NF03 April/May 2024

NF03 April / May 2024 

thenearfield.com 

Mr Doodle takes over / Rosie Holt plays politics 

Theatre goes rural / Homer at Upfest / What’s on in the southwest

Prior Park College students have the space to explore 

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Welcome 3 

Simon Tapscott 

Co-founder and commercial director 

Jack Horner 

Co-founder and creative director 

Chris Parkin 

Editor 

Sam Freeman 

Art director 

Clemmie Millbank 

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Camilla Cary-Elwes 

Subeditor 

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If there’s one thing festivals represent, it’s 

escapism. A chance to load your wheelbarrow 

with tents, wellies and vodka jellies, shed your 

inhibitions and forget about reality for a few days 

with (mostly) like-minded souls. Which, given the 

state of everything right now, sounds perfect. To 

help you navigate the bewildering choice, we’ve 

cherry-picked the best festivals within striking 

distance of our southwest patch so you can pitch 

up at the right one for you. 

© nearfield 2024. All information contained in 

this publication is for entertainment purposes 

only. nearfield magazine is published by Do 

Good Things Limited who do not accept 

any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies 

that occur in such information. While every 

reasonable care is taken with all material 

submitted to nearfield magazine, the publisher 

does not accept any responsibility for loss or 

damage to such material. All rights reserved. 

This publication is copyrighted and no part of 

this publication may be used or reproduced 

without the written permission of Do Good 

Things Limited. 

Away from noisy fields, we also speak to the global 

art phenomenon (and man responsible for our 

latest cover) Mr Doodle about his own form of 

escapism, before easing you back into reality with 

comedian Rosie Holt’s take on the UK’s political 

horror show. There’s also food and drink galore, 

a crammed events diary and an exciting festivalthemed 

competition. Now, bring on the sunshine! 

For thousands more events, visit thenearfield.com 

Chris Parkin 

editorial@thenearfield.com 


@the.nearfield 

THIS ISSUE’S 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Writers 

Jack Horner 

Amanda Nicholls 

Freya Parr 

Rich Pelley 

Photographer 

Adam Gasson 

Illustrators 

Mr Doodle (cover) 

Michał Bednarski 


NF03

Contents 5 

In this issue NF03 

15 

42 72 57 

Features 

29 FESTIVAL GUIDE 

With the season for being 

silly in a field very nearly 

upon us, we round up the 

spring and summer events 

you should be pitching up at 

42 MR DOODLE 

Meet the marker-wielding 

art superstar, Sam Cox, 

as he gears up for his first 

major UK exhibition at The 

Holburne Museum 

50 ROSIE HOLT 

Comedian Rosie Holt brings 

some much-needed levity to 

the murky world of politics, 

plus we unearth some 

progressive inspiration 

57 TAKE ART 

Meet the South Pethertonbased 

performing arts 

organisation bringing 

theatre, dance and live 

music to rural Somerset 

50 

Regulars 

07 FIELD NOTES 

The Red Rebels, 

Dareshack’s library 

of inspiration, May 

Day, 25 years of 

Persephone Books 

and nonagenarian 

artist David Hampton 

15 FOOD & DRINK 

The Stroud Hotel, 

the best izakaya 

experiences in 

the southwest, 

and festival food 

favourite, Mr Noodle 

20 THE LIST 

Your guide to what’s 

on in the southwest 

70 IT HAPPENED HERE 

When The Simpsons 

came to Upfest 

72 MY NEARFIELD 

With the creative 

director behind 

Glastonbury 

Festival’s Shangri-La, 

Kaye Dunnings 

74 

COMPETITION 

Win a pair of VIP 

tickets to north 

Cornwall’s Rock 

Oyster Festival 



Never miss 

the unmissable 

Browse thousands of events happening across the southwest – from 

clubbing and cooking to comedy and theatre – and sign up to receive 

inspiring newsletters telling you what’s on and what’s good. 

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NEARFIELD • NEARFIELD • NEARFIELD • NEARFIELD • 

Field Notes 7 

FieldNotes 

Keeping you clued-up about life in the southwest 

DRUMMING 

UP SUPPORT 

Photo: Chris Rowe 

As the Red Rebels prepare 

to robe up and sound 

the nature crisis alarm 

bell with a piece of street 

theatre on April 20, event 

co-organiser Rob Delius 

tells us what to expect 

“Imagine hundreds of people in 

red robes processioning through 

the streets, accompanied by 

drummers in black, beating out 

a slow funeral march beat. 

There’s a coffin carried in the 

centre of the procession holding 

a Mother Earth-type figure lying 

on a bed of greenery. We’ll be 

handing out ‘orders of service’ as 

the procession moves, explaining 

how the UK is now officially one 

of the ‘most nature-depleted 

countries in the world’, according 

to last year’s State of Nature 

report. We want to spread 

a message of hope, though; 

that it’s not too late. 

“There’s a danger people 

switch off when they see lots of 

protesters, each with a different 

message. A lot of onlookers 

have protest fatigue these 

days. Art can be much more 

memorable. Anything that evokes 

an emotional response is good. 

We want the procession to be 

moving, inspiring, captivating, 

possibly even shocking, so that 

it will lodge in people’s minds. It’s 

street theatre at the end of the 

day, on a massive scale. 

“We’ll be setting off at about 

2pm, heading through Queen 

Square up to the Circus and 

eventually ending in front of Bath 

Abbey around 4pm. Be prepared 

for a special finale.” 

Join the Funeral for Nature in 

Bath, on April 20. The Red Rebels 

were created by Doug Francisco 

from The Invisible Circus Bristol. 

nfld.io/codered 



FIVE SPEED 

OFF TO THEIR NEXT 

ADVENTURE 

THE FAMOUS FIVE © 2022, Hodder & Stoughton Limited. All rights reserved. 

Get to your next adventure 

quicker with GWR. 

Book now at GWR.com, or on our app.

Field Notes 9 

HOT LIST 

What we’re obsessing over right now 

PROCRASTINATION 

STATION 

Taylor’s Bagels 

6 London St & 2a Upper 

Bloomfield Rd, Bath 

The unassailable 

dons of the Bath 

bagel scene. Hard 

recommends, indeed, 

for all their breakfast 

options, the classic salt 

beef with sauerkraut, 

the peri peri chicken 

schnitzel and the vegan 

hipster bagel. Pre-order 

online to avoid the 

queues. 

Death Is Not the End: 

Bristol Pirates (Death 

Is Not the End) 

A collagic compilation 

of Bristol pirate radio 

recordings from the 

late 1980s to the early 

2000s. A time-capsule 

soundclash of jungle, 

dub, dancehall and 

radio static. 

That Thing 

45-47 Stokes Croft, 

Bristol 

This Stokes Croft 

treasure trove will make 

you look the part in 

any field this summer. 

We love their sequin 

headwraps, Butchi & 

GosMos bumbags and 

implausibly glam Dakota 

Rae Dust earrings. 

Bristol coffee bar, creative studio 

and live music space Dareshack, 

on Wine Street, is gearing up to 

open a second venue on Christmas 

Steps. If that isn’t exciting enough, 

they’re also building what creative 

director Adda Cohn describes as 

a “library of inspiration” in both 

spaces. Among the creative tools 

on offer is a collection of printed 

ephemera, art supplies, prompt cards 

for brainstorming and hardware 

including Playtronica music-making 

gear. If you’ve ever imagined what 

sounds you might conjure while 

amped-up on high-quality Joe, here 

is your chance to find out. Check out 

their live music programme, too. 

nfld.io/daresh 

MAY DAY, 

MAY DAY 

Finally, after 

endless grey 

skies, sumer 

is icumen in – 

and here are 

our top tips for 

welcoming it 

Beltane 

Glastonbury; May 1 

Expect endless cycles 

of Hal-an-Tow, druids 

supping mead and 

a wild atmosphere 

as the maypole is 

marched from Market 

Cross to Bushy Combe. 

Gather from 11am. 

Jack in the Green 

Bristol; May 4 

Follow Jack as he 

jigs his way from the 

Harbourside to Horfield 

Common. Come the 

finale, it’s time to kill 

him off and release the 

spirit of summer. It all 

starts at 10.30am. 

Steampunk May Fair 

Woodchester Mansion, 

Stroud; May 5-6 

Where seasonal ritual 

meets steampunk 

silliness. We’re 

promised cheese 

rolling, hobby horses, 

teapot racing and 

maypole dancing. 



10 Field Notes 

Meet 

the 

maker 

DAVID HAMPTON 

Not long after the owner of 

Bath’s Pencil Tree Gallery, 

Kirstie Jackson, moved to 

the leafy Lyncombe Vale 

area of BA2, she noticed 

an elderly gent who would 

walk the hill near her home 

daily, almost without 

fail. Interest piqued, she 

stopped the mystery man 

for a chat and discovered 

this nonagenarian walker 

was in fact the artist DAVID 

HAMPTON – alumnus of 

the Royal College of Art 

and a former exhibitor at 

Cork Street and the Royal 

Academy of Arts. His playful, 

abstract works, influenced 

by his love of Matisse, sit 

comfortably alongside those 

by the giants of modern 

British 20th-century art. 

With his work now available 

through Pencil Tree Gallery, 

we asked David – who is 

nearing his 98th birthday – 

to tell us how he got here. 

Art is in David’s blood 

“My grandfather [famous sculptor 

Herbert Hampton] had big 

studios, with statues of Queen 

Victoria. He felt he’d never 

produced anything significant, it 

was always commissions; he was 

disappointed because he never 

became a Rodin. He worked 

incredibly hard, though.” 

He didn’t have 

an easy start 

“My father painted, too – 

restoration. We lived in poverty, 

really; four children sleeping 

in one room in a shack in East 

Molesey. But my father believed 

in painting. The impressionists 

– they all had a private income: 

Cézanne, Manet, Degas and so 

on. When I read their torments, 

I always think, ‘Well, you did have 

private income!’” 

He was ahead of 

his time 

“I was an outsider because 

I was interested in Matisse and 

Picasso. They were considered 

a bad influence! I had to change 

my painting style to avoid getting 

in trouble; maybe this was weak? 

I didn’t want to lose my grant, you 

see. I probably wouldn’t have but 

I couldn’t take the chance!” 

Clockwise 

from left 

A collection of 

David’s colourful 

and playfully 

abstract art works 

Right, centre 

David enjoying 

the natural light in 

his home studio 

in leafy Lyncombe 

Vale, Bath 


Field Notes 11 

“We lived in poverty, really – four children 

in one room in a shack in East Moseley” 

He moved to Bath 

in 1988 

“When we saw this house, 

we sighed. The opportunity to 

move from Ealing suburbia… to 

this! We stayed the night with 

a friend over in Bristol but when 

we came into Bath, my wife was 

completely bowled over. It’s all 

so much faster now, though; 

when we first arrived it was much 

more rural.” 

He’s still finding 

inspiration on the 

streets – even at 97 

“I’m walking a bit less 

unfortunately, but I do always 

intend to walk every day. All the 

time I’m walking, I see various 

shapes and degrees of light 

and darkness. I think if you’re 

a painter, you’re bound to see 

all the patterns. I’m very aware 

of shapes and the relationships 

between them, beyond them, 

and inside and outside of them.” 

He’s still extremely 

humble 

“A good friend of mine once 

sent some photographs of my 

work to the artist Victor Pasmore 

– the pioneer of the abstract 

movement in Britain. He thought 

it was very good.” 

You can find David’s work 

at Pencil Tree Gallery, Bath. 

nfld.io/pencilt 



Field Notes 13 

Page turners 

Persephone Books is celebrating 

25 years of literary treasure 

hunting. What started out as 

a mail-order publishing business 

in a Clerkenwell basement has 

grown into a major literary 

concern with its own bookshop 

and events space in Bath – and 

a fervent community of readers 

around the world. 

Founded by Nicola Beauman 

to rediscover, reappraise and 

republish neglected 20th-century 

female authors, Persephone – 

AN EPIC TALE 

now co-run by Nicola’s daughter 

Fran (pictured) – moved to Bath 

in 2021 and has since become 

a hub for discerning southwest 

bookworms. 

To mark 25 years of their 

customary dove-grey book 

jackets, Persephone has put 

together a three-day festival, 

from April 19-21, spanning talks, 

book groups and films. Fran 

has also let us in on some of 

the lessons she’s learned about 

publishing down the years. 

Marlon James: 

A Decade Since the 

Booker Prize 

Bookhaus, Bristol; May 

29 & Toppings, Bath; 

May 30 

The Jamaican-born 

novelist discusses life 

since his breakthrough 

novel, A Brief History 

of Seven Killings – 

a wild ride through 

late 20th-century 

Jamaican history. 

nfld.io/marlonj 

Dave Haslam: 

Talking Books, Music 

and Life 

Bookhaus, Bristol; 


The former Haçienda 

resident DJ turned 

author recounts 

a life in music that 

has featured starring 

roles from Sonic Youth, 

Grace Jones and 

Keith Haring. 

nfld.io/dhaslam 

“Being a publisher 

is as much about 

building community 

as anything 

else, hence the 

excitement around 

the festival. 

Persephone readers 

from all over the 

world are coming to 

Bath especially for it 

and it’s going to be 

rather jolly, I think.” 

“Everyone loves 

Dorothy Whipple. 

Our festival 

event about this 

wonderful writer, 

Wild for Whipple, 

sold out in under 

three minutes. Just 

call me the literary 

Emily Eavis.” 

nfld.io/perfest 

“You have to 

genuinely love every 

book you publish 

with a passion. 

Otherwise, what’s 

the point?” 

“You can’t judge 

a book by its cover. 

Especially ours, 

which all look the 

same! Grey is the 

chicest colour.” 

Olivia Laing 

Storysmith Books, 

Bristol; May 7 & Mr B’s 

Emporium, Bath; May 8 

Laing’s lyrical study 

of loneliness, The 

Lonely City, marked 

her as one of our 

finest writers. Here she 

discusses the themes 

explored in her new 

work, The Garden 

Against Time. 

nfld.io/olaing 



You would rather 

work here

Food & Drink 15 

Food&Drink 

COMPILED BY AMANDA NICHOLLS 

FLAVOUR OF 

THE MONTH 

Xxxxxxxx 

Xxxxxxx 

THE STROUD 

HOTEL 

Station Road, Stroud 

It may be frowned upon at 

most dining tables (hello, mum) 

but playing with your food is 

perfectly OK at this new opening. 

Sign up for the croquette 

roulette, for example, and chef 

will handpick a selection that 

could land you on smoked 

haddock, sweetcorn and chive 

chowder, jalapeño with cream 

cheese and mozzarella, or the 

daily special. Even choosing 

for yourself will bring a plate 

of playfulness in the shape of 

Gloucester porchetta smoked 

slowly over bourbon barrel chips, 

miso barbecued cauliflower 

steak, and beef carpaccio with 

whipped wasabi feta. 

Designed and opened in 1863 

by Benjamin Bucknall, this listed 

hotel welcomed the Beatles in 

1962 after they performed at the 

Subscription Rooms, and has 

long since been a community 

hub. It’s lovely to see it revived; 

its contemporary yet rustic 

Bucknall Bar, complete with 

stacks of firewood and the old 

piano, is as welcoming a space as 

you could ever wish for. 

The Stroud’s menu could do 

with a few more veggie options 

for balance, but with its friendly 

staff, stylish and warmly lit decor, 

and relaxed atmosphere, the 

team has started off promisingly. 

Brunch lovers can build their 

own Benedict, while sweet treats 

assume the pleasing shape of 

profiteroles with orange Chantilly 

cream, and lemongrass and 

raspberry crème brûlée. And if 

you feel the need to shimmy it all 

off afterwards, you can book one 

of the hotel’s dance workouts. 

Sitting right next to the town’s 

train station, with 24 bedrooms 

including family- and dog-friendly 

options, this is the ideal stopping 

place for curious souls planning 

an outing to one of Stroud’s many 

festival weekends. 

Social plates £6-8; 

Mains £11.50-65 

thestroudhotel.com 



16 Food & Drink 

FOR THE SAKE OF IT 

Serving up umami-powered small plates, 

Japanese craft beer and flights of sake, 

here are four of our favourite izakaya 

joints in the southwest 

HAKKO HOUSE 

Various venues, Frome 

Pilates brunches, bottle 

shop pop-ups and teahouse 

collaborations in beautiful 

barns. You never know 

where this family-run 

outfit will appear next to 

celebrate the art of probiotic 

fermentation and fix up frozen 

sake cocktails to go with 

tsukemono pickles, sushi 

platters, matcha madeleines 

and Japanese salads made 

with ancient techniques such 

as koji marinating. Follow their 

Instagram to find out where 

they’re popping up over the 

summer, or pick up their sushi 

from Chew Magna’s artisan 

deli Jar’s, Frome’s wine and 

cheese bar The Stores, and 

Bath’s Kingsmead Street Bottle 

every Friday. 

@hakko_uk 

SEVEN LUCKY GODS 

Wapping Wharf, Bristol 

On the menu since day one, Seven Lucky God’s chicken katsu 

arancini with aged parmesan and kewpie mayo are a major, 

memorable USP all on their own; we reckon there’d be 

a major outcry if they were removed. They’re 

best enjoyed with a few choice players 

from the menu’s stellar supporting 

cast, including kimchi fries, striped 

bass sashimi and yuzu ice 

cream sando with sesame and 

Somerset strawberries. 

All-day menu £5-15; 

lunchtime bento £10-12 

7luckygods.com 



INOSHISHI IZAKAYA 

21 Market Square, Frome 

Wild boar with a white moustache – that’s 

the name, translated into English, given 

to this izakaya to embody the boldness 

of spirit that powered its opening back in 

November. Inoshishi is, explain its owners, 

committed to community, sustainability and 

diverse Japanese flavours, which play to the 

strengths of local Frome farm produce. In 

tasty terms, this means lotus root tempura, 

silken tofu and grilled yakitori skewers 

chased down by black sesame ice cream 

and delicious Japanese booze – of which 

there is an abundance on the menu. 

Small plates and robata £3-7.50; 

large plates £7-17 

inoshishi.co 

BUDŌ BĀ 

3 Argyle Street, Bath 

Inspired by the DIY punk aesthetic of an 

impossibly good izakaya in his native 

Oregon, David Line opened Budō Bā 

following a winning supper club run. With no 

sushi, ramen or tempura in sight, the menu 

here surprises with a creative spin on lesserknown 

Japanese and Korean dishes. Head 

downstairs to a Tokyo-style bunker and sup 

on sake or fizzy yuzu while crunching tangy 

discs of sweet pickled daikon radish and 

cramming umami-packed shiitake, squash 

dango and hunks of moreish miso salmon. 

Small plates £4-12.50; 

rice bowls £11.50-12.50 

budobath.co.uk 



18 Food & Drink 

Michelin-trained chefs industriously serving 

up award-winning ramen and other Asianinspired 

street snacks from a truck festooned 

with magical twinkly lanterns? Surely more 

than enough reason to make a beeline for 

Mr Noodle on the festival and alfresco party 

circuit this summer. 

First though, a quick nod to the noodles 

themselves, which are all handmade the 

traditional Japanese way with the finest wheat 

and kansui (lye water). We should also mention 

the ‘master stocks’, too: nutrient-rich, prepped 

for up to 14 hours, and paired with the best 

chicken, pork and beef from local farms. 

These big, nourishing bowls of broth, brimming 

with baby corn, leeks and other fresh veg, 

take their inspiration from the ‘stamina food’ 

that dominates Tokyo’s backstreets where the 

enigmatic Mr Noodle spent hours queuing to 

find the best-in-class. After more than 30 years 

on the fine-dining scene there, and in New 

Zealand, London and Bristol, Mr Noodle was 

inspired during lockdown to pursue a passion 

project he’d long been dreaming of: beginning 

a new DIY chapter, making use of Deliveroo. 

Passion isn’t quite adequate to describe Mr 

Noodle’s compulsion to cook this mainstay of 

Japanese cuisine, or his love for the world of 

SENDING 

We meet the Bristol ramen obsessive bringing ‘stamina food’ to the 

streets and festivals of the southwest this spring and summer 



NOODS 

ramen, which he has previously described as 

cult-like. A fully subscribed member himself, 

Mr Noodle is preoccupied with perfecting 

the basics of a creation that’s deceptively 

complex to get right. “Once you start your 

ramen journey, it can become an obsession; 

the more you make, the more obsessed you 

become with understanding the layers of 

flavour,” he says. “The transition from working 

in high-end restaurants in London to running 

a successful street food brand at major 

festivals has been nothing short of bonkers.” 

well as popping up on the East Bristol Brewery 

Trail at Left Handed Giant’s taproom, his crew 

will be bringing Korean fried chicken to Love 

Saves the Day, Bristol Pride and Street Food 

Circus’s Forest Feastival, set near the 

sea in Welsh woodland. He’ll 

announce more festival 

appearances soon. 

@mr_noodle_bristol 

After hosting pub pop-ups, peddling chashu 

pork miso ramen and vegan teriyaki tofu 

shoyu ramen, among other dishes, and 

running a permanent outpost on Chandos 

Road, Mr Noodle stormed street food spots 

such as Harbourside Market, Finzels Reach 

Market and Temple Quay Market. His ramen 

went down so well he even bagged a finalist 

spot at the 2023 British Street Food Awards. 

His focus now, though, is fixed on festivals; as 

thenearfield.com


20 The List 

TheList 

What’s on locally in April and May 

For loads 

more events, visit 


COMPILED BY 

CLEMMIE MILLBANK 

Photos: Found Footage Festival 

DO NOT 

ADJUST 

YOUR SET 

Before their Bristol live 

show, the co-host of 

Found Footage Festival, 

Nick Prueher, explains the 

joy of sifting through VHS 

tapes for our amusement 

Joe and I met when we were 10 

years old and quickly bonded 

over the TV show, Small Wonder, 

about a little robot who lived with 

an American family. Everybody 

in our school loved it and we just 

couldn’t believe how wonderfully 

terrible it was. Joe and I didn’t 

excel in academics but we were 

prodigies when it came to ironic 

enjoyment of things. 

In high school, I was working at 

McDonald’s and had to watch 

a bunch of training videos – 

including one for janitors called 

Inside and Outside Custodial 

Duties. It attempted to have 

a plot, in which a dopey trainee 

was told if he cleaned extra 

well, he could see a mythical 

entity called ‘McC’. I knew Joe 

had to see it, so I smuggled the 

tape home in my backpack. 

We developed a whole running 

commentary for it, and it became 

this cult activity in our small 

hometown. This made us think: 

if there are videos this ridiculous 

right under our noses, imagine 

what else is out there. 

Part of the thrill of making 

a living digging up old VHS 

tapes is discovering footage you 

weren’t supposed to see. You 

never know what will turn up 

when you pop in a tape found 

at an estate sale at a deceased 

person’s shag-carpeted home. 



The List 21 

Joe and I were at an estate sale 

and there was a VHS camcorder 

still in its original case. When 

we plugged it in, a tape popped 

out. It was a guy’s home movie 

that starts with him behind the 

camera, taping the demolition 

of a neighbour’s house. It then 

cuts inside the man’s home, 

where the Phantom of the Opera 

soundtrack is blaring out and the 

camera is trained on a little white 

poodle. Out of nowhere, the man 

pops into frame, wearing a dress 

and dancing to the song while 

staring into the lens. It was like 

a scene from The Silence of the 

Lambs. Then, just as abruptly, the 

tape cuts back outside as a crane 

topples the neighbour’s house. 

Another gem is a commercially 

released video for kids, starring 

a clown named Blueberry who’s 

attempting to warn kids about 

stranger danger. Various scenes 

play out in which a stranger 

approaches a kid, then the action 

freezes and Blueberry literally 

materialises out of thin air to give 

advice. I’m sure he meant well, 

but if any children are reading 

this and happen to see a clown 

appear in the woods – run. 

In 2004, we took our hobby out 

of our living room and put it into 

a theatre in Manhattan as the 

Found Footage Festival. April 

will be our 20th anniversary, but 

it still feels like we’re watching 

training videos in my parents’ 

basement. There’s just an 

audience now. 

Found Footage Festival comes to 

the Former IMAX Theatre, Bristol 

Aquarium, on April 18. 

nfld.io/footage 

A Real Fiction 

by aKa Dance 

Theatre 

Front Room 

Theatre, 

Weston-super- 

Mare 

April 27 

The performing arts 

equivalent of six 

espressos and 

a bag of Tangfastics, 

A Real Fiction is 

a frisky pick ’n’ mix 

of dance, theatre, 

lip-syncing, memes 

and pop culture all 

rolled into one. Get 

your breath back 

at the post-show 

social. 

nfld.io/realfic 

Adrianne Lenker 

Bristol Beacon 


As if the beloved 

indie-folk band she 

fronts, Big Thief, 

weren’t prolific 

enough, Adrianne 

Lenker is touring 

her fourth solo 

album in six years. 

A generational 

talent whose 

tender, fingerpicked 

songs tug at the 

heartstrings while 

at the same time 

affirming the utter 

joy of love and living. 

nfld.io/lenker 

nfld.io/lenker 

The Glass 

Menagerie 

Bristol Old Vic 

May 7–11 

Atri Banerjee’s 

acclaimed 

production 

of Tennessee 

Williams’ semiautobiographical 

masterpiece – first 

seen at the Royal 

Exchange Theatre 

– returns to the 

stage. This slick and 

stylish production 

explores and 

refreshes themes 

of familial love and 

relationships. 

nfld.io/glassm 

PROMOTED 

Craig Charles’ Funk & Soul House 

Party & The Beatles Dub Club 

Komedia, Bath 


Get ready for the ultimate Funk & Soul House 

Party. Enter Craig’s living room as he delves 

into his extensive record collection to bring 

you straight-up groove bangers, exclusive 

funk and soul cuts, and much more. 

nfld.io/ccharles 

Barry Adamson 

Strange Brew, 

Bristol 


The David Lynch 

collaborator, 

Manchester 

Metropolitan 

University visiting 

professor and former 

Magazine and Bad 

Seeds man plays 

his cinematic bass 

guitar soundscapes, 

weaving jazz, rock, 

soul, gospel and 

post-punk into 

a brooding and 

noirish mix. 

nfld.io/barrya 



HENRY 

MOORE 

3 May to 8 September 

IN MINIATURE 

Exhibition Sponsor 

Henry Moore, Recumbent Figure, 

1938. Reproduced by permission 

of The Henry Moore Foundation


The List 23 

20/20: Chris Killip/Graham Smith 

Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol 

April 11 to June 30 

Few photographers have captured the UK’s post-industrial 

malaise as vividly or as beautifully as lifelong friends Chris 

Killip and Graham Smith. This exhibition brings together 

images taken by the pair between 1975-87 and documents 

the rapid deindustrialisation of their native north east. 

nfld.io/killpsm 

Toulouse-Lautrec 

and the Masters of 

Montmartre 

Victoria Art 

Gallery, Bath 

April 26 to 

September 29 

Can-can all the way 

back to bohemian 

Paris and explore 

Toulouse-Lautrec’s 

bold style with more 

than 30 pieces from 

his thrilling career. 

Pieces include his first 

iconic poster of the 

dancers of the Moulin 

Rouge, alongside 

other works from 

Belle Époque Paris. 

nfld.io/lautrec 

Bath Textile 

Artists: Textures 

of Time 

The Pound Arts 

Centre, Corsham 

Until April 27 

Experience the 

diversity of processes 

available through 

the use of textiles 

in art. Bath Textile 

Artists – a group 

of 13 professionals 

stitching together 

years of embroidery, 

felting, quilting, silk 

painting, weaving and 

dyeing – have crafted 

a show layered with 

technique and skill. 

nfld.io/textures 

Photo: Chris Killip; Kay Singla, “Dreams” 

National 

Treasures: 

Constable in 

Bristol 

Bristol Museum 

and Art Gallery 

May 10 to 

September 1 

The National Gallery 

is celebrating 200 

years by loaning out 

12 of its paintings, 

with Constable’s The 

Hay Wain coming 

to Bristol. The show 

features art from 

the museum’s own 

collection and 

oil sketches by 

Constable on loan 

from the V&A. 

nfld.io/conbris 

International 

Photography 

Exhibition 165 

The Royal 

Photographic 

Society, Bristol 

Until June 2 

The world’s longestrunning 

contemporary 

photography 

exhibition returns for 

edition 165. Following 

an open call, the 

exhibition features 111 

works by 50 emerging 

and established 

photographers, 

exploring themes 

such as environmental 

issues, community, 

dementia and grief. 

nfld.io/ipe165 

PROMOTED 

Creating Spaces 2024: Cotswold 

Sculptors Association 

The Garden at Miserden, Gloucestershire 

May 18 to August 18 

The Cotswold Sculptors Association return for their major 

summer exhibition. Explore a carefully curated trail of 

sculptures and wonderful planting, all in perfect synergy. 

There is also an exhibition in the Clubroom. 

nfld.io/cotssculp 




24 The List 

TIME TO HEAL 

Co-founder and chair 

of trustees at Heal 

Somerset, Jan Stannard, 

reveals why it’s time to 

let nature take the lead 

Heal Somerset is the 460-acre 

foundation rewilding site of Heal 

Rewilding, the national charity 

launched in 2020 to create new 

spaces for nature, fight climate 

change and support wellbeing 

through free access to nature. 

Heal Somerset is the blueprint 

for the 47 further sites we aim 

to establish in every county 

in England. 

For decades, our approach to 

supporting nature has been to 

protect and preserve what’s 

left, but wildlife declines have 

continued unabated despite 

the wonderful work done by 

conservationists. Rewilding 

is a new and complementary 

approach, which is about 

creating new spaces where 

wildlife can thrive – and in 

those places, letting nature 

take the lead. 

Huge variety is what makes the 

Somerset landscape so special. 

From rolling hills and valleys, 

like at Heal, to the marshes 

and wetlands of the Levels, the 

rugged limestone outcrops, 

caves and gorges of the Mendips, 

and the cliffs, beaches and tidal 

mudflats of the coast. 

We have spotted hundreds 

of species, but mostly in very 

small numbers. Now they 

have sanctuary, these ‘starter’ 

populations should increase. 

We are excited to have hares, 

lizards, glowworms, skylarks, 

lesser horseshoe bats, lesser 

tortoiseshell butterflies, snipe, 

grass snakes, hazel dormice, 

linnets and barn owls. 

We want visitors to feel 

optimistic and excited as they 

realise that declines in once 

common species can be reversed 

if places become wilder. We want 

them to feel hope having spent 

time in a place where positive 

change is happening every day. 

Photo: Alex Sams 

Join Heal Somerset on April 20 

and 27 for Out of the Darkness 

– a night-time soundscape 

performance; and on May 10-11 

for Into the Light – a two-day 

rewilding gathering. 

nfld.io/heal 



The List 25 

Bee Safari with 

Jean Vernon 

Yeo Valley Organic 

Garden, Blagdon 


Join author, awardwinning 

writer and 

bee advocate Jean 

Vernon (AKA Jeanie 

Bee) for a guided 

buzz around the 

Yeo Valley gardens. 

Discover more about 

garden bees, learn 

which flowers they 

love most and find 

out how you can help 

protect these allimportant 

pollinators. 

nfld.io/buzzy 

Arnos Vale 

Cemetery May Fair 

Arnos Vale, Bristol 


Celebrate the first 

signs of summer 

in the beautifully 

atmospheric grounds 

of Arnos Vale. The 

garden’s annual May 

Fair is a bustling 

showcase for artisan 

business owners and 

local entertainers 

and artists. Bring 

an appetite, too; it's 

packed with more 

mouthwatering food 

traders than you can 

shake a maypole at. 

nfld.io/arnomay 

Medieval Falconry Day 

The Bishop’s Palace, Wells 


Held on the South Lawn, against the backdrop of the 

palace’s Great Hall, marvel at two spectacular falcon 

flying displays (12pm and 3pm), which illustrate how and 

why these birds would have been used in medieval times. 

Experts will be on hand for all your hawking queries. 

nfld.io/falcons 

Potent Plants and Altered States 

42 Acres, Frome 


Join the foraging experts at 42 Acres for a stroll around 

this rural estate and discover how to safely identify fungi 

associated with traditional medicine and altered states of 

consciousness. If it’s sunny, pack a picnic and explore the 

grounds after the class, or even go for a wild swim. 

nfld.io/altplants 

Walks with 

Wardens: 

International 

Dawn 

Chorus Day 

Ham Wall, Ashcott 


Set your alarm for this 

adventure at RSPB 

Ham Wall. Wardens 

will help you pick 

out booming male 

bitterns, trilling sedge 

warblers and the 

songs of woodland 

birds, including 

robins, great tits and 

blackbirds. You’ll have 

access to parts of the 

reserve usually closed 

to visitors. 

nfld.io/dawnham 

Pick Your 

Own Tulips 

Palette and 

Pasture, Frome 

Late April onwards 

Stop by the working 

Pyle Farm in the idyllic 

village of Trudoxhill 

and savour some of 

the best gelato this 

side of Rome, made 

with milk from the 

farm’s small onsite 

dairy herd. Little ones 

can feed the animals, 

drive the ride-on 

tractors and pick their 

own colourful tulips to 

take home. 

nfld.io/palette 



SOUTH WEST 

BUILDING OF THE YEAR 

NOW SHOWING: 

People Came for Tea and Stayed Forever by Sam Francis 

20.01.2024-06.05.2024, daily 10am-5pm 

GALLERY & EXHIBITIONS 

UNIQUE PLACES TO STAY 

RESTAURANT & SHOP 

ARTISTS & PRINT STUDIO 

HANDMADE PAPER MILL 

EVENTS & EDUCATION 

@eastquaywatchet 

eastquaywatchet.co.uk 

Watchet, Somerset 

TA23 0AQ 

Image: Exhibition installation, credit Jesse Wild


The List 27 

Giffords Circus 

Fennells Farm, Stroud 

Until April 21 

Thrills, skills, high-wire adventure and tragi-romance 

all await in the latest show from this travelling troupe of 

acrobats, clowns, magicians and jugglers. This year’s 

performance is titled Avalon and will immerse audiences 

in the colourful world of pageantry and Arthurian legend. 

nfld.io/giffcirc 

Lyra Bristol Poetry 

Festival 

Various venues, 

Bristol 

April 12-21 

Luxuriate in the 

magic of the spoken 

word with some of 

the country’s finest 

poets and versepeddlers. 

Highlights 

include a reading 

from poet laureate 

Simon Armitage, an 

evening of live poetry 

with Salena Godden, 

Nikita Gill and Cecilia 

Knapp, plus the Lyra 

Poetry Slam Finals. 

nfld.io/lyra 

You Are Here with 

David Nicholls 

St Swithin’s 

Church, Bath 


Mr B’s Emporium 

brings one of the UK’s 

favourite authors to St 

Swithin’s Church – an 

appropriate setting, 

One Day fans will 

agree – to discuss 

his new novel, You 

Are Here. Hear all 

about the inspiration 

behind the book, ask 

questions and get 

your copy signed. 

nfld.io/dnicholls 

Photos: Rachel Louise Brown 

CrimeFest 

Mercure Bristol 

Grand Hotel 

May 9-12 

Calling all worldweary 

detectives and 

their plucky young 

sidekicks – this crime 

fiction convention 

is back to celebrate 

the sleuthing genre 

with a programme 

of talks, quizzes 

and interactive 

experiences. Speakers 

include GT Karber, 

James Lee Burke and 

Lynda La Plante. 

nfld.io/crimefes 

The Fringe Arts 

Bath Festival 

Various venues 

May 24 to June 9 

The Fringe Arts Bath 

Festival is back with 

another experimental 

and improv-flavoured 

feast of visual arts 

and experiential 

happenings. It 

features both local 

and international 

artists in a festival of 

pop-up exhibitions, 

art installations 

and performances 

across the length and 

breadth of the city. 

nfld.io/bfringe 

Nikky Smedley: 

Confessions of 

a Teletubby 

Alma Tavern 

& Theatre, Bristol 


Say “eh-oh” to Nikky 

Smedley, AKA the 

original Laa-Laa (the 

yellow one) from the 

Teletubbies. She’s 

spilling the custard 

on all the goings-on 

in the Tubbytronic 

Superdome. How 

heavy were the suits? 

Why did it become 

such a phenomenon? 

And what on earth 

was a Noo-Noo? 

nfld.io/teletub 



BANG GOES NORMAL! 

A music festival, but not as yoU know it 

Best Festival 

Production 

2023 & 2024 - 

UK Festival 

Awards 

Best Festival 

& Best Event 

2023 - 

Drum & Bass 

Awards 

Best Dance 

Festival UK & 

Europe 2023 - 

bbc Radio 1 

Best Festival 

2023 - 

TPD TV 

FESTIVAL 

AWARDS 

Best 

Non-Sport 

Event - 

Major Events 

International

Festivals 29 

FESTIVAL 

SEASON 

The time for being silly in fields is almost upon us. As ever, 

there’s an overwhelming number of festivals, open-air gigs 

and events to choose from, so we’ve rounded up the ones 

we think you should be pitching up at this summer 

WORDS CHRIS PARKIN 

ILLUSTRATIONS MICHAŁ BEDNARSKI 



30 Festivals 

BRISTOL NEW MUSIC 

Various venues, Bristol; April 25-28 

For those seeking to stretch their threshold for 

experimentalism. Among the sonic adventurers at this 

biennial celebration of contemporary music are Japan’s Ryoji 

Ikeda, mangling computational data into kinetic, audiovisual 

overwhelm; abstract blues polymath Lonnie Holley; trailblazing 

electronic composer Jlin; and a three-hour trip through heavy 

dub led by Kevin Martin’s peerless The Bug. 

RIYL: Exploring the far-out fringes of ‘popular’ music. 

nfld.io/newmusic 

SUBCULTURE: 

NEOANCIENTS 

Various venues, Stroud; 


Following last year’s debut festival 

themed around music memoirs, 

Subculture returns to celebrate the 

enduring power of all things wyrd. 

Co-organiser John Best explains 

the thinking behind a weekend 

that will navigate the leylines of 

yore, featuring Weird Walk, Daisy 

Rickman, Jarvis Cocker, Bridget 

Christie and more. 

“Inventing NeoAncients as 

a theme was a no-brainer for 

a town like Stroud, since you only 

need to scratch the surface to find 

someone using the past as 

a guide to the future. Paganism 

and pagan-adjacent activity lies 

around every corner and so we put 

together a wishlist of participants 

from different walks who, on 

some level, might get through 

the entrance exam. Someone like 

Jarvis is not day-to-day operating 

in the NeoAncients sphere, but 

he’s adaptable enough that if you 

ask him to put together a ‘pagan 

DJ set’, you know he’s going to 

nail it. Weird Walk were a shoein, 

and Gruff Rhys too. Bridget 

Christie qualifies because of The 

Change. Once you start looking, 

it feels like there’s enough to run 

a NeoAncients festival every year. 

But I suspect we’ll probably think 

of a completely different idea.” 

RIYL: Beltane, Avebury and 

know every single word of The 

Wicker Man. 

nfld.io/neoanc 


Festivals 31 

BATH FESTIVAL 

Various venues, Bath; May 18-26 

After the comparably wild Party 

in the City kicks things off on 

May 17, this annual arts festival 

regains its poise for a week of 

classical music and bookish talks. 

Highlights include Becky Holmes 

discussing Keanu Reeves Is Not 

in Love With You, a screening 

of Nosferatu accompanied 

by live improvised organ, 

and mesmerising small pipes 

musician Brìghde Chaimbeul. 

RIYL: A refined sort of affair. 

nfld.io/bfest24 

Bath Comedy 

Festival 


Big laughs, star 

names and 

emerging talent. 

DIASPORA! 

Bristol; 


A four-day event 

representing the 

global majority. 

JAZZ STROUD 

Various venues, Stroud; May 23-26 

Keenly attuned to the sounds that keep jazz 

moving, this respected festival’s programming 

is always reliably prescient. This year is no 

different, with highlights including an opening 

night takeover from UK jazz institution 

Tomorrow’s Warriors, SEED Ensemble 

bandleader, saxophonist and International 

Anthem artist Cassie Kinoshi pushing 

boundaries with her new electronica jazz 

project, and a set from fast-rising trumpeter 

Poppy Daniels. 

RIYL: Contemporary jazz that seeks out 

fresh possibilities. 

nfld.io/stroudjazz 

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN HAY 

Hay-on-Wye; May 24-27 

This philosophy, music and comedy weekender serves up the sort of 

brain food you’d expect from a festival taking place in book town. We’ll 

bet our hats on this being the only event (ever?) to feature a former 

director of the CIA, Slovenia’s ‘Elvis of philosophy’ Slavoj Žižek, a bunch 

of quantum theorists, ambient pioneers The Orb, indie-rockers Sea 

Power, dub-folk wanderers Tara Clerkin Trio, plus a campfire singalong. 

RIYL: Big issues tackled by even bigger brains. 

nfld.io/haylight 



Festivals 33 

Alfresco Disco 

Bristol; May 11 

Jamz Supernova 

and more… in 

a playground. 

Mayfest 

Bristol; 


Bristol’s biennial 

performing 

arts series. 

Frome Festival 

July 5-14 

Ten days of food, 

music and art. 

Bristol 

Harbour 

Festival 

July 19-21 

The much-loved 

annual freebie 

returns. 

SHINDIG FESTIVAL 

Dillington Estate, Somerset; May 23-26 

There’s more to this south Somerset blowout 

than parents behaving badly. Yes, there’s more 

old-school action than you can wave a pair of 

massive foam rave hands at (Altern-8, Groove 

Armada, 2 Bad Mice, Terry Farley), but there’s 

also Kurupt FM and Congo Natty, a stacked 

comedy lineup, a revamped Dig Inn, art, and 

cinema, graffiti and inflatables for the kids. 

RIYL: Dressing up as a ‘magical creature’. 

nfld.io/shin24 

LOVE SAVES THE DAY 

Ashton Court, Bristol; May 25-26 

A none-more-Bristol weekender 

from the crew behind Forwards. 

Expect mind-blowing stage 

builds, a sustainable mindset 

and a lineup taking in everything 

from Sub Focus, The Streets and 

Rudimental to Flowdan, Goldie, 

Saoirse and Shanti Celeste. 

RIYL: Going big on a May bank 

holiday weekend. 

nfld.io/loveday 

DOT TO DOT 

Various venues, Bristol; May 25 

Catch emerging talent from 

across the indie ecosystem. 

Jockstrap are an unmissable 

draw, with their wonky acid 

house and uneasy alt-pop, but 

Antony Szmierek, The Bug Club 

and others will also entice you to 

clock up the miles around Bristol. 

RIYL: Having all the hot tips. 

nfld.io/dotdot 

THE ONLY FESTIVAL APP YOU NEED 

Co-founder and CEO 

poor addressing, and 

that could be as accurate 

Because the words 

of what3words, Chris 

that getting lost trying 

as GPS coordinates, but 

never change, the tech 

Sheldrick, tells us about 

to find events, or each 

more concise and easier 

works without a data 

his essential festival app 

other, was very common. 

to communicate. That’s 

connection, which 

I had some bad days, 

what3words. 

is particularly useful 

“Before co-founding 

including in Italy, when 

at festivals. The app 

what3words, I was in 

a driver unloaded all the 

“Every three-metre 

ensures you can always 

the music industry, 

equipment an hour north 

square across the 

find your way back to 

organising events 

of Rome, instead of an 

globe has a unique 

your tent, or to that food 

around the globe. 

hour south. So I sat down 

combination of 

stall your friends are all 

I quickly discovered that 

with my mathematician 

three random words – 

somehow at, but that 

people struggled with 

friend to find a solution 

a what3words address. 

none can describe.” 



34 Festivals 

WOMAD 

Charlton Park, 

Malmesbury; July 25-28 

Hannah Rials, from Mr B’s 

Emporium, tells us what it’s 

like running WOMAD’s 

official onsite bookshop. 

JAMINAROUND 

Ancient Technology Centre, 

Cranborne; May 25-26 

Artists often live a cloistered 

backstage existence at festivals, 

but not here. Jaminaround 

sees them communing with the 

audience, in the round, in the 

Ancient Technology Centre’s 

Iron Age roundhouse. Conjuring 

magic this year are US multiinstrumentalist 

Sam Amidon, 

Ghana’s ecstatic Alostmen and 

Electric Jalaba with Gnawainfused 

deep grooves. 

RIYL: Seeing the whites of 

performers’ eyes. 

nfld.io/jamina 

LOVE TRAILS 

FESTIVAL 

Gower Peninsula; July 11-14 

If you thought running was just 

pounding tarmac until plantar 

fasciitis kicks in, Love Trails is 

about to blow your world apart. 

All of running is here: 5km runs, 

multi-day ultra runs, meditative 

runs, night-time runs, trail-toswim 

runs, beer-mile relay runs. 

There’s also talks (from runners), 

films (about running) and 

strength sessions (to help you 

run). Your only respite from the 

R-word may be the live music. 

RIYL: Erm, running? 

nfld.io/lovetrails 

“There aren’t too many 

differences between 

bookselling at our shop and 

our WOMAD tent. We thrive 

off recommending and handselling 

to customers, and 

festival bookselling is just 

a very intensified form of that, 

because we’re not distracted 

by the day-to-day business. 

We just chat to people about 

the books we bring along that 

we think they’ll love. There’s 

no bookselling quite like the 

chaotic, late-night bookselling 

that takes place after the last 

show on the main stage has 

wrapped up.” 

RIYL: Looking beyond 

borders for culture. 

nfld.io/womad24 

THE BEST 

BIG GIGS 

Smashing 

Pumpkins and 

Weezer 

Cardiff Castle; 

June 14 

Just one show from an 

absolutely jam-packed 

gig series that features 

The National, Manic 

Street Preachers and 

IDLES, among others. 

nfld.io/smashp 

Bristol Sounds 

Bristol 

Amphitheatre; 

June 22-30 

The harbourside gig 

series returns with 

Annie Mac, Placebo 

and an exciting indie 

all-dayer headlined by 

the Deal sisters (AKA 

The Breeders). 

nfld.io/bsounds 


Festivals 35 

THE GOOD LIFE SOCIETY 

Hawarden Estate, north Wales; 

July 19-22 & 26-29, August 2-5 

Part grown-up summer camp, part luxury 

‘micro’ festival, this three-day getaway is more 

about recharging than leaving a field in need 

of a holiday. Entertainment consists of art 

workshops, bushcraft, swimming, foraging 

and talks from nature experts and chefs, 

including Xanthe Ross and Hang Fire BBQ. 

If your kids need convincing, weekend two 

promises free ice cream… all-festival-long. 

RIYL: Escaping the madding crowds. 

nfld.io/goodsoc 

WILDERNESS FESTIVAL 

Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire; August 1-4 

Wilderness has become a fixture of the festival season 

thanks to its commitment to escapism. All bases are 

covered here: music and comedy spanning Jessie Ware, 

Michael Kiwanuka, Bicep, De La Soul and Bill Bailey; 

talks from The Traitors queen Claudia Winkleman and 

artist Jeremy Deller, among others; and workshops and 

‘participatory delights’ exploring grrrl zines, BDSM and kink. 

You’ll also find a grab-bag of randomness that includes 

a wyrd England fete, a grand irrational horse race, hot girl 

boxing, forest bathing and luxury feasting. 

RIYL: Shedding your inhibitions for a few days. 

nfld.io/wilder24 

ARMCHAIR ADVENTURE 

FESTIVAL 

Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall; July 25-28 

Don’t let the titular ‘armchair’ mislead. Getting 

bums off seats is the name of the game at 

this previously online gathering from The 

Sidecar Guys – two pals who circumnavigated 

the globe by scooter and sidecar a few 

years ago. This dog- and family-friendly 

festival overlooking Plymouth Sound features 

mountain biking, kayaking, coasteering, 

sailing, survival workshops, expeditionplanning 

and talks from adventure virtuosos. 

RIYL: Thrill-seeking inspiration. 

nfld.io/armchair 

Forest Live 

Westonbirt 

Arboretum; 

July 4, 5 & 12 

Gregory Porter, 

Anne-Marie and Nile 

Rodgers entertain 

Westonbirt’s nocturnal 

residents while 

supporting the work 

of Forestry England. 

nfld.io/forest24 

Siren Bristol 

Bristol 

Amphitheatre; 

August 1 & 3 

Original Sugababes 

Mutya Buena, Keisha 

Buchanan and 

Siobhán Donaghy are 

back! Back! Back!! So 

too are drum ’n’ bass 

dons Hospitality. 

nfld.io/sirenb 

ACT 1.5: 

Massive Attack 

Clifton Downs, 

Bristol; August 25 

The premier purveyors 

of the Bristol sound 

return home for this 

special (sustainable) 

Climate Action 

Accelerator show with 

a fine supporting cast. 

nfld.io/massa 



MAYFEST 

17–26.05.2024 

Bristol’s international festival 

of contemporary theatre 

and live performance 

All tickets – Pay What You Can 

mayk.org.uk/mayfest

Festivals 37 

VALLEY FEST 

Chew Valley Lake; August 1-4 

Valley Fest will once again light up its lakeside location with 

a feel-good atmosphere and the fire-breathing antics of 

Arcadia’s Afterburner. This year’s sounds come from anthemic 

pop-rockers The Feeling, OG pop-punks The Skids and 

beneficiary of Saltburn memes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Elsewhere, 

there’s workshops, comedy, top chefs and rave fodder, plus 

down-home acts including folkie and environmentalist Sam Lee. 

RIYL: Keeping it local. 

nfld.io/valleyf24 

BOOMTOWN 

Matterley Bowl, Hampshire; August 7-11 

“Bang goes normal!” That’s the upfront promise made by the 

fiercely imaginative crew behind Boomtown Fair, who will once 

again transform a field outside Winchester into a city of mindmelting 

areas. There are only two things you should ever expect 

from this place: a lineup with an accent on loud, rowdy and 

dubby, and a bumpy acclimatisation back into the real world. 

RIYL: The idea of partying on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road. 

nfld.io/boom24 

FOOD AND DRINK 

The Great Bristol Wine Fest 

Paintworks, Bristol; April 27 

A fiesta of plonk hosted by experts 

Oz Clarke and Tom Surgey. 

nfld.io/winefest 

Stroud Festival of 

Food and Drink 

Stroud; May 17-19 

Lip-smacking goodness spanning 

cookery demos, chef talks, food 

trucks and pop-up bars. 

nfld.io/stroudfd24 

Rock n Ribs 

Wincanton Racecourse; 

July 19-21 

The place to be if you love the smell 

of barbecue in the morning and 

breakfasts that pass as desserts. 

nfld.io/rocknribs 

Big Feastival 

Kingham, Cotswolds; 

August 23-25 

Chow down at Alex James’s farm 

with all the top chefs, plus Cat 

Burns, Johnny Marr and CMAT. 

nfld.io/bigfeast 

Craft Brew Festival 

Document, Bristol; 

August 30-31 

Five hours of craft beer utopia with 

brewers from around the country. 

nfld.io/craftb 



38 Festivals 

A CHANGE OF SCENE 

Timber Festival 

Feanedock, The National 

Forest; July 5-7 

Nature, activism and art all 

intersect at this quietly hopeful 

and imaginatively curated event in 

England’s newest forest. 

nfld.io/timber24 

Paradhis Festival 

Boconnoc Estate, Cornwall; 

July 5-7 

Sound baths, chakra dancing, 

transformation stations, Wim Hof 

workshops and Morcheeba. What 

more do you need to know? 

nfld.io/para24 

Green Gathering 

Piercefield Park, Chepstow; 

August 1-4 

The ‘original off-grid festival’ is 

back with more speakers, more 

permaculture, more radical ideas 

and more folk-leaning sounds. 

nfld.io/green24 

ARCTANGENT 

Fernhill Farm, Bristol; August 14-17 

Photo: Nathan Eaton-Baudains 

Medicine Festival 

Wasing Estate, Berkshire; 

August 14-19 

Leave your scepticism at the gate 

for an alcohol-free weekend of 

Indigenous wisdom, progressive 

thinking and naked wild swimming. 

nfld.io/med24 

For fans of the near-mathematical, quiet-loud-quiet-louder 

subgenre of post-rock – plus other forms of intense hoods-up, 

heads-down riffage – ArcTanGent is a dreamland come true. 

Celebrating ten years of intricate heaviness, this year’s lineup 

is a blockbuster. Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, And So I Watch 

You from Afar and Electric Wizard, plus loads of weird, noisy 

boundary pushers like local lads Scaler, Teeth of the Sea and, 

erm, Squid Pisser. 

RIYL: Black hoodies and Spiderland by Slint. 

nfld.io/arctan 


Festivals 39 

HOUGHTON FESTIVAL 

Houghton Hall, Norfolk; August 8-11 

We need to put a pin in our west-is-best principles for 

a second. Set in a woodland sculpture park near King’s 

Lynn, and conjured up by the mind of artist and DJ Craig 

Richards, this is for all those with eyes and ears fixed on 

the most far-out horizons of electronic music. Think live 

performances and extended DJ sets from – deep breath 

– Aba Shanti-I, Actress, Alabaster DePlume, Batu, Daniel 

Avery, Steam Down, Radioactive Man, Marie Davidson and 

Moodyman. Cor. 

RIYL: Adventurous sounds that compel you to move. 

nfld.io/hought24 

WE OUT HERE 

Wimborne St Giles, Dorset; August 15-18 

Not content with nailing a lineup that lands perfectly 

between exploratory, ecstatic and downright essential 

(think: André 3000, Floating Points, Ebo Taylor, Loraine 

James), We Out Here is also pushing the envelope for 

family areas, with workshops on Afrofuturism delivered 

by the NYJO and a new youth club. Area curator 

Victoria Barrow Williams paints the picture. 

“The Youth Club was inspired by the pivotal role youth 

clubs play in nurturing young talent and fostering 

creativity. The idea was born out of conversations with 

artists like Ezra Collective, who’ve spoken so passionately 

about the positive impact youth clubs had on their own 

musical journeys. These spaces provide crucial access 

to music and nurture creativity among young people, 

and so I was inspired to create a space at We Out Here to 

replicate that supportive and creative environment. 

“The Youth Club will be a platform for attendees to 

express themselves creatively and engage with art and 

culture, with DJ and music workshops, art installations, 

interactive discussions and performances. The Museum 

of Youth Culture will also curate a photo exhibition 

celebrating the history of youth clubs and their influence 

on music and youth culture in Britain since the 1960s.” 

RIYL: Future jazz, electronic and outernational sounds. 

nfld.io/weout24 

GONE WILD 

Powderham Castle, Devon; August 22-25 

Picture this: you’re nearing the end of the 

school holidays but you’re all bouncing off the 

walls having exhausted every entertainment 

avenue available. Enter Gone Wild: a nonstop 

adventure weekender for families with 

Bear Grylls’ stamp of approval. Every energysapping 

activity is here, including walking 

over a Lego obstacle course, as well as family 

friendly music (Sam Ryder, Dick & Dom) and 

a lineup of explorers and circumnavigators to 

wow your kids into a trance. 

RIYL: Watching your kids’ energy finally 

meet its match. 

nfld.io/gowild24 

FORWARDS 

Clifton Downs, Bristol; 

August 31 to September 1 

Team Love set themselves a lofty standard to 

match when they roped in Erykah Badu and 

Aphex Twin for their inaugural Forwards twodayer 

last year. Not daunted, though, they’ve 

set about laying the foundations for another 

magic weekend built around sustainability, the 

friendliest festival vibe this side of Pilton and 

a lineup including LCD Soundsystem, Loyle 

Carner, Four Tet, Jessie Ware, Floating Points, 

Yard Act, plus a bundle of engaging speakers. 

RIYL: Outdoor city festivals that nail it. 

nfld.io/fwards24 



Festivals 41 

LITTLE WONDERS 

Solara Festival 

Walton Castle, 

Clevedon; 


A festival in an actual 

castle! Emerging music 

and comedy acts will 

perform inside and 

out, with camping on 

the grounds. 

nfld.io/solara 

Volksfest 

Birches Farm, 

Bristol; June 7-9 

This annual pilgrimage 

for VW worshippers 

features best-in-show 

comps, circus shows, 

wrestling, monster 

trucks and General Levy 

on wickedness duties. 

nfld.io/volks24 

Priddy Folk Festival 

Priddy; July 12-14 

Celebrating its 31st 

year, is this beloved 

folk beano in a Mendip 

village the local pub 

describes as “like 

Emmerdale on acid”. 

nfld.io/priddy24 

Rode Comedy 

Festival 

Pitchperfect 

Camping, 

Woolverton; August 

28 to September 1 

Somerset’s “greatest 

littlest comedy festival” 

punches above its 

weight for a fifth year 

by bringing in a stellar 

cast of standups. 

nfld.io/rode24 

VERVE 

Tisbury, Wiltshire; September 21-22 

After all of the above, you’ll be in severe need of 

VERVE – a three-day celebration of health, wellness 

and nature. Or the “Woodstock of wellness,” says one 

glossy mag. You’re unlikely to find any brown acid or 

guitar-smashing here, though. Expert teachers and 

practitioners will ease your body and mind through 

a programme of movement, breathwork, meditation, 

mental fitness and talks. By day, wander the grounds 

or chill in the woodland spa; by night, loosen up to 

the soundtrack provided by guest DJs. 

RIYL: Recharging your body for the long autumn 

and winter ahead. 

nfld.io/verve24 

END OF THE ROAD 

Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset; 

August 29 to September 1 

End of the Road initially set itself apart with 

its reliably excellent lineups of indie rock, 

Americana and sundry other alt sounds, and 

as the festival season’s curtain closer. While 

the latter is no longer the case, it does still 

book a bill to trounce nearly all others. 

Gracing their lovely Dorset home this 

year are IDLES, drone-folk purveyors 

Lankum, revitalised shoegazers 

Slowdive, Fever Ray, Yo La Tengo 

and… well, you get the picture. 

RIYL: The best of 21st-century indie 

and leftfield Americana. 

nfld.io/eotr24 



Mr Doodle 43 

We get to grips with Mr Doodle, the global art 

sensation and marker-wielding mastermind 

behind our festival-themed cover, as he preps 

his first major UK exhibition 

WORDS FREYA PARR 

PHOTOGRAPHY MORGAN DAVIES © MR DOODLE 



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Mr Doodle 45 

Xxxxx Caption in here 

caption in here caption 

in here caption in here 

caption in here caption in 

here caption in 

ithin months of making his first-ever sale at 

public auction in 2020, Sam Cox sold 

a painting – the four-metre artwork Spring 

– for nearly £800,000. Not bad for the Keith 

Haring-influenced artist who, a decade ago, 

was just another unknown UWE illustration 

student – albeit one who would attend 

lectures dressed in hand-doodled clothes. 

His university teacher nicknamed him ‘Mr 

Doodle’… and it stuck. Since then, Sam has 

painted murals in a Kent car park, a French 

video-game studio and a Belgian school, 

scrawled over settees in a Carnaby Street 

furniture shop and painted live – in person 

and on social media – for millions around 

the globe to see. This summer, he’s heading 

back to the southwest to bring his freehand 

doodles to The Holburne Museum. 

Like nearly all of his stream-ofconsciousness-like 

work, his doodles won’t 

be confined to the gallery spaces: Mr Doodle 

creations will mushroom out across the entire 

museum and the wider city of Bath. Sam 

has been working with the council to create 

artwork installations through the streets, 

creating bespoke images for telephone 

boxes, murals and banners. 

“I’m trying to reach people who wouldn’t 

necessarily go to exhibitions,” Sam explains. 

It’s his first major exhibition in the UK and 

his doodles will sit alongside work by fêted 

18th-century heavyweights like Gainsborough 

and Guardi. “My doodles are modern-day 

responses to these paintings and interact 

with them,” he says. “There’s a portrait 



46 Mr Doodle 

of a lady washing linen and in my version 

alongside it, the anti-doodle squad are trying 

to wash doodle linen to remove the doodles.” 

Sam’s work doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

In fact, it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. 

“I always thought doodles would be a practice 

step to doing a proper illustration, or artwork 

with a more substantial message or meaning. 

It took many years to accept that doodles 

can be the core of what I do,” he explains. 

“Most artists I love have stories or social 

commentary within their work. I tried forcing 

in ideas about recycling or saving the planet, 

because I thought it should be there for the 

work to be valid.” He’s now realised there is 

merit in art for art’s sake. “I care much more 

about having fun.” 

In 2022, Sam lassoed the public’s attention 

with an announcement video introducing 

his ‘Doodle House’ to the world. He took two 

years to transform his six-bedroom home in 

the small market town of Tenterden in Kent 

into his ultimate doodle pad, with black and 

white freestyle doodles on every wall, floor 

and piece of furniture. Even on his toilet and 

oven. This extraordinary project took 900 

litres of white emulsion paint, 401 cans of 

black spray paint, 286 bottles of drawing paint 

and 2,296 pen nibs – and the finished, liveable 

artwork is the stuff of Sam’s dreams. 

The house is just five minutes away from his 

parents’, in the town he grew up in. Sam was 

sensitive to his neighbours, aware that many 

wouldn’t want to be confronted by his bold 

artistic choices. “It’s the type of place where 

people might complain about the colour of 

a pub changing, so I knew they might not 

want a doodle house in the middle of the 

street. This house sits back from the road 

and is hidden behind trees, so it was perfect.” 

Although the project has been carefully 

executed, Sam wanted the improvisatory 

spirit of doodling to remain at its centre. “I had 

a rough plan of an aesthetic for each room, 

whether it was clouds or splashes, but 90% 

of the designs were made spontaneously. 

“I always thought 

doodles would be 

a practice step 

to doing a proper 

illustration, or 

artwork with 

a more substantial 

message or 

meaning” 

THE TROUBLE 

WITH MR DOODLE 

Letting his doodles flow hasn’t 

always been a doddle for Sam. 

His vertiginous rise to stardom 

a few years ago, with all its 

resulting life and work admin, 

led to a psychotic episode and 

hallucinations that, he’s since 

said, featured Donald Trump, 

Crash Bandicoot and Banksy. 

Sam touches upon his highs 

and lows in a brand-new film 

about his life, The Trouble With 

Mr Doodle, which premiered at 

SXSW recently. Directed by one 

of the team behind Exit Through 

the Gift Shop, it’s an extraordinary 

and occasionally cautionary tale 

of obsession. 


Mr Doodle 47 



Mr Doodle 49 

“My dream is to paint my whole 

town white, draw all over it and 

turn it into Doodle Land” 

stickers on the walls and he 

immediately cheers up.” 

Sam’s family aren’t the only 

ones to find his doodle creations 

calming – so, it would appear, do 

his nearly three million followers on 

Instagram. For all its ills, the platform has 

proved to be a valuable tool for many young 

artists working today. “Before social media 

existed, you’d have just seen the finished 

product on a wall. Now I can share the 

process of the work.” It was this behind-thescenes 

approach that helped Mr Doodle leap 

out of people’s Instagram apps and onto TV 

screens and newspaper pages the world over. 

It also opened up another creative outlet. The 

launch video for the Doodle House is a work 

of art itself, showing the gradual unveiling of 

the designs using stop-motion animation. 

“Since I was about 14, I’ve been really inspired 

by Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit. I knew 

I wanted to experiment with making a stopmotion 

video of the house, following the 

doodles as they grew. Those videos are much 

more interesting than the finished product; it 

was an important part of the process.” 

I’ll design a splash shape, but within that, I’ll 

be guided by the shape and draw whatever 

comes to mind in the moment.” 

So, what’s it like to live in a giant sketchbook? 

“It’s like seeing my brain and being inspired by 

different characters,” he says. “Some people 

might want to leave their work at the end of 

the day, but I want to live in it.” Sam doesn’t 

live alone, though; he shares the house with 

his wife (Mrs Doodle, of course) and their son 

(Baby Doodle). What do they make of it? “If 

my son is getting overwhelmed, we’ll show 

him different characters and sing him songs 

about people in Doodle Land. If he gets sad 

when we’re away from the house, we’ll put 

Those videos may have launched Sam into 

the viral stratosphere, but his exhibition at 

The Holburne will bring this unassuming 

global superstar back to the southwest, 

where we can revel in his endless enthusiasm 

for sharing his art far and wide. You might 

think with all his millions of followers and 

fame, Sam’s mind would be occupied by 

bling. Not quite. “My dream is to paint my 

entire town white, draw all over it and turn it 

into Doodle Land. But only if everyone is OK 

with it.” First Bath, next, the world – but only 

in the politest way possible. 

Mr Doodle! Museum Mayhem runs from 

May 3 to September 1 at The 

Holburne Museum. Mr Doodle 

will be doodling live in the 

Garden Cafe on May 4. 

nfld.io/mrdood 



50 Rosie Holt 

With the House of Commons resembling an out-of-control bin-fire, can we 

PLAYING 


Rosie Holt 51 

POLITICS 

ever enjoy political discourse? Homegrown comedian Rosie Holt thinks so 

WORDS RICH PELLEY 

PHOTOGRAPHY KARLE GOWLETT 


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Rosie Holt 53 

olitics. It’s a dirty word in the UK 

right now, but it doesn’t need 

to be. There may be a way to 

actually enjoy the whole palaver, 

even with another election 

looming. Local comedian 

Rosie Holt – who grew up in 

Wiltshire and Bath – has been 

bringing some much-needed 

levity to politics through her 

satirical (and extremely viral) 

videos, where she plays various 

characters, including gullible 

members of the public and 

a dubious MP. Because she’s 

bringing her new live show 

That’s Politainment! to Bristol 

and Bath this April, what better 

time to get her take on events. 

How can we possibly find all the 

current political turmoil funny? 

“Peter Capaldi [who plays sweary 

spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in 

the satirical comedy series The 

Thick of It] recently said: ‘It’s so 

awful, you can’t make a joke out 

of it.’ But I think you can – and 

more importantly should – make 

a joke out of it.” 

When did your videos first start 

getting attention? 

“It all blew up in lockdown. 

I uploaded a video of me 

pretending to be this woman 

who was talking about how awful 

it was when the statues were 

getting pulled down because 

it was erasing history, just like 

Stalin did – who I said I had 

a statue of in my garden. It went 

viral because people thought it 

was real and were calling for me 

to take down my Stalin statue in 

my garden.” 

Where did the idea for your MP 

character come from? 

“At the beginning of Partygate, 

with that picture of them out 

in the garden at Number 10 

drinking wine. You’d get these 

MPs wheeled out on TV who 

had clearly been told: ‘Right, 

you have to defend something 

awful the government’s just 

done.’ Dominic Rabb looked 



54 Rosie Holt 

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

Daniel Susskind – 

Growth: A Reckoning 

Toppings, Bath; April 11 

Author, economics 

professor and all-round 

policy wonk discusses 

the future of growth 

and how we can make 

it work for more of us. 

nfld.io/susskind 

Bristol Radical History 

Festival 2024 

M Shed, Bristol; April 20 

The reform riots of 

1831, social justice, 

radical plaque-makers 

and stalls from local 

groups – all of Bristol’s 

radical history is here. 

The festival spills over 

to Cube Microplex on 

Sunday, April 21. 

nfld.io/radichis 

Rachel Parris 

Bristol Old Vic; April 20 

The BAFTA-nominated 

comedian, who you’ll 

know from The Mash 

Report, rifles through 

all the big topics via 

cutting standup and 

songs to make you howl. 

She also plays Komedia, 

Bath, on June 9. 

nfld.io/rparris 

so panicked because he was 

trying to defend the indefensible. 

I thought I’d splice the footage so 

the newsreader was interviewing 

my MP character instead, so that 

I could crank it up and make it 

ridiculous.” 

Which sketches have proved 

most popular? 

“Boris Johnson was asked if 

he’d been to any parties over 

lockdown and was saying: ‘You’ll 

have to wait for the Sue Gray 

report.’ I did a sketch where 

I said: ‘I don’t know if I went to 

any parties, and I won’t be able to 

tell you whether I’ve been to 20 

parties until Sue Gray tells me if 

I’ve been to 20 parties.’” 

Who’s your most famous fan? 

“Hugh Laurie tweeted and said: 

‘This is sublime.’ Then Aaron 

Banks – who, for any readers 

who don’t know, is a very, very 

wealthy Brexiter who went after 

a journalist using his vast 

amounts of money – said: ‘Is 

this real?’ [British philosopher] 

AC Grayling thought it was real. 

[Writer] Philip Pullman said he 

was aghast. I’ve had MPs think it 

was real, too, like Henry Bolton, 

the former leader of UKIP.” 

Are the new wave of politicians 

as easy to poke fun at as Boris? 

“When Boris was in charge, it 

was incredible because you 

had these ridiculous, extreme 


Rosie Holt 55 

“I think you can – and more importantly 

should – make a joke out of it” 

characters at the forefront, like 

Nadine Dorries and Priti Patel. 

When Liz Truss was in, it felt like 

insane people eating each other 

and vomiting. Rishi Sunak has 

done this thing of saying: ‘I’m 

the sensible grown-up, we’re all 

about accountability.’ But then 

he put Lee Anderson and Suella 

Braverman to the front, who are 

like Priti Patel on steroids.” 

What can we expect when we 

see you live? 

“Politics moves so quickly. 

I performed in the summer at 

“Bristol Ideas comes to an end 

in April, but it’s not the end of 

the work we’ve pioneered for 

31 years. We’ve always believed 

Bristol is a city of ideas – from its 

anti-slavery movements to the 

birth of romantic poetry, Brunel 

to the fourth industrial revolution, 

cutting-edge culture to current 

political debates – and our 

projects reflect this. 

“From the start, in 1993, we were 

driven by Bristol and its culture. 

We wanted to inspire more 

investment, more projects and 

more festivals, and get more 

people involved. Our broad view 

of culture has embraced arts and 

sciences, and we always sought 

to build on the city’s assets. 

the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 

but there were jokes about 

Holly [Willoughby] and Phillip 

[Schofield], which seem like 

500 years ago now. I’m having 

to rewrite a lot. In a nutshell, 

the show looks at the fine 

line between politics and 

entertainment now that you’ve 

got channels like GB News, which 

has politicians interviewing 

politicians about politicians, 

and gives a whole hour to an 

audience Q&A with Rishi Sunak 

that was obviously skewed in his 

favour. I find it interesting that so 

Bristol Festival of Ideas, April 18-30 

Bristol Ideas is planning to go out with a status-quobusting 

bang, says co-director Andrew Kelly 

This might be cultural activity, 

scientific and engineering 

heritage, artists, poets and 

musicians, but also urban myths 

and bringing together the past, 

present and future, so we can 

understand where we are now 

and build new futures. 

“Our final programme looks at 

creative bureaucrats, regional 

flourishing, the future of England, 

and what we can learn from 

the anarchist writer Colin Ward. 

There’s an evening of Bristol 

poetry, an interview with Caroline 

Lucas MP and readings by 

Jackie Kay. Many of these are 

the springboard for Bristol Ideas’ 

projects as they move forward.” 

nfld.io/festidea 

much of the media is right wing, 

the government is right wing, 

yet they continually position 

themselves as the underdogs. 

I’ll be exploring that through my 

MP character, as a rightwing 

talkshow host, and – if she stays 

in – a leftwing comic who’s trying 

to appease the BBC by adding 

balance to all of her jokes.” 

Are you secretly pleased when 

the government behaves badly, 

thinking: “Great! New material”? 

“It does help. This government 

makes me really sad. Sometimes 

things happen and you go: ‘Oh, 

brilliant.’ Other things just make 

you angry. I started doing this 

because I was upset and angry 

and I found it cathartic to mock 

them. It’s as much that really, 

as any glee at the political 

car crash.” 

Are you looking forward to 

playing Bristol and Bath? 

“Yes! My parents live in Bath. 

We moved when I was 17. So I’m 

doing a preview there and then 

a full show at the Redgrave 

Theatre in Bristol.” 

Where did you grow up before 

moving to Bath? 

“In a little village called Maiden 

Bradley, in southwest Wiltshire.” 

Maiden Bradley sounds like 

a great name for a spoof MP! 

What would they talk about? 

“Turnips!” 

Catch Rosie Holt Upstairs @ 

Bath Pizza Co on April 4 as part 

of the Bath Comedy Festival 

(April 1-21); and at the Redgrave 

Theatre, in Bristol, on April 21. 

nfld.io/rholt 



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OUTSIDE INFLUENCE • OUTSIDE INFLUENCE • OUTSIDE INFLUENCE • 

Outside Influence 57 

Take Art 

Every issue, we turn the spotlight on a local community, group or organisation 

making things better in the southwest. This issue, it’s Take Art 

PHOTOGRAPHY ADAM GASSON 

Table manners 

Performers from Luca 

Silvestrini’s Protein 

take over Caryford 

Community Hall 



58 Outside Influence 

fter being served an 

immersive foodbased 

dance theatre 

production by Luca 

Silvestrini’s awardwinning 

Protein 

company in the 

unlikely setting of Caryford Community Hall, 

near Castle Cary, we wanted to know more 

about this rural theatre organisation. Over 

to director of rural touring, Danny Pedler, to 

explain how Take Art is bringing culture to 

the sticks. 

Since 1987, we’ve put on over 3,000 

performances in more than 250 villages. 

We’ve worked with more than 6,000 

volunteers to help communities put on 

performances in their village halls. We’ve 

paid 3,250 artists and theatre companies to 

bring work here, or to make it in the county. 

And we’ve (hopefully) entertained more than 

200,000 people in rural communities. 

We’re a pretty unique organisation, it must 

be said. We don’t take up residence in any 

one venue or studio, or some whacking 

great theatre, but instead exist in the 

villages, towns and rural communities 

of Somerset. Every year, we work with 

thousands of people across the county, 

providing opportunities for all kinds of 

people to experience, participate in and 

work within the arts. 

Take Art began when our founder Mary- 

Ann DeVlieg stumbled across Hampshire’s 

rural touring scheme and thought: “You 

know what, we should do that in the 

“Our volunteer promoters 

will often host artists 

after the show, too, 

which is a very unique 

DIY dynamic” 

Making a meal of things 

Live action captured at 

Protein’s performance of 

May Contain Food, May 

Contain You, brought to 

Caryford by Take Art 






Cultural 

nourishment 

May Contain 

Food, May 

Contain You was 

part supper club, 

part immersive 

theatre 

MEET THE BILL GRAHAM OF 

WEST SOMERSET 

Mary Coles is a volunteer promoter, bringing 

theatre and dance productions from Take Art’s 

rural touring scheme to Roadwater, west Somerset. 

Here’s the county’s unlikeliest, yet possibly coolest, 

DIY promoter to explain. 

“I like to promote things 

I think will be interesting 

to people. I like bands, 

I like dance; I really have 

a very eclectic taste, if 

that’s the right word! 

If I see something in 

Take Art’s rural touring 

menu and I think, ‘Oh, 

that’s going to be good,’ 

I get feedback from the 

village hall committee 

and then book it. I do 

like to push the limits 

of my audience. A few 

people will say to me, 

‘We don’t get anything 

like this, apart from in 

Roadwater.’ 

“We’ve had Shane 

Shambhu, with 

Confessions of 

a Cockney Temple 

Dancer. And Joan 

Clevillé’s amazing dance 

group. The shows 

broaden all our minds 

to the arts. They make 

us think, which is always 

good and important. 

And they open people’s 

minds to the issues 

and themes that are 

explored in the shows; 

people can see what 

other people’s lives 

are like through the 

performances.” 

beautiful (and even more rural) village halls 

of Somerset.” Not long after setting up our 

rural touring scheme, however, Mary moved 

on to develop performing arts networks 

around Europe and was replaced by Ralph 

Lister. Along with growing the scheme, he 

widened our focus to include developing 

longer-term projects with artists, working 

with community groups, like schools, 

hospitals, day centres and youth clubs. 

Now, from our little hub in South Petherton, 

we run one of the UK’s most celebrated 

rural touring schemes, along with countywide 

projects that support artists, children, 

young people and local communities. 



MIND. BLOWN. 

UNDER 

5’S GO 

FREE 

WAKETHETIGER.COM


GREEN ROUTES 

“Bringing artists to local audiences 

impacts the environment less than 

audiences travelling long distances 

to cities and towns. A six-date rural 

tour can produce a third less carbon 

emissions when compared to a single 

show at a large theatre” 

– Danny Pedler, Take Art 

Take Art’s upcoming events 

Opa Rosa: Live 

Roadwater Village Hall, Watchet; 


Ditcheat Village Hall, Shepton 

Mallet; April 13 

I Piano 

Crewkerne Methodist Church; 


Croscombe Village Hall; April 21 

Our touring scheme is at the heart of what 

we do, though. It’s our main reason for 

being and we wouldn’t be able to run it 

without our volunteer promoters – people 

who work with Take Art and our artists to 

bring theatre, music, dance and circus to 

their local pubs and village halls. And all to 

provide entertainment for their friends and 

neighbours, and create an enriching cultural 

experience for the community. They’ll often 

even host artists after the show, too, which 

is a very unique DIY dynamic. 

We really do believe people living outside 

of the major cities and towns should have 

access to the best live arts experiences – 

and at an affordable price, too. That’s why 

we started this, after all. 

Keep up to date with Take Art’s rural 

touring scheme, community projects and 

live events. takeart.org 



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lordarchitecture.co.uk 



Promoted 

66 Marketplace 

Home & Garden 

James Gallie Architecture 

JGAD work closely with their 

clients to create carefully 

considered and joyful places. 

They heal existing buildings and 

land, inside and out, to connect 

occupants with their environment, 

wherever that may be. Each project 

is ecological, unique and uplifting. 

jamesgallie.com 

Rosie Nottage 

Garden Design 

A studio of five designers and 

landscape architects with 15 years’ 

worth of experience creating 

subtle, elegant gardens to suit 

heritage buildings and new builds. 

Members of the Society of Garden 

Design, they have a particular 

interest in creating habitats and 

increasing biodiversity. 

rosienottage.com 

Morrison Studios 

An agile, client-focused RIBA 

Chartered Practice designing 

healthy, sustainable homes. With 

a particular enthusiasm for 

heritage buildings and the use of 

natural materials, Morrison Studios 

delves deep into understanding 

clients’ personalities to create 

unique atmospheric designs that 

are a joy to experience. 

morrisonstudios.co.uk 

Art & Design 

New Brewery Arts 

Offering craft-based courses and 

workshops connecting people 

with the handmade, promoting 

the joy of making and celebrating 

the role of creativity in all our lives. 

Its current exhibition is Georgia 

O’Keeffe: Memories of Drawings 

– a Hayward Gallery Touring 

exhibition from Southbank 

Centre, London. 

newbreweryarts.org.uk 

Jennifer Mosse Design 

A residential interior design 

consultancy providing a bespoke 

service tailored to each client’s 

needs. Delivering a unique style 

that combines modern pieces 

with vintage finds, and blends 

seamlessly across contemporary 

and period homes. 

jennifermosse.com 

Sarah Straussberg 

With a background in sculpture, 

Sarah draws inspiration from 

details found in the world around 

us. Using a guiding geometry to 

create a distinctive aesthetic, her 

work is built on simplicity in its 

purest form. She designs every 

piece in her Somerset studio, using 

a range of materials to create 

elegant, wearable jewellery. 

sarahstraussberg.com 


Promoted 

Marketplace 67 

Workspaces 

Services 

House of St John’s 

Join the House of St John’s 

community through its exclusive 

House Associates scheme. Pay 

a one-off fee and receive 15% off 

all future meeting room bookings. 

Enjoy a range of benefits, from 

partner discounts and unique 

opportunities to updates, offers 

and community events. Join this 

vibrant professional community. 

hosj.co.uk/house-associates 

The Elevate Hub 

Discover co-working spaces for 

like-minded, creative individuals in 

the heart of Trowbridge, Wiltshire. 

Featuring a pool table, breakout 

area, complimentary coffee 

and snacks, secure indoor bike 

storage, rentable office spaces and 

a meeting room. It’s a vibrant hub 

to fuel inspiration and business 

growth, while fostering a thriving 

work-life balance in modern, 

innovative spaces. 

theelevatehub.com 

Obladee 

This graphic design partnership is 

committed to making a difference 

through design. Want more from 

your projects? So do Obladee. 

They collaborate with businesses – 

from startups to corporations – to 

craft visually impactful campaigns, 

plan marketing and messaging, 

and build brands that resonate 

with audiences and create 

a positive impact. 

obladee.co.uk 

Photo: Greentraveller 

Glove Factory Studios 

A unique rural workspace in Holt, 

near Bath, with 60-plus studios, 

set around garden courtyards in 

acres of countryside. Featuring 

a Co-working Club Room, quiet 

call booths, dedicated desk space, 

private studios, a meeting room 

and a private swimming lake. 

glovefactorystudios.com 

Gather Round 

Gather Round is a unique family 

of co-working spaces designed 

by creatives, for creatives. Their 

members work, talk, collaborate 

and have fun together. Join them 

in March or April and get your first 

month free. 

gather-round.co/one-month-free 

Knee Financial Planning 

A bespoke financial planning 

service for private clients, family 

estates and business owners. 

Knee Financial Planning specialise 

in providing comprehensive 

strategies to optimise wealth, 

manage risk and help achieve 

financial goals. 

kneefinancialplanning.co.uk 



Promoted 

68 Marketplace 

Food & Drink 

KASK 

KASK is that cute, unpretentious 

wine bar you discover in 

a backstreet on a European city 

break, where you have a giddy night 

of drinks and food recommended 

by the bar team, and which you rave 

about to all your friends when you 

return home. Imagine that, but in 

Bristol. That’s KASK. 

kaskwine.co.uk 

Iford Manor Kitchen 

This award-winning restaurant 

specialises in relaxed, farm-to-fork 

fine dining. Food is made in-house 

and sourced directly from the Iford 

Estate or locally. We recommend 

combining lunch with a visit to 

Iford Manor Gardens (charged 

separately). Book now for 

a delicious homemade lunch, 

supper club or pizza night. 

ifordmanor.co.uk/restaurant 

Nook 

An Australian-inspired cafe with 

three spots in Somerset. Think 

brunch dishes, smoothie bowls, 

poke bowls, superfood smoothies, 

cold-press juices, specialty coffee 

and healthy bakes. All are 100% 

gluten and dairy free, with plenty 

of vegetarian and vegan options. 

Nutrient-rich food and drink that 

make you feel good inside and out. 

nooktheshop.co.uk 

Health & Wellbeing 

Field Doctor 

Field Doctor make meals to feed 

your health. Dietitian-designed 

and chef-made in their Somerset 

kitchen, and personalised for 

your individual health and dietary 

needs. They have more than 60 

delicious award-winning meals to 

choose from. Use nearfield25 for 

25% off your first two orders. 

fielddoctor.co.uk 

TONIQ 

Located in the heart of Bath, 

TONIQ is a group personal training 

facility with a focus on the whole 

‘you’. Providing support in nutrition, 

lifestyle and stress management, 

and complemented by awardwinning 

classes, TONIQ helps you 

get more out of life. 

toniqlife.com 

Hybrid Health 

The Hybrid Health clinic – located 

on Milsom Street in central Bath – 

specialises in physiotherapy and 

massage. With expertise across 

a range of treatments, the Hybrid 

Approach, which has been shaped 

over 19 years, means clients 

receive bespoke assessment and 

treatments as part of their visit. 

hybridhealthphysio.com 


YOUR LOCAL FARM SHOP, 

CRAFT BUTCHERS & FARM KITCHEN 

at 

OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. 

LOCAL DELIVERY AVAILABLE. 

HEAD ONLINE TO FIND OUT MORE 

Winsley, near Bath BA15 2JB | www.hartley-farm.co.uk | 01225 864948

70 It Happened Here 

Photo: Kineta Hill 


It Happened Here 71 

The time Matt Groening’s worldconquering 

family came to BS3 

Want proof Matt Groening loves Bristol? It’s 

been mentioned twice in The Simpsons – 

once when Mr Burns requested Bristol toffee 

in the episode Homer Vs Dignity in 2000, 

and again in a 2021 episode when Stephen 

Fry’s character claimed to hail from the city. 

“Is that all you’ve got?” you may ask. Not 

quite. Groening also visited the Animated 

Encounters Festival in 2002, mainly, he 

claimed, as an excuse to swing by his beloved 

Aardman. And, in 2018, he selected three 

artists to rep his most famous creation at 

Upfest, resulting in this masterpiece by Bristol 

graffiti veteran Soker. ¡Ay, caramba! 

UPFEST 

The Bristol street art extravaganza is 

switching things up. For two weeks, from May 

17 to June 2, BS3 will be a riot of large-scale 

murals, workshops, paint jams, talks, theatre, 

comedy and more, as part of Upfest Presents. 

Support this Bristol institution, and ensure its 

survival, through its crowdfunder. 

nfld.io/upfest24 



72 My nearfield 

My nearfield 

Kaye Dunnings 

The creative director behind Glastonbury Festival’s Shangri-La and 

Bristol’s Lost Horizon tells us what the region means to her 

I 

have lived in Temple Cloud, in 

Chew Valley, for ten years now 

but grew up in Hampshire and 

Dorset. I’d come to gigs and 

raves in Bristol in the late 1990s 

as it was the closest city and had 

some incredible scenes. I fell in 

love with the art, the music, the 

people, and also ventured into 

the countryside for free parties. 

In the early 2000s, many of these 

alternative scenes combined 

to become a major part of 

Glastonbury Festival, mainly in 

the infamous late-night area, Lost 

Vagueness. This solidified my 

connection with the southwest. 

Bristol’s long history of protest 

and activism, and the disruptive 

and rebellious spirit of the 

people, is an inspiration to me. 

My work at Shangri-La reflects 

this. I collaborate with and curate 

hundreds of artists, free-thinkers 

and activists to create a giant 

open-air art gallery and creative 

community. I try to bring in as 

much local talent as possible, but 

also make space for people new to 

this world because it can be a truly 

transformative experience working 

together for a greater cause. 

In 2021, the Shangri-La family 

opened a venue in Bristol called 

Lost Horizon, which has become 

a real hotbed of local talent. We 

bring many of the artists that 

come through there to the field 

with us. Giving people a gig at 

Glastonbury elevates people, 

personally and professionally, 

and keeps us all going at a time 

when artists and musicians are 

feeling the burn of the economy. 

As a creative person, I never fully 

switch off. For inspiration, I’m 

usually found at the institution 

that is Cheddar car boot, or the 

Giant Shepton Flea Market. My 

work incorporates reclaimed 

materials and found objects, 

so these are the best places to 

explore and gather such items. 

I don’t have to go far for culture 

as I’m lucky to be a resident of 

Rockaway Park, where brilliant 

events happen every week. But 

when I’m ‘out out’, I’ll mostly be 

found in Bristol’s Old Market, 

bouncing between The Ill 

Repute, The Elmer’s Arms and 

Lost Horizon, or a queer event 

elsewhere. The Wardrobe 

Theatre, The Mount Without and 

Loco Klub are favourite places for 

drag, cabaret and theatre. 

Check out Lost Horizon’s events. 

nfld.io/losth 

“Bristol’s long history of protest and 

activism, and the rebellious spirit of 

the people, is an inspiration to me” 


My nearfield 73 

Clockwise from 

top Lost Horizon, 

Bristol; Kaye in 

her happy place; 

Shangri-La in full 

swing 



74 Competition 

COMPETITION 

WIN two 

VIP festival 

passes 

Want to join Rock Oyster Festival for a riverside celebration of food, drink, music, 

comedy and watersports? We’ve got just the competition for you 

Rock Oyster Festival returns to 

north Cornwall on July 25-28 with 

another doozy of a lineup. This 

year’s tasty offering includes the 

OG Sugababes, synthpop titans 

The Human League, indie-rockers 

Bombay Bicycle Club, Brit Awards 

star CMAT and Daisy Age hip-hop 

crew Arrested Development. 

There’s also cooking demos 

from celeb chefs, a feast of 

comedy and cabaret, and a raft 

of bookable wellness and offsite 

activities including surfing 

and kayaking. And we can help 

you get a bite of the action. The 

festival is giving nearfield readers 

the chance to win two VIP tickets, 

including camping, yoga and 

access to the Coral Club lounge. 

Sounds good, right? 

rockoysterfestival.co.uk 

HOW TO 

ENTER 

For a chance 

to win, visit our 

Instagram page 

@the.nearfield 

on April 24 


BIG NAMES, 

NEW STAGES 

all together now - bristol beacon is open! 

Paul Weller 

Fri 5 Apr 

Beacon Hall 

Declan McKenna 

Tue 9 Apr 

Beacon Hall 

Benjamin Francis 

Leftwich 

Tue 9 Apr 

Lantern Hall 

Samantha Lindo + 

Murmuration Choir 

Thu 11 Apr 

Lantern Hall 

London Symphony 

Orchestra 

Fri 12 Apr 

Beacon Hall 

Izo FitzRoy 

Thu 18 Apr 

Lantern Hall 

Akua Naru 

Mon 22 Apr 

Lantern Hall 

Personal Trainer x 

Pom Poko 

Wed 24 Apr 

Lantern Hall 

Lucinda Chua & 

Galya Bisengalieva 

Wed 1 May 

Lantern Hall 

Orbital 

Thu 2 May 

Beacon Hall 

Orchestral 

Qawwali Project 

Mon 6 May 

Beacon Hall 

GoGo Penguin 

Sat 18 May 

Beacon Hall 

Enji 

Tue 21 May 

Weston Stage 

Vieux Farka Toure 

Thu 23 May 

Beacon Hall 

UNKLE 

Sat 25 May 

Beacon Hall

lordarchitecture 

b e s p o k e a r c h i t e c t u r e & i n t e r i o r s 

7 - 9 N O R T H P A R A D E B U I L D I N G S B A T H B A 1 1 N S 

www.lordarchitecture.co.uk | info@lordarchitecture.co.uk

NF03 April/May 2024

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