Need some cultural inspiration? Then look no further. From Easter holiday activities to live music, comedy, theatre and film, we’ve got it all.
Happy Easter.
Easter holidays
Those lovely people at Explore Bedford have put together an Easter holiday guide, with the best family fun days out, egg hunts, craft workshops and more.
Featuring what’s on at the Panacea Museum, Easter fun at Shuttleworth, workshops at the Higgins and the Love Bedford East Trail, there’s something for everyone, whatever the weather.
Find their full what’s on Easter guide at the Explore Bedford website here.
Thursday 7 April 2022
Community: Life is a Cabaret
The Place Theatre @ 2pm
Tickets: Pay what you can
Come and savour the glamorous, provocative musical underworld of cabaret…at its peak of popularity in the small performance venues of Paris and Berlin in the years after World War 1, it produced a string of exotic, alluring artistes who went on to become household names all around Europe and beyond.
This is the second in a series of two talks/multimedia presentations produced and brought to us by Lee Knapp, a member of the local Bedford community.
Friday 8 April 2022
Children’s Theatre: Basil Brush’s Family Fun show
The Quarry Theatre @ 2.30pm
Tickets: £8/£10
Fresh from appearances on CBBC’s Crackerjack, Britain’s most loveable fox takes you on a journey of laughs, storytelling and song in show for all the family specially written for the live stage and packed with fun and excitement. Come join in the mayhem! Suitable for children aged 3years+
Friday 8 April 2022
Comedy: Basil Brush: Unleashed
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £12/£14
Showbiz legend, national treasure, fox.
Children of the 2000s, 1970s (and everything in-between) this one is for you as Basil goes prime time! Join him as he takes to the road following his much talked about and totally sold-out run at last year’s Edinburgh Festival in a show for the adults!
Fresh from appearances on The Last Leg (Channel 4) and Celebrity Juice (ITV2), join Basil as he gives his comedic take on everything from Love Island to Westminster, in his trademark anarchic style.
Friday 8 April 2022
Live music: False Heads
Bedford Esquires @ 8pm
Tickets: £10
False Heads are an east London-based three-piece rock/punk band consisting of Luke Griffiths (Vocals/Guitar), Jake Elliott (Bass) and Barney Nash (Drums/Vocals).
Emerging out of 2020 with a Joe Cross mix of ‘Twenty Nothing’ taken from their debut album, the band have now clocked up near 2.8 million streams and accelerating towards the magic 3 million mark.
False Heads’ reputation is picking up pace and their unbelievably fearless live shows end up in controlled chaos time and time again.
Think QOTSA and The Pixies with a bit of The Ramones thrown in for good measure.
Saturday 9 April 2022
Creative: Beds Urban Sketchers Foster Hill Road Cemetary sketch crawl
Entrance on corner of Foster Hill Road/Park Road North @ 10.30am
Free to take part
Join the Bedford chapter of the global Urban Sketchers movement to sketch on location in and around Bedford.
This month, the group is meeting at Foster Hill Road Cemetary, followed by a coffee and ‘throwdown’ at the Pavilion in the Park, when sketchers share their work with each other.
Saturday 9 April 2022
Community: Bedford Repair Cafe
The Place Theatre @
Booking essential / donations welcome
Saturday 9 April 2022
Family-friendly: Bedford Who Charity Con 7
King’s House, Ampthill Road @ 10am – 5.30pm
Tickets: £42.50/£22.50/£15/family tickets from £50
Bedford’s seventh Doctor Who charity convention is taking place this month, and heading the guest list is Colin Baker, who played the Doctor on television in the 1980s.
Colin is a veteran of many Doctor Who conventions but describes Bedford’s as “the best one-day event I’ve ever done.”
A warm and witty guest, Colin will be joined by Sophie Aldred (who played Ace, the Doctor’s companion) and Terry Molloy (who played Davros, the creator of the Daleks).
Miranda Raison, who starred as Tallulah alongside David Tennant and the Daleks, is coming too; you may also remember her from Spooks.
All profits will be donated to Bedford Foodbank. A full guest list plus ticket information is available on the convention’s website bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk.
Saturday 9 April 2022
Theatre: I, Elizabeth
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £12.50
From the award-winning creators of Austen’s Women, Dalloway, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, Orlando, The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn, Female Gothic, The Time Machine, and Christmas Gothic.
1568: At a vital but volatile crossroads in history a young queen steps from the shadows to reveal her thoughts on marriage, succession, religion and war. But time is against her…
Elizabeth I: Queen at 25, political phoenix and famously unmarried – but who was the woman beneath the crown?
Using only Elizabeth’s words, Rebecca Vaughan explores the queen’s struggle to reconcile the desires of womanhood with the duties of sovereignty.
Saturday 9 April 2022
Live music: Organ recital with Charles Wooler
St Paul’s Church @ noon
Free entry with retiring collection
St Paul’s series of Saturday lunchtime organ recitals are held throughout the year. Why not go along and combine your visit with a light lunch or coffee and cake from the Saturday cafe?
Admission is free with a retiring collection.
Saturday 9 April 2022
Clubbing: Dubdub
Herd, St Cuthbert’s Street @ 8pm
DJs including Gavin Kendall and Bill Brewster bring you an open and friendly club vibe. Playing reggae, dub, balearic, soul & disco, dubby sounds with a big bag of house music.
Saturday 9 April 2022
Live music: Mad Mods and Englishmen
Bedford Esquires @ 8pm
Tickets: £8
Sunday 10 April 2022
Shopping: Bedford Flea and Affordable Art Market
St Paul’s Square @ 10am – 3pm
Woo hoo! Bedford Flea is back for 2022 and it’s bigger and better than ever. The perfect way to spend a Sunday in Bedford…
Sunday 10 April 2022
Live music: EMF
Bedford Esquires @8pm
Tickets:
Sunday 10 April 2022
Live music: MOJO play the Sunday Afternoon Session
Bedford Esquires @ 5pm
Free entry
Legendary Bedford guitarist Dave King returns to Bedford Esquires for a Sunday Afternoon Session with Tony Morton on drums, John Morey on bass and Neil Cook on vocals.
Sunday 10 April 2022
Missing in action at Bedford Esquires for nearly four years, The Lovely Eggs return to the venue as part of their mammoth UK tour.
For the last two years, The Lovely Eggs have sat back and watched England and the rest of the planet slowly eat themselves. Their number one selling album “I am Moron” is the result of their observations, a relentless analysis of a modern culture that is bringing the world to its knees.
The Lovely Eggs are one of the most exciting, innovative and genuine bands of the Great British Underground. Welcome to their world.
Monday 11 April 2022
Film: Bedford Film Society presents: Petite Maman
University of Bedfordshire Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: Free for members/guests £4.50
Petite Maman was Guardian film critic, Mark Kermode’s film of 2021. Described by his colleague Peter Bradshaw as ‘spellbinding’ this is one not to be missed.
Wednesday 13 April 2022
Theatre: Yes! Yes! UCS!
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £12/£10
It’s 1971 and Aggy McGraw, straight out of school, gets an office job at Fairfields shipyard in Govan a week before the new Tory government decides to stop any investment in what they call ‘lame duck’ industries, which includes shipbuilding on the Clyde.
Facing an uncertain future, she has nothing to lose, except her job, and is swept up into the famous ‘Work In’ to demonstrate to the government that shipbuilding has a future – that the jobs, traditions, skills and communities can be saved.
Townsend Theatre Productions’ new play Yes! Yes! U.C.S! is a celebration of the community solidarity and collective resistance inspired and led by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ shop stewards Jimmy’s Reid and Airlie, attracting massive national and international support that led to victory in the fight for Right to Work.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono sent a bunch of roses with message for the people of Glasgow; it read: “Power to the People!”
Wednesday 13 April 2022
Live music: The Bug Club
Bedford Esquires @ 8pm
Tickets: £10
“No pretence with this band – come and see them, it’s going to be a lot of fun and we will be dancing.”
Thursday 14 April 2022
Comedy: Castle Comedy 10th birthday special
The Quarry Theatre @ 8pm
Limited tickes still available £18
Castle Comedy celebrates a decade of putting on incredible comedy in Bedford with a show featuring star names, birthday cake and loads of laughs.
Headlining is Seann Walsh. Described as ‘the best observational comedian of his generation’ (The Guardian), this Edinburgh Award nominee’s last UK tour show After This One, I’m Going Home ended with standing ovations around the country.
Seann has starred in Netflix’s Flinch, Live At The Apollo, Tonight at The London Palladium, Celebrity Juice, Virtually Famous, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Chatty Man, Stand Up Central and is a regular guest on The Jonathan Ross Show.
Support comes from The Raymond and Mr Timpkins Revue, the maddest, silliest, stupidest, cleverest, strangest and the funniest double act of comedians on the circuit. Likened to Morecambe and Wise and the Two Ronnies, they count David Walliams amongst their legion of fans. Guaranteed to bring the house down.
Also on the bill is Jake Lambert. He has appeared on Comedy Central’s Live From The Comedy Store and The Apprentice: You’re Fired.He will be supporting Jack Dee on his national tour in 2022.
Thursday 14 April 2022
Musical theatre: Friends! The Musical Parody
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £30
Friends! The Musical Parody takes a hilarious look and remembers the TV phenomenon that ruled the 90’s and became a cultural institution with millions of fans across the globe.
The fun begins on an ordinary day at Central Perk, when a certain runaway bride, with the signature hairstyle, stumbles into the lives of five other friends and kicks the whole gang out of second gear. Ross, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe, Joey and Rachel, haven’t gone anywhere and are singing and dancing their way back into our hearts in a delightful musical parody that harnesses the nostalgia for the iconic TV show and takes it to hilarious new places.
Friday 15 April 2022
Friday 15 April 2022
Live music: The Stones
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £20
The Stones’ are the UK’s No.1 and most authentic tribute to The Rolling Stones, bringing all the hits and timeless tracks to the big stage – from ‘Satisfaction’ and ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, to ‘Ruby Tuesday’, ‘Start Me Up’ and ‘Brown Sugar’ – the Greatest Tribute Band in the World pays tribute to the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band.
Friday 15 April 2022
Live music: Annie Keating Band & Danni Nicholls
Bedford Esquires @8pm
Tickets: £12
Don’t miss this double headline show from two of the finest Americana singing, songwriting troubadours out there.
Annie Keating is from Brooklyn and was talent-spotted by BBC Radio’s Bob Harris. After appearing on his show she has played on the bill with John Hiatt, Dan Bern, Bon Iver & other greats, and toured extensively in England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands & Denmark.
Bedford’s very own Danni Nicholls grew up on the American roots music of her Anglo-Indian grandmother’s record collection and has been paving her way in the Americana/roots scene for over a decade.
Saturdy 16 April 2022
Children’s theatre: Aidy the Awesome
The Quarry Theatre @ 11am and 2pm
Tickets: £12/£10/family ticket £40
Aidy is a normal eight-year-old girl… or so she thinks. One day she discovers a family secret that changes everything. Aidy and her granny embark on an adventure that turns their world upside down.
They even begin to question what normal is. After all, who wants to be normal when you can be SUPER!
Aidy the Awesome is a stunning aerial theatre show for all the family to enjoy. Watch as the performers fly, zoom and spin through the air!
Sunday 17 April 2022
Live music: Go Your Own Way Fleetwood Mac legacy
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £24.50
Go Your Own Way is a brand new spellbinding show featuring the music from the legendary multiple Grammy Award Winning Fleetwood Mac.
Their rock n roll legacy is beautifully performed by a highly talented and acclaimed ensemble of musicians who will take audiences on a powerful journey through their incredible song book.
With hits including “Dreams”, “Don’t Stop”, “Everywhere”, “Rhiannon”, “Gold Dust Woman”, “Little Lies”, “Big Love” and many more.
Paying tribute to their “Rumours” line up of Stevie, Mick, John, Christine & Lindsey, which remains their most commercially successful to date, this show perfectly recreates the live energy and passion of Fleetwood Mac.
Until October 2022
Exhibition: Body & Soul
The Higgins Bedford
Free entry
A new exhibition exploring how women have been represented in art over the past two centuries, opens at The Higgins Bedford on 2 April.
Read: Body & Soul: Higgins’ new exhibition explores the representation of women in art
Highlights in the Body & Soul exhibition – all drawn from the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection – include artworks by Edgar Degas, Edvard Munch, Dora Carrington, Stanley Spencer, Henri Matisse, Gwen John, Roy Litchenstein, Lucian Freud and Chila Burman.
Until January 2023
Exhibition: Edward Bawden: Artist Plantsman
Higgins Bedford
Free entry but timed tickets required
Every day, influential British artist and designer, Edward Bawden, would spend an hour in his garden at his home in Great Bardfield before starting work in his art studio. Plants and gardens were one of the most prominent and constant subjects of not only his work but also his life.
Drawn exclusively from the Edward Bawden archive, explore Bawden’s lifelong love of plants and gardens through a wide range of his work, including early wallpaper designs, well-known prints, advertising campaigns and private commissions.
From the grand gardens of Carthage and the botanical gardens at Kew, to Bawden’s own gardens at his parent’s home in Braintree and his beloved one-acre plot in Great Bardfield, discover Bawden’s passion for plants and gardens across decades of his work, featuring pieces that have never before been on public display.
Theatre highlights by Paula Walker
