Your weekly what’s on guide for Bedford and the surrounding area from the Bedford Clanger.
Never miss a thing in Bedford ever again. From theatre to film, live music to art exhibitions, The Bedford Clanger what’s on guide lands every Thursday and is the only guide you need to know what’s on and what’s happening across the Borough for the next 10 days.
The Bedford Clanger’s What’s On Guide is kindly sponsored by The Cellar Bar.
Thursday 11 July 2024
Food and drink: Food Festival
Bedford Heights @ noon
Free entry
Elevate your lunch break at the Bedford Heights annual Food Festival. Say no to a beige and boring midweek lunch and instead go all out with a freshly baked pizza or pulled beef brisket burger at the Bedford Heights Food Festival this July.
With authentic Italian pizza, local ice cream, wood-smoked BBQ, bar, sweet treats and vegan smoothies, whatever your flavour you won’t be disappointed.
The Food Festival will be located at the front of Bedford Heights on Brickhill Drive. Stalls wil be open from 12pm and free parking is available on site.
Thursday 11 July 2024
Art: Themed life drawing with the Circus of Illustration
Thursday 11 July @ 7.30pm
John Bunyan Museum
Tickets: £10/£15
Join the Circus of Illustration and Castle Life Art for a special life drawing session with an illustrative twist! This one-off session will feature a costumed model and a range of props inspired by the legends of Ancient Greece. The evening will be a chance to explore ways to add narative elements to drawings to push the storytelling and heighten the emotion of the pose.
The session will run from 7.30pm -9.30pm but please arrive by 7.15pm to allow time to set up. For further information and some very useful FAQs, check out the Circus of Illustration’s Facebook page.
Thursday 11 July 2024
Live music: Ruts DC
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £17.50
In 1977 the Ruts were hot-wiring barbed wire guitar, passionate poetry and rhythm weaponry together somewhere in a London that probably does not exist anymore.
Some bands sound punk. Some look punk. Some even look and sound punk. And some, simply, are punk.
Thursday 11 July 2024
Dancing: Planet Swing featuring Alisa Lands Swing Quartet
The Dance Hall, Wixams Retirement Village, Bedford Road, Bedford, MK42 6EA @ 8pm – 10.30pm
Tickets: £12.99
An evening for dancers and music enthusiasts alike. Cashless bar, plenty of seating (night club set up) and dance floor. Book in advance and come along at 7.15pm for a 45 minute dance class in Balboa, one of the original swing dances of the era. For the main event, just turn up – pay cash at reception – have fun, no booking needed.
Friday 12 July 2024
Live Music: Cameo
Cellar Bar from 6pm
Free entry
Cellar Bar favourite Cameo is back for another solo performance, so expect a beautiful voice and some cracking party tunes! Singing classic rock/pop songs from Dolly Parton to Fleetwood Mac to The Red Hot Chili Peppers and so much in between, be ready for a cracking party night.
Friday 12 July 2024
Live music: Country Night
Bedford Esquires @ 9pm
Tickets: £8
Calling all Cowboys and Cowgirls!
Strap on your boots and dust off the Stetson, because Country Night is coming to Bedford! Hosted by the Heavy Metal Cowboy himself, Harv Lake will be playing all your favourite Country pickinz for a very special night.
Playing and performing tracks from Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Alan Jackson, Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton and many many more from 9PM ‘til 1AM on Friday 12th July.
Friday 12 July 2024
Live music: Amy – a tribute
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £14
Formed in 2016, Amy – a tribute is an eight-piece band with the goal of paying an authentic homage to the music of the late Amy Winehouse.
Complete with a full horn section and drawing inspiration from her incredible performances, the band accurately recreates the live sound of Amy’s touring bands of the 2000s, ranging from the jazz-inflection of the Frank era (2004) to the soul-drenched Mark Ronson-style of the Back to Black years (2006-7).
Expect to hear some of her greatest hits including Valerie, Back to Black, Tears Dry On Their Own, Rehab, Me & Mr. Jones, Monkey Man, Love Is A Losing Game, Will You Still Love Me, You Know I’m No Good, Stronger Than Me and more.
From Saturday 13 July 2024
Kids’ stuff: Summer Reading Challenge – Marvellous Makers
Bedford Borough Libraries
Free
Children can get creative in Bedford Borough Libraries with this year’s free Summer Reading Challenge, Marvellous Makers!
From Saturday 13 July to Saturday 7 September, children can register for the Challenge and they will receive everything they need to earn rewards for reading library books.
There are also regular activities in all libraries throughout the summer holidays. Full details at the libraries website here.
Saturday 13 July 2024
Live music: Saturday organ recital
St Paul’s church, St Paul’s Square @ noon
Free entry with retiring collection (suggested donation £5)
Saturday lunchtime organ recital by Adrian Goss. Free with a retiring collection.
Saturday 13 July 2024
Green fingers: Bedford Gardening Club
Panacea Museum Gardens, Newnham Street @ 11am – 3pm
Free entry
Already 60 members strong and with a few events under their belt, the Bedford Gardening Club is formally launching their community group with a summer social at the Panacea Museum Gardens. They’ve organised a range of talks, workshops and activities, with the plan to develop a supportive, inclusive community for all types of gardeners.
One member has already said: “Joining Bedford Gardening Club has enabled me to meet new local people with like-minded interests, find out more about what’s going on garden-wise in the locality and given me a newfound motivation to develop my outside space.”
Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July 2024
Summer in Bedford: Eid in Bedford Festival
Addison Howard Park, Kempston @ 1pm – 9pm (Saturday) / 1pm – 8pm (Sunday) / 11am – 1pm (SEND visitors on Sunday)
Free entry
Since 2015, Bedford’s Muslim community has been celebrating Eid with a festival at Addison Howard Park and the event has now become a summer staple in many Bedfordians’ calendars.
The award-winning festival has grown from a one-day event to taking over a whole weekend and with a turnout in the thousands it is the largest Eid celebration in the South East.
Read: Bedford’s award-winning Eid Festival is back this summer
The Eid Festival grounds will open earlier on Sunday specifically for those with special needs by ensuring footfall and noise throughout that period is kept to an absolute minimum so visitors can enjoy without disruption.
SEND visitors are welcome between 11am and 1pm on Sunday, but must book a place at the Eid in Bedford website here.
Saturday 13 July 2024
Walking: North Bedfordshire Ramblers’ weekly walk
Wootton Village Hall MK43 9EU. Park in Village Hall car park @ 10am
Marston Vale Forest Centre, MK43 0PR. Note parking charges apply @ 1.30pm
This week’s morning walk covers a distance of 12 miles around Wootton and Wood End. Please park in the Wootton Village Hall car park.
At 1.30pm the walk is a 6-mile cross-country tour of Marston Vale.
Please bring a drink, snack or lunch as the group always have a break. For more information, please check out the North Beds Ramblers excellent website here.
Saturday 13 July 2024
Theatre: Marble Cake
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £12.50
Marble Cake is a brand-new play which takes a snapshot look at the relationship between a mixed-race brother and sister, Kumi and Keisha, as they come together for the first time in months.
Over the course of one evening, Keisha returns to visit Kumi in their family home and issues that they have not previously explored together come to the surface for the first time; the impact is huge. The curtain is drawn back, and the audience is brought into this intimate and difficult moment between them, where they try to navigate conversations of race, abandonment, and male mental health.
Marble Cake will resonate with anyone who has a connection or interest in this identity, and those who want to know more about how heritage can deeply affect an individual’s life and experiences.
Saturday 13 July 2024
Live Music: Double Header – Flywheel & Joe Cullen
The Cellar Bar @ 8.30pm
Free entry
Flywheel are a four-piece covers band spanning six decades of popular music with a catalogue of 70+ songs from 50’s Rock n’ Roll to modern-day Indie, Rock and Pop classics.
Afterwards, the awesome Joe Cullen returns to The Cellar Bar, playing covers by Ed Sheeran, The 1975, Oasis, Harry Styles, The Killers, Coldplay and much more.
Saturday 13 July 2024
Live music: Adult DVD + Max Fulcrum & The Win + Jaws the Shark
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £10
Following a string of shows alongside PVA and Warmduscher plus cosigns from Bill Murray himself, Leeds dance-rock collective Adult DVD return with new self-produced single, ‘Yacht Money’. A tongue-in-cheek ode to living the high life, it finds itself propelled by unpredictable synth lines and the locked-in rhythms of the Northern outfit.
With a relentless output of infectious hooks and grooves, plus a euphoric live show that could almost be mistaken for a club night, the band have earned themselves a devoted cult following plus nods from Clash, Radio 6, Radio 1, Radio X, Spotify’s Hot New Bands playlist and festival lineups like Left Of The Dial and Beat-Herder.
Almost as a Northern English answer to LCD Soundsystem, trading in NYC snark for a youthful charisma, Adult DVD bounce between chorus-centric indie to acid-house floor-fillers, all while maintaining unwavering charm. Marrying the two sides on latest single ‘Yacht Money’, they tap into the core of their appeal: undeniable humour; bold, danceable instrumentals; and instantly memorable songwriting.
Sunday 14 July 2024
Shopping: Bedford Flea, Affordable Art and Local Produce Market
St Paul’s Square @ 10am
The perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday in Bedford.
Head to the Flea to browse the stalls, pick up a bargain, enjoy the live music and a grab a bite to eat. Combine with a stroll along the river, hire a boat from the Longholme or just soak up the atmosphere.
Sunday 14 July 2024
Walking: “Bedford in WWII” guided walk
Bedford Town Centre @ 11am at the gold postbox in St Paul’s Square
Tickets: £4/£2 (Please use the code HIGGINS30 to remove the transaction fee)
A walk that reveals the way of life in Bedford and some of the little-known facts about the role it played during World War II. Learn how Bedford became the main hub of the BBC during the war and how it also became a centre of wartime entertainment. Discover a ‘secret’ Bedford and the connections of the town to the code breakers at Bletchley park.
Join the Association of Bedford Tour Guides for one of their fascinating weekly walks. Each walk is of 90 minutes to two hours duration and covers a distance of one or two miles. Most walks are suitable for people who are less mobile.
Children of all ages are most welcome on all of the walks but those aged 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Each walk costs £4 per adult or £2 for children over 8. All walks must be pre-booked.
Sunday 14 July 2024
Live music: Live music with John Verity and Max Milligan
The Castle, 17 Newnham Street @ 2pm – 5pm
Free entry
John Verity from the band Argent accompanied by Bedford’s finest Max Milligan playing acoustic rock covers.
Sunday 14 July 2024
Family Theatre: The Unusual Adventures of Robin Hood
The Place Theatre @ 3pm
Tickets: from £8
Hobgoblin Theatre Company’s brilliantly original, outdoor production of “The Unusual Adventures of Robin Hood” tells the classic tale of Robin and his Merry Men outwitting the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham with more than a little help from Maid Marian.
But this time they are singing! Expect audience interaction, physical comedy and some hilarious characters!
Wednesday 17 July 2024
Drag: Fanny’oke and Boozy Bingo
The Cellar Bar @ 8pm / bar opens at 7pm
Free entry
Fanny Burns is back and ready to entertain! Drag queen Fanny will bring her own spin on karaoke and bingo, it’s hilarious and good fun and the bingo cash jackpot has been well over £100. £2 per card of six tickets, meaning six chances of winning. Raffle tickets for Fanny’s Flaps game are just £1.
This show contains adult humour and swearing and is strictly an over 18’s event.
Thursday 18 – Sunday 28 July 2024
Comedy: Bedfringe
The Quarry Theatre @ times vary
Prices vary
This July, the Quarry Theatre will host the 17th International Bedford Festival Fringe, bringing a record-breaking 150 events to the town over 11 days.
From Thursday 18 until Sunday 28 July the theatre will be a hive of activity with comedy, theatre, live music, film, dance and physical theatre, spoken word and poetry taking place throughout the Quarry’s three venues.
This year’s festival is so jam-packed that Bedfringe director, James Pharoah MBE, has had to create a special ‘pre-Bedfringe warm-up gig’ category to squeeze in festival fave, Ivo Graham. “We couldn’t get him into the festival dates, but we love working with him so have programmed him in on 16 July.”
More of the events than ever before are Edinburgh previews (44) and almost half are free to attend or ask for a voluntary donation, making it even easier to binge the Fringe!
And there’s not just the events to take part in – why not wander into the Quarry foyer and bar to have a go on their retro games, help ‘put the brand back together’ by contributing to the Bedfrige logo jigsaw or build something in pink Lego?
Thursday 18 July 2024
Talk: Bedford Skeptics – Historic Building Mythbusting
North End Social Club, 60 Roff Ave, Bedford MK41 7TW @ 7pm
Donation appreciated
In his third visit to Bedford Skeptics, James Wright will dive into commonly believed and repeated stories about historic buildings.
James will explore folklore, history, art, architecture, archaeology, sociology, and psychology to delve into the myths surrounding many mysterious features in mediaeval buildings.
Friday 19 July 2024
Live Music: Double Header – Jam69 & Samantha Hughes
The Cellar Bar @ 6pm
Free entry
Jam69 make their debut performance at the Cellar Bar, covering tunes by The Jam, Buzzcocks, The Undertones, The Who, The Stranglers, The Specials, Stiff Little Fingers, The Sex Pistols, Sham 69, The Ruts, The Vapors and many more…
Afterwards and into the small hours, the very talented Samantha Hughes is back. Samantha’s set will be part acoustic, so you are in for a treat as she plays a selection of Rock n Roll, Country, 50s/60s and Blues, spreading some good old-fashioned music from years gone by.
Friday 19 July – Saturday 7 September 2024
Family fun: Summer holiday sessions
John Bunyan Museum, Mill St, Bedford MK40 3EU @ 11am
Free / £2
Throughout the summer the John Bunyan Museum and Library will be hosting a whole range of family-friendly activities, trails and exhibitions.
Crafty Thursdays return throughout August (11am – 3pm) and are just £2 per child.
New for 2024, Bunyan Meeting is running free craft and activity sessions every Tuesday in August. With a Noah’s Ark theme, each week make a different animal to take home and help Noah fill his Ark! Have a go at trails around the museum, and summer exhibition in the basement from 11am-2pm in Bunyan Meeting. Free light lunch for children completing all three activities on the day.
Saturday 20 – Sunday 21 July 2024
Family fun: Bedford River Festival
FREE ENTRY
This year’s ever-popular River Festival takes place on the weekend of 20 – 21 July on, in and around the banks of the River Great Ouse.
This FREE community event attracts over a quarter of a million visitors and there really is something for everyone.
Read: Everything you need to know about Bedford River Festival 2024
You can find the full programme online at riverfestival.bedford.gov.uk.
Saturday 20 July 2024
Live Music: May Contain Nutz
The Cellar Bar @ 9.00pm
Free entry
The Cellar Bar welcomes the four-piece party rock band, May Contain Nutz, making their debut at the venue.
Saturday 20 July 2024
Club night: Bedford River Festival aftershow party
Bedford Esquires @ 10.30pm
Tickets: £5
Throughout the River Festival weekend, you can catch all of the Esquires-curated artists on the main stage of the festival in Russell Park. Once the sun goes down, head to the club for two rooms of the finest tunes.
ROOM 1: LOADED vs COMMON PEOPLE
Sam Voidoid takes you through the biggest tunes from Limehaus era Indie to The Pad Saturday nights, playing the finest in Post Punk, Beats and Dance classics.
ROOM 2: JUICY
Mass C takes you on a journey from Old Skool Hip Hop to RnB, Soul, Funk and Breaks. Expect the unexpected from one of our very best DJs.
Sunday 21 July 2024
Live music: U18’s Open Mic
The Cellar Bar @ 5pm – 7.00pm / bar opens at 4.30pm
Free entry
The Cellar Bar is throwing its doors open to the next generation of Bedford musicians, with a dedicated junior open mic session for under 18s.
Whether you sing, play guitar, drums, or any other musical instrument, or are a band already, you are welcome to take part. It’s a chance for you to perform on a stage in front of an audience with a full pa, drum kit, amps, lighting.
Hosted by none other than Mat Roberts, Mat will be on hand to offer support and advice, as well as doing a few jam sessions of his own.
Under 18’s are welcome in the bar from 5.00pm.
At the Higgins Bedford
Exhibition: Rediscovering Black Portraiture
The Higgins Bedford
Free entry
The newest exhibition at the Higgins began as a diversionary lockdown project in 2020 and can now be seen at Kensington Palace, the Bodeian Library in Oxford and now in Bedford.
It features the work of Manchester-born professional opera singer, Peter Brathwaite, who has lived in the Black Tom area of Bedford since 2018.
With all his singing work cancelled during the pandemic, Peter began looking for an outlet for his creative talents and started recreating famous and lesser-known Black portraiture paintings using as props whatever he could find around his house.
It was inspired by the Getty Foundation’s lockdown project, but quickly took on a life of its own, gathering a large international online following. You can explore the project at his Instagram page @peter_brathwaite.
And from Saturday, 18 May, they will form part of an installation at the Higgins Bedford which will lead visitors through the main collections and into Cecil Higgins’ house, with Peter’s interpretation of The Paston Treasure at its heart.
Read: ‘Rediscovering Black Portraiture’ at the Higgins Bedford this May
Exhibition: Edward Bawden & Me
The Higgins Bedford until
Free entry
Brand new work by some of the biggest names in contemporary British art, illustration and textiles are on display at an exhibition at the Higgins Bedford in celebration of the work of one of Britain’s most inventive and influential artists
Entitled Edward Bawden & Me, the exhibition has been curated by Bawden’s good friend, illustrator and printmaker, Chris Brown and also features work by local artists’ collective, the Circus of Illustration.
Read: Star-studded new Edward Bawden exhibition opens at the Higgins Bedford
You can also read the full article in the February issue of The Bedford Clanger.
At the Panacea Museum
Exhibition: ‘Panacea: A Cure for All Ills’
Thursday – Sunday @ 10am – 5pm
Free entry
The current exhibition at the fascinating Panacea Museum explores the ministry which gave the Panacea Society its name.
Originally titled ‘The Community of the Holy Ghost’, their more famous name came later, connected with their international Healing offer. The Society sent out linen squares, blessed by their leader Octavia, these were placed in water to make a therapeutic elixir.
This exhibition explains the origins of the Healing, how it became so well-known, and why it finally ended.
Entry to the museum and exhibition is free. More information about visiting the museum can be found on their website here.
Every Thursday
Cocktails, Quiz Night & Karaoke
The Cellar Bar from 5.00pm
Pit your wits against The Cellar Bar’s resident quizmaster to see if you can win the jackpot every Thursday from 8pm. £2 per person entry and a maximum of six per team. The winning team will win the jackpot PLUS a round of shots. Followed by Karaoke til close
Every Saturday
Food & drink: Cocktail mixology masterclass
The Cellar Bar @ 3pm / doors open at 12 noon
£30 per person
The Cellar Bar’s resident mixologist, Marley, will explain how to create some outstanding cocktails for your tasting enjoyment. Then, it’s your turn to put what you’ve learned into practice by making (and drinking) three cocktails!
Every Sunday
Live Music: Open Mic Night
The Cellar Bar @ 7.30pm
Free Entry
Every Sunday, join Mat Roberts for the Cellar Bar’s weekly Open Mic night. An opportunity for new and experienced performers to get up on stage and perform.
So whether you think you are the next Tom Grennan or just want a good night of entertainment, head the to Cellar Bar from 7.30pm.
Theatre highlights by Paula Walker
