloyd as Barman; Sam Walter as Romantic and Aaron Pottenger as Bore performing Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry hits.

The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, June 30 to July 2, 7.30pm; July 3, 4pm and 8pm; July 4, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 26, from The York Press

Becky Hill: High-energy performance on Knavesmire track

THE York Mystery Plays on waggon wheels, Becky Hill on Knavesmire, Calendar Girls in the round and early music beyond borders promise high summer times for Charles Hutchinson.

Under starter’s orders: Becky Hill, Summer Music Saturday, York Racecourse, today, first race at 1.20pm

BECKY Hill, two-time BRIT Award winner for Best Dance Act, opens the summer of post-racing concerts at York Racecourse, promising a high-energy performance on the “Glastonbury-style stage” after tomorrow’s seven-race card. For her set list, she can pick from such hits as Gecko; Back & Forth; Wish You Well; Lose Control; Better Off Without You; Heaven On My Mind; Remember; My Heart Goes; Run; Crazy What Love Can Do; History and Disconnect. For race-day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

Kirkgate at York Castle Museum in full summer bloom with floral displays and new projections. Picture: Gareth Buddo Furmoto Photography

Flower power of the week: Summer at York Castle Museum, in bloom until September 6, open Mondays, 11am to 5pm; Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 5pm

YORK Castle Museum is capturing the essence of ‘grand days out’ and celebrating iconic summers across two contrasting centuries this summer season.  Drawing on the breadth of the museum’s social history collection, Victorian York Galas and the Swinging ’60s are the programme’s key focus with games, crafts and seasonal decorations providing nostalgia and summer fun for visitors.

Further highlights include Last Stop Before Kirkgate, Novo Theatre’s immersive experience replicating a 19th century coaching inn and arrival into York, and Yorkshire artist Pippa Dyrlaga’s paper-cut hot air balloons, telling the story of balloon rides during the galas. Tickets: yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk.  

Richard Ashcroft. Picture: Dean Chalkley

Coastal gigs of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Richard Ashcroft, today; Billy Ocean and Marti Pellow, tomorrow, gates open at 6pm

THE Verve frontman, songwriter and producer Richard Ashcroft, two-time Ivor Novello and triple BRIT Award winner, headlines today’s Scarborough bill, joined by DJ Wayne, original Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan and Yorkshire indie rockers Apollo Junction.  

Trinidadian-British soul singer Billy Ocean (real name Leslie Sebastian Charles, by the way) takes top spot tomorrow, airing such hits as Red Light Spells Danger, Love Really Hurts Without You, Caribbean Queen and When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going. His very special guest is former Wet Wet Wet singer and musicals star Marti Pellow; Katie Owen supports too. Box office: scarbroughopenairtheatre.com.

Christina Meehan’s Annie, left, and Karen Holmes’s Chris in Calendar Girls The Musical at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Make a date with: Calendar Girls The Musical, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, today until July 25

AS director Paul Robinson reveals: “Our new in-the-round staging of Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls brings the audience into the heart of the Rylstone Women’s Institute, making this true story of friendship and determination feel more personal and immediate.

“This intimate production will create a unique, shared experience, reminiscent of gathering around a community hall or a close friend’s living room, allowing for a deeper connection to the characters and creating a collective, communal atmosphere that fully immerses everyone in the moving story of these ‘ordinary women’ doing something quite extraordinary.” Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Cathy Sara’s Villeyn and Thomas Frere’s Jongleur in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Mistero Buffo. Picture: John Shepherdson

2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in Mistero Buffo, Friargate Theatre, York, today, tomorrow, then July 1 to 4, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on July 3 & 4

TWO wild strangers roll into York for the 2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe to tell tales destined to turn the city upside down. Combining ferocious wit and fearless physical storytelling, Paul Birch’s two-hander production for York’s Riding Lights Theatre Company tears into faith, power, profit and hypocrisy by turning ancient Bible stories into urgent, humorous modern theatre with a clear spiritual heart.

Written by Nobel prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo, translated by Ed Emery and performed by Yorkshire actors Thomas Frere and Cathy Sara, this 1969 take on the Mystery Plays will appeal to Fringe theatregoers with a taste for subversive and unapologetic comedy with bite. Box office: www.ridinglights.org.

Bodhan Pitel’s Herod in DSpace Ukrainian Theatre’s The Massacre of the Innocents. Picture: John Saunders

Theatrical event of the week: 2026 York Mystery Plays, streets of York, tomorrow and July 5, 10.30am to 4.50pm; Sunset in the Shambles Market, June 30 and July 1, 7.45pm  

THE four-yearly staging on the York Mystery Plays on pageant waggons takes place at four locations across the city: free viewing at the Minster Refectory Gardens, Deansgate, (from 10.30am) King’s Square (from 11.10am), St Sampson’s Square (from 11.50am) and ticketed seats at Dean’s Park (from 12.30pm). Ten core plays will be complemented by further extracts to tell the story from The War In Heaven to Doomsday. For full details, go to: yorkmysteryplays.co.uk.

Special midsummer performances of five plays will be held in Shambles Market on June 30 and July 1, introduced by the York Waits musicians before Pageant Master Dr Alan Heaven guides the audience through each play, from the Creation sequence to the End of Days in the interactive show Doomsday. These shows begin at 7.45pm and end as the dusk is deepening before 10pm. Tickets: ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

The Choir Of Man: “The best trip to your local you’ll ever have” at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: The Other Richard

Foot-stomping musical celebration of the week: The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, June 30 to July 2, 7.30pm; July 3, 4pm and 8pm; July 4, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

SET in the The Jungle pub on stage, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have” as a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with tap dance and soulful storytelling in an uplifting celebration of community and friendship.

The debut UK & Ireland tour cast features Gustav Melbardisas Maestro; Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet; Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man; Ben Mabberley as Joker; Rob Godfrey as Beast; Jack Skelton as Handyman; Joshua Lloyd as Barman; Sam Walter as Romantic and Aaron Pottenger as Bore performing Queen, Luther Vandross,Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, AviciiandKaty Perry hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Solomon’s Knot: Performing at York Early Music Festival on July 10

50th anniversary event of the summer: 2026 York Early Music Festival, Beyond Borders, July 3 to 11

THE premier British early music festival marks its 50th anniversary with a celebration of “just how far early music has travelled – beyond the borders of the myriad historic venues of our city to a worldwide audience,” says director Delma Tomlin.

Opening with Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, presented by I Fagiolini, and closing with Solomon’s Knot’s rendition of Bruhns’s St Mark Passion, the festival welcomes The Sixteen, B’Rock Orchestra & Vocal Consort, Imago Mundi, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and NCEM Platform Artists Anacronia and Contre le temps, among others. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk/yemf.

In Focus: Ripon Theatre Festival, July 5 to 12

Maybe You Like It in Down To Chance: Playing Ripon Theatre Festival at Ripon Arts Hub on July 11 at 8pm

RIPON Theatre Festival 2026 celebrates five years of culture, colour and community spirit from July 5 to 12 with eight days and nights of performances focused on theatre in all its forms, from storytelling and puppetry to cabaret, Shakespeare and circus.

Top talent from Edinburgh & beyond

THE festival welcomes hit shows from the Edinburgh Fringe at Ripon Arts Hub,  including Stephen Smith’s One Man Poe on July 10 at 8pm, fast-paced thriller Down To Chance on July 11 at 8pm The Poetical Life Of Philomena McGuinness on July 12 at 2.30pm.

Quirky & unique

RIPON Theatre Festival makes the most of the city’s venues and open spaces with pop-up events showcasing theatre everywhere. A knitting cabaret from Canada, a one-man show about British pub life, walkabout acts, Pop-up Puppetry and Poetry for Breakfast are among the acts that will appear in friendly cafes, pubs and independent shops. Look out too for a show performed inside a vintage bus.

The Big Weekend for families

SUPPORTED by Arts Council England through the National Lottery for a second year, the Big Weekend of free family entertainment on July 11 and 12 will feature street arts and circus theatre from across the four nations and beyond. Highlights include dance-circus troupe Circo Rumbaba and comedy, cooking and circus with Do What Ya Mamma Told Ya.

Reaching out to all the community

IN the weeks leading up to the festival, activities in care homes, “making and creating” sessions with learning-disabled adults and intergenerational music sessions ensure the event reaches all corners of the community.

This includes a schools’ programme featuring Opera North’s Little Listeners and the madcap Rubbish Shakespeare Company.

Supporting new writing & regional talent

ESTABLISHED  regional artists, such as Victoria Firth and Kathryn Hanke, from Huddersfield, in Batty! at Ripon Arts Hub on July 9 at 8pm, feature alongside up-and-coming artists such as Constance Peel, from Boston Spa, performing the new play Service Please at The Water Rat on July 6 at 6.30pm.

Providing a platform for locally-inspired works-in-progress, the festival offers audiences the first chance to experience York’s Out Of Character Theatre Company in Outcast’s exploration of life in medieval Ripon and Imogen Wood’s work-in-progress, Jord, whose starting point is the petrifying powers of Mother Shipton in a union of live music, poetry and storytelling that challenges the fascination and obsession with women staying young and delaying ageing.

Summer season finale

RIPON Theatre Festival stretches beyond July 12 for a post-festival open-air Shakespeare finale at Ripon Raceourse on July 24, when The Duke’s Theatre Company presents Romeo & Juliet at 7pm (preceded by North Yorkshire Council-supported performances at Prince of Wales Terrace, Scarborough, on July 22 and Valley Gardens, Harrogate, on July 23). Box office: thedukestheatrecompany.co.uk.

Festival director Katie Scott says: “Ripon Theatre Festival is celebrating a five-year milestone birthday and we are proud of all that we have achieved so far.

“Community led, but showcasing some of the best professional touring work alongside an inclusive and lively outdoor and family programme, the festival is hugely valued for its variety and originality. We can’t wait to share our 2026 offering and bring the joy of live performance to an even wider audience.”

For the full programme and tickets, go to: ripontheatrefestival.org.

Amber Topaz in Red, Ripon Arts Hub, July 8, 7.30pm

Amber Topaz in Red

YORKSHIRE-BORN international cabaret and burlesque siren Amber Topaz celebrates redheaded musical theatre stars of stage and screen in her classy, sassy, fabulous musical revue Red.

Her delicious cocktail of Old Hollywood glamour and West End and Broadway classics is “full to the brim with iconic show-stopping numbers, honouring these formidable flame-haired trailblazers that have shaped musical theatre herstory”.

From the golden era of Hollywood to the bright lights of Las Vegas, Red embodyies legendary artists such as Rita Hayworth, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, Shirley MacLaine, Gwen Verdon and many more.

As a teenager, Amber left her Yorkshire roots to move to London and enter the world of cabaret and burlesque, since when she has travelled widely with her combination of frivolous and thought-provoking cabaret.

Fladam, Astro Norma, Ripon Library, July 11, 10.30am and 12 noon

Fladam’s Florence Poskitt & Adam Sowter in Astro Norma

YORK duo Fladam, Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter, present their out-of-this-world musical comedy Astro Norma at Ripon Library, where they invite audiences aged three to ten to blast off on a madcap 45-minute quest to find Grandpa’s lost star, but beware, the sneaky Silencer is hot on her trail , ready to silence the tunes.

Packed with awesome aliens, rib tickling robots and interplanetary puppets, this joyful space odyssey will have young theatregoers reaching for the stars.

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Flying Ducks Youth Theatre marks 30th anniversary with reunion shows at Joseph Rowntree Theatre this weekend

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in The Addams Family

FLYING Ducks Youth Theatre will celebrate 30 years of shows, artistic growth, community connections young talent this weekend at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

Soaring Through The Years: A 30th Anniversary Celebration will be performed at 1pm and 5pm tomorrow, followed by a 1pm matinee on Sunday.

This milestone event will undertake a captivating journey through three decades of shows, featuring an array of songs and numbers from Return To The Forbidden Planet, West Side Story, Fame The Musical, Grease, Bugsy Malone, High School Musical and more besides that highlight the creativity of the York company’s young performers.

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre’s Quacks performers

“We are ecstatic to welcome past Flying Ducks alumni as guest performers,” says co-director Jenna Dee. “Some graced the stage with us more than 20 years ago, some are back to showcase the lasting impact Flying Ducks has had on their artistic journeys, reminding us all of the community and friendships formed within these walls.”

Among those alumni will be: Sian Walshaw (nee Sian Davies), who joined the group in 1999; Nicola Murray (nee Nicola Elliot), who joined in 1996;  Vicky Dambrauskas. (nee Neap); Dan Lawrence; Henry Bird; Alex Deadman (2000); Dan Killen (2002); Hannah King (2006); Eva Howe (2017) and Mollie Surgenor (2018)

Look out too for performances by directors – and past members – Jenna Dee (2001) and her sister, Sara Howlett (2002).

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre on stage

Jenna took the helm of Flying Ducks in 2018 after returning to York from her time as an actor and facilitator in London. Partnering with Sara, who had been choreographing for the company for many years, they directed their first show together, This Is Me, in March 2019.

Their vibrant musical theatre concert, featuring 22 young performers, received support from founder Stephen Outhwaite and a dedicated committee for set, props, and costumes.

Since then, Jenna and Sara have continued to lead the eldest group, Ducks, for ages 11 to 19, now boasting 45 members. They have directed and produced a variety of book musicals, such as Crush The Musical, Shrek The Musical and The Addams Family.

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre’s poster for this weekend’s 30th anniversary celebrations

All of these shows were staged with impressive professional sets designed by founder Stephen Outhwaite, who has still held an incredibly important role within the group. 

Excitingly, Flying Ducks are now preparing for their next adventure, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, already in the diary for February 2027.

The growth of Flying Ducks has exceeded all expectations. Jenna, alongside teaching assistant Keelie Newbold, now oversees two Quacks groups for ages four to six and three Ducklings groups for ages seven to ten, bringing the total membership to 140.

The committee behind the group comprises ten volunteers, and together with  treasurer Claire Newbold , they ensure the  group continues to go from strength to strength. 

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in The Addams Family

“Join us this weekend as we celebrate the past, embrace the present and look forward to the future in a celebration that promises to be truly memorable,” says Jenna.

“Don’t miss this chance to be part of a community that has nurtured creativity and connection for three decades. We can’t wait to see you there!

“It would be great to reach out especially to anyone who had connections with the group as we are hoping to host a reunion with Stephen Outhwaite and past members after the Sunday afternoon show. They can contact us at flyingducksyork@gmail.com if they’d like to come and be a part of it or to attend the reunion.”

Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in Soaring Through The Years: A 30th Anniversary Celebration, June 28, 1pm and 5pm; June 28, 1pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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REVIEW: York Light Opera Company in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until July 4 ***

Rosa Burns’ Marcy Park in a defiant outburst in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

IN a spelling bee competition, contestants are asked to spell words aloud, letter by letter, with no backtracking, one by one, in order, on a loop. 

Participants are eliminated if they misspell a word, indicated by the death-knell ding of a bell, and the contest will continue until only one winner is still standing uncorrected.

The word “bee”, by the way, has nothing to do with the honey-making insect. Instead, in American English, the “bee” once referred to a community gathering where neighbours worked together on a specific task.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has been causing a buzz as a Tony and Drama Desk Awards Best Book-winning musical since 2004, a buzz that has spread belatedly to York 22 years later for York Light’s summer production at Theatre@41, Monkgate.

Sweltering in the June heat wave, the John Cooper Studio’s black box theatre has been converted into a school gymnasium with a basketball on the back wall to emphasise the American setting.

James Dickinson’s Chip Tolentino in one of his “over-excited” moments at the microphone in York Light Opera Company’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Provided by theatre staff, hand-held fans were being wafted feverishly in the clammy night air by grateful audience members, but Neil Wood’s cast had no such wind assistance on Wednesday, Hannah Shaw’s Olive Ostrovsky gamely wearing a pink jumper throughout. The show must go on, as they say.

Six awkward “mid-pubescent” spelling champions gather for the chance to make the national final, joined at each show by four audience members who volunteer to join the linguistic gymnastics (mirroring the stars of stage and screen being the guest spellers in the latest off-Broadway revival of Rebecca Feldman, William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical in New York).

Taking part are the geeky one with a health condition (Stephen Wright’s William Barfee); the alpha-male one (James Dickinson’s Chip Tolentino); the zany, off-the-rails one (Daniel Wood’s Leaf Coneybear); the proto-politician one with two pushy dads (Lotty Farmer’s lisping, asthmatic Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere); the already career-driven future businesswoman one (Rosa Burns’ Marcy Park) and the neglected one, with the adoring but always too busy parents (Shaw’s Olive Ostrovsky).

One by one, we learn their back stories, the home life that shapes them, as we observe the characteristics that will mark them in adulthood and root for their spelling prowess.

To avoid the question-and-answer format of the competition becoming repetitive, the show’s writers find ways to keep it on the move, to build an ever faster pace, both in dialogue and in song, helped hugely by the input of the question master, Neil Foster’s increasingly irascible vice-principal, Douglas Panch, whose past troubles re-surface in his erratic behaviour, expressed in his waspish tongue.

If he is the “bad cop”, the “good cop” is the kind-hearted, beatific contest hostess, Katie Brier’s one-time champion, Rona Lisa Piretti. On hand with a consoling pat on the back and a box of fruit juice for each losing contestant is Mikhail Lim’s scene-stealing “comfort counsellor”, whose manner can be as discomfiting as comforting, closer to intimidating on occasion as he sings of the contest descending into pandemonium.

Lim, Foster and Wright in particular capture the offhand, offbeat humour of Sheinkin’s book, matched by the wit of Finn’s lyrics – typified by the rhyme of ‘protuberance’ with ‘exuberance’ – while the adult cast transforms into sometimes troubled tweens with elan under Wood’s smart direction.

What Spelling Bee lacks is knockout tunes to go with the knockabout laughs and astute social observation, although pianist Martin Lay’s four-piece band plays spiritedly throughout with Katie Maloney on reeds, Rosie Morris on synths and Jez Smith on percussion.

To bee or not to bee? It is always good to check out a “quirky little” musical new to York, and the combination of a snappy script and humorous, heartfelt performances works well, even if the show falls short of being spell-binding.  

York Light Opera Company in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 25 to 27, then June 30 to July 4, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 2pm Sunday matinee (28/6/2026). Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.