Tag Archives: July

Feature

Win Guide to July

July is here and Winchester will not fail to deliver its share of weird and wonderful events to brighten what has been a temperamental summer thus far:

Stonemasons-Festival-Have you ever experienced live stone masonry?  Winchester Cathedral will be hosting a Festival taking place in the Inner Close, 8-10 July, where stone masons from across the UK will be showing their carving prowess, culminating in a public auction of works on Sunday 10 July and a chance to meet the masons. The event is free.

hampshire-fare-Foodies will be pleased to hear that July is also the Hampshire Food Festival, with various events taking place across the county all month.  On Friday 15 July 2016, Winchester’s Forte Kitchen will be opening its doors afterhours for a unique evening of food and drink. “Kitchen Cabinet” is a collaboration between Forte Kitchen and Cabinet Rooms. For a comprehensive list of all the events on offer, visit the online programme here.

Winchester Festival of the ArtsThe Winchester Festival of the Arts runs until Saturday 9 July, a series of music, talks and drama throughout the city. Speakers include Michael Morpurgo, Robert Hardy and Sandi Toksvig. There is a lunch time recital programme at St Lawrence’s Church, a selection of visual arts exhibitions and some interesting city walks. We like the sound of Alfred’s Kingdom (a dramatised walk) described as a journey ‘back through time’ to Anglo-Saxon Winchester with a dramatic twist! Booking is recommended. For a full programme visit the Festival website here.

Wessex Dance Academy will be presenting an exciting evening of choreography and film at the Theatre Royal, 14 July at 7pm.  A new company of dancers will share their 12 week journey with  three new pieces of dance. The event is free although donations are welcome.

logoThe Winchester Science Festival takes place  22-24 July. A fantastically curated programme of speakers will take over the Discover Centre for a weekend of stimulating talks on space, nature, the future and of course, powerful lasers. Various exhibitions and other events will be taking place throughout the month, and a full programme is available on the Winchester Science Festival website.

Plenty of food and thought this month – enjoy!

Feature

Win Guide to Hat Fair

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Hat Fair - Abbey Gardens
Hat Fair – Abbey Gardens

It’s time again for Hat Fair and the chance for everyone who happens to be in Winchester to bask in some phenomenal busking. This year the newly-appointed artistic director, Michelle Walker, has gathered together a troop of spectacular artists and performers to delight city folk and visitors alike in this playful street arts festival that is now 41 years young. Taking place from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th July, the festival is free to attend but do load your pockets with donations for the hard-working performers’ hats!

So, who’s actually in Hat Fair? Well, where do we begin? The team have rather helpfully put together some audience guides so you can tailor your own Hat Fair experience according to the type of festival-goer you are: Culture Vultures, Family Fun, Festival First Timers, Mad Hatters or Thrill Seekers.

Wet Picnic - Suitcases
Wet Picnic – Suitcases

Some of the multitude of artists in this year’s programme include Winchester’s home-grown theatre company Wet Picnic, with ‘Suitcases’, an exploration of online baggage through bizarre buffoonery. They’ll be on at Cathedral Outer Close on Friday and Saturday, and then at Oram’s Arbor on Sunday.

The brilliant ‘Stopgap Dance’ will present a tribute to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but re-named ‘Bill & Bobby’ at various times in the Great Hall Middle venue, Friday and Saturday.

Gobbledegook 'Ear Trumpet'
Gobbledegook ‘Ear Trumpet’

Gobbledegook Theatre will be inviting family audiences to hear sounds underground in ‘Ear Trumpet’ on Pilgrim’s Lawn on Friday and Saturday. And children can meet and actually paint ‘Blanko’, who’ll be transformed from a blank canvas in Cathedral Inner Close.

If you’re arriving by train, or even if you aren’t, pop along to Winchester Station for a steamy romance from Flintlock Theatre at various times on Friday and Saturday. Bad Brass Band’s ‘Lands of Hope and Glory’ will be wandering the city playing rousing English tunes to keep everybody feeling nicely nostalgic.

At 12pm on Saturday there’ll be a ‘Swingtime’ dance flash mob. You can go online to learn the routine in advance if you’re super keen, or there’s also a workshop at the Great Hall in the morning. Time for a cuppa? If you visit the Brooks Shopping Centre, director Rebecca JS Nice will be exploring intimacy and immersion in her piece ‘How do you take it?’, part of Hat Fair Fringe, a new platform this year for emerging performers sponsored by the University of Winchester.

If it all gets a bit much and you need some down-time, Oxfam Books and Music have kindly sponsored an outside library in Abbey Gardens where you can settle down for a while with a good book.

Southpaw Dance - Carousel
Southpaw Dance – Carousel

Southpaw Dance will be providing a spectacular finale to Saturday night’s events at the bus station with Carousel, a fairground spectacular. The fairground itself will open at 7.45pm and the performance from this headline act will start at 9pm.

As usual, everything will wind down on Oram’s Arbour on Sunday, with plenty of food and entertainment for family audiences, including the amazing ‘Amazing Mr Fish’ and the chance to visit an authentic Camera Obscura.

Don’t forget to get the Hat Fair ‘app’ so you can hop from venue to venue and see as many events as possible.

Happy Hatting, one and all!