wimpole history festival cambridge

What’s on in Cambridge – June

Well, Summer has arrived here in Cambridge and there’s loads happening in June …. outdoor celebrations as well as indoor activities, many of them free, for those rainy days (hopefully there won’t be too many of those!), lots of music, something for foodies and scientists, in fact something for everybody. I’ll update this listing as the month unfolds so please do get in touch through my Contact page if you know of an event that I can list here.

Midsummer Common Cambridge — Midsummer Common bathed in sunshine

1st 10am – 1pm Family Saturdays – Messy Mud. Get messy with mud, make mud pies and have a go at mud painting. Free event. Botanic Garden. http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk

1st 10.30am – 11pm Strawberry Fair. Popular volunteer run music and arts event on Midsummer Common. Free entry. http://www.strawberry-fair.org.uk

1st 2 – 4pm Family First Saturday. Activities and art making on the theme of “dazzling doodles”. Free, drop in. http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

1 – 2nd 12 – 4pm Drop in drawing activities for all ages and abilities. Free, no booking required. Kettle’s Yard, Castle Street. http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk

2nd 5.30pm Songs of Song. Ancient songs in praise of music, from the British Isles c.600 – 1200. Two voiced harmonies to harp and lyre. The Round Church. http://www.cambridgelive.org.uk

7th Museum of Technology reopens. Cheddars Lane. http://www.museumoftechnology.com Read more about the Museum of Technology here

8 – 9th 10am – 5pm Cambridge Town and Country Fair. Parker’s Piece. Free entry. http://www.oakleighfairs.co.uk

8 – 9th 11am – 5pm Open Garden at 49 New Square, CB1. Free entry and refreshments. All proceeds to Red Balloon Learner Centres.

8th 10.30am – 1.30pm Flower Crown Workshop. Make your own flower crown. Includes refreshments, an out-of-hours visit to the House and all materials. Kettle’s Yard, Castle Street. http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk

8th 11am – 5pm Arbury Carnival. Procession at 12 noon, leaving from Armitage Way. http://www.arburycarnival.org

8th 11am – 8pm Cambridge Pride. Jesus Green. Parade starts from Jesus Lock at 11am. FB: Cambridge Pride 2019

8th 1pm Membra Jesu Nostri. Buxtehude. Erasmus Chamber Choir and Ensemble. St Clement’s Church, Bridge Street. Free entry, retiring collection.

9th 11am and 2pm Science on Sundays. Plant genetics from Mendel to Monsanto. Free, informal, drop in monthly plant science talk (30 minutes). Botanic Garden, Brookside. http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk

14th 7.30pm The Hague String Trio. Schubert, Beethoven, Krasa and Klein. The Auditorium, Gonville & Caius College. Tickets on the door. http://www.thehaguestringtrio.com

15th 10am – 4pm Eddington Discovery Day. Free fun activities and games plus a Soup Disco. Market Square and Storey’s Field Centre, Eddington. http://www.eddington-cambridge.co.uk

16th 3 – 5pm Jazz and Brass in the Parks. Cambridge Groove Orchestra and Cambridge Jazz Festival Choir. Jesus Green. http://www.cambridgelive.org.uk

18th 7.30pm – 10pm Music: Na-Mara. Folk duo Na-Mara tell the story of the “Basque Children” through words and music. Mill Road History Society. Old School Hall, St Barnabas Church, Mill Road. http://www.cambridgefolkclub.co.uk

19th 7.30pm True Stories Told Live. NCI Club, Holland Street. FB: @cambridgetruestories Read more about True Stories Told Live here

20 – 23rd Wimpole History Festival. A weekend of history and heritage for the whole family with talks, debates, book signings, performances, historical walking tours, workshops, activities and events. Wimpole Estate. http://www.wimpolehistoryfestival.com

21st 6pm Summer Night Market and Open Air Cinema (Peter Rabbit/Mamma Mia Here We Go Again). Free event. http://www.cambridgebid.co.uk/open-air-cinema-night-market

21 – 28th Chesterton Festival, including Community Fun Day (22nd). http://www.chestertonfestival.wordpress.com Read more about last year’s Festival here

22nd 10am – 4.30pm Zoology Live! Live animals, hands on activities and expert lightning talks for all ages. Free, drop in. Museum of Zoology, Downing Street. http://www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk

22nd 7.30pm Coronation Anthems. Handel, Boyce and Blow. Collegium Laureatum. West Road Concert Hall. tickets@collegium.org.uk

23rd 3 – 5pm Jazz and Brass in the Parks. Cambridgeshire Youth Jazz Orchestra. Jesus Green. http://www.cambridgelive.org.uk

23rd 6 – 7pm In Good Company. Music for a summer evening, with traditional and classical pieces. The Lucy Cavendish Singers. Sidney Sussex College Chapel. All proceeds support the work of Cambridge City Foodbank. http://www.lucycavendishsingers.org.uk Read more about Cambridge City Foodbank here

23rd 7.30pm Singing on the River. A selection of madrigals, part-song and close-harmony from The King’s Men. Back Court, King’s College. Bring a picnic! Tickets from shop@kings.cam.ac.uk or 01223 769340. http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/concerts-at-kings

24th 7.30pm A Midsummer’s Day Concert of Georgian Song. Chela and Buska, the Cambridge Georgian choirs. Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Trumpington Street. Free entry with retiring collection. Tickets from chelatickets@gmail.com. http://www.georgianchoircambridge.wordpress.com

28 – 30th Foodies Festival, Parker’s Piece. http://www.foodiesfestival.com/cambridge

Chestnut tree at King's College Cambridge — The chestnut tree at King’s College is 160 years old!

Cambridge Literary Festival

One of the things I love most about writing for my blog and this column is the people I meet. People who are getting on with their daily lives, have that light bulb moment and just go for it to create something wonderful in the city. People like Cathy Moore, founder of the Cambridge Literary Festival.

Cathy first came to the city to read History at Newnham College and was only the second person from her Liverpool comprehensive school to make it to the University of Cambridge. She also loved English and books so after graduation, Cathy built a career in publishing before taking some time out to be with her young family. A spell in teaching followed but Cathy returned to Cambridge and books, working part time in Waterstones and running their programme of events. That’s where she met writer Ali Smith and as the two of them chatted about the Hay Literary Festival, they wondered why there wasn’t a similar event in Cambridge.

Cambridge Literary Festival — Image credit: Chris Boland

Within months, Cathy had created Wordfest, doing everything herself and setting up twenty four events in three venues. That was back in March 2003. “There were about sixty literary festivals then”, Cathy tells me, “and now there are around four hundred in the UK, so we’re all in competition for the authors.” Wordfest grew, events regularly sold out and initiatives like the debut writers panel made it truly a festival for writers as well as readers. After gaining charitable status, Wordfest rebranded as Cambridge Literary Festival in 2014. It now brings Spring and Winter festivals to the city as well as one-off events through the year and since 2017 has delivered the Wimpole History Festival in partnership with the National Trust.

These days, Cathy isn’t doing everything herself! She and her small team have an office in Downing Place and they have strong support from patrons, media partnerships and sponsors. A band of volunteer stewards welcomes the many thousands of festival goers and enables events to run smoothly for both authors and audiences. More volunteers are always welcome so if you’re interested in giving your time (and enjoying some volunteer perks!), contact the team through the website.

Festival venues this year include several beautiful university spaces which are normally hidden from public view. Refreshments will be available at most of these so you can grab a quick drink and a snack between events. Heffers run a bookstall and there are author signings too.

I’m really excited for this winter’s Festival; it’s always a fun, buzzy weekend and the packed programme truly offers something for everyone, including a brand new Murder Mystery Musical from Sophie Hannah which sounds intriguing! You’ll find details of what’s on and a booking facility through the Festival website at www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com

http://www.chrisboland.com

This post is part of my “New in Cambridge” column in the November issue of Velvet Magazine. Read more on http://www.velvetmag.co.uk

What’s on in June

Well, summer has arrived in Cambridge and here’s the what’s on listing for June. It’s a mix of all sorts of events that come to my attention and I update it through the month so do check back when you can. And if there’s an event that you’d like me to include, please get in touch through my Contact page.

A stroll along the towpath to Stourbridge Common

2nd 10.30am – 11pm Strawberry Fair, Midsummer Common. Free entry. http://www.strawberry-fair.org.uk

2nd 7.30pm Ave Verum Corpus, Music for Corpus Christi. Erasmus Chamber Choir and Ensemble. Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Hills Road. Free entry.

2nd 8pm Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe. Insitu Theatre. The Leper Chapel, CB5. Tickets from http://www.insitutheatre.co.uk or on the door.

4th Iyengar Yoga Summer Classes with Robert Ashman, running until 30th August at various venues. http://www.robertashmanyoga.co.uk

4 – 16th 8am – 5pm The Yellow Brick Road. A fundraising art exhibition by established and emerging artists on the theme of ‘memory and childhood’. Michaelhouse Centre, Trinity Street. All proceeds to Cambridge Children’s Charity Week. Free admission. http://www.camccweek.org

7 – 16th 7.45pm Cats. Festival Players. Mumford Theatre, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road http://www.festivalplayers.org

9th 10am – 4pm The Eddington Cycling Festival. Eddington Market Square, CB3. http://www.nwcambridge.co.uk

9th 7.30pm The Academy of Great St Mary’s Orchestra and Choir. Beethoven, Berkeley and Mozart. Great St Mary’s Church. http://www.adcticketing.com

9 – 10th 10am – 5pm Town and Country Fair. Parker’s Piece. Free entry. http://www.oakleighfairs.co.uk

9 – 10th 11am – 5pm Open Garden. 49 New Square. Free entry. Proceeds to Red Balloon Learner Centres.

16th 7pm Music for Africa, Benefit Concert. London Adventist Chorale. Queen’s College. https://bit.ly/M4A Concert

16th 7.30pm Nelson Mass and St Ursula Mass. Collegium Laureatum. West Road Concert Hall. tickets@collegium.org.uk

16th 8pm Summer in the City. Prime Brass. Great St Mary’s Church. http://www.adcticketing.com

17th 4pm Summer Concert in aid of Camtrust. Mozart, Britten, Boyce, Finzi, Hess and Tchaikovsky. The Medlock Ensemble. St Andrew’s Church, Histon. http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/medlockensemble

22 – 29th Chesterton Festival. http://www.chestertonfestival.wordpress.com

22 – 24th Wimpole History Festival. Wimpole Estate. http://www.wimpolehistoryfestival.com

22nd 6.30 – 10pm Summer Night Market and outdoor cinema, screening “Moana” and “Dirty Dancing”. Market Square http://www.cambridgebid.co.uk/events

23rd Cambridge Summer Music Festival, running until 25th July at multiple venues across the city. http://www.cambridgesummermusic.com