Our 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.
Wednesday 20 November 2024
Food & drink: Alpine Nights – Cheese Fondue
D’Parys, D’Parys Avenue @ 7pm – 9pm
£35 per person
Head to the DParys every Wednesday this November and December for a cosy evening at their Ski Chalet, where the warmth of a rich, creamy cheese fondue and the vibrant beats of our DJ live music will transport you straight to the Alps. Ticket price includes a welcome glass of mulled wine or cider.
A warm welcome with a glass of mulled wine or cider, a delicious cheese fondue and a live DJ setting the perfect après-ski vibe
Whether you’re coming with friends or loved ones, this is the perfect way to embrace the winter season in style. Warm up, relax, and let the music take you away.
Wednesday 20 November 2024
Karaoke: Drag karaoke and Bingo hosted by Drag Queen Fanny Burns
The Cellar Bar @ 8pm / bar opens at 7pm
Free entry
Fun is guaranteed as drag queen Fanny Burns brings her own hilarous spin on karaoke and bingo. The bingo cash jackpot has been well over £100. It’s £2 per card of six tickets, meaning six chances of winning. Raffle tickets for Fanny’s Flaps game are just £1. £2 tickets for Fanny’s Flaps with a cash jackpot of upto £250 to be won.
The Cellar Bar is a safe, inclusive, environment for all of our customers. Free entry, just turn up but make sure you’re there early enough to get drinks and bingo tickets.
This show contains adult humour and swearing and is strictly an over 18s only event.
Thursday 21 November 2024
Film: Stevington Cinema Club presents Wicked Little Letters
Stevington Cinema Club, Stevington Village Hall, MK443 7QT @ 6.45pm
Tickets: £6
Stevington Village Hall is the venue for the village cinema club, which this month is showing the absolutely brilliant ‘Wicked Little Letters’ starring Jessie Buckley and Olivia Coleman.
Thursday 21 November 2024
Art and culture: Peter Brathwaite in conversation with Dr Lucy Peltz
The Higgins Bedford @ 6.30pm
Tickets: £8
A very special event is taking place at the Higgins this week, when Peter Brathwaite, artist, singer and writer talks to Dr Lucy Peltz, Head of Collection Displays (Tudor to Regency) and Senior Curator 18th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery about Black portraiture and Peter’s exhibition ‘Rediscovering Black Portraiture’.
Read: Art and culture: Artist Peter Brathwaite in conversation with Dr Lucy Peltz
Thursday 21 November 2024
Bedford Skeptics: Phone calls from the dead? with Dr Callum Cooper
The North End Social Club, Roff Avenue @ 7pm
Donations appreciated
An evening of exploration of alleged phone calls from the dead, often associated with after-death communication experiences, where reports occur of deceased individuals allegedly making contact. However, unusual reports of telephone calls from living individuals and perceived ‘extra-terrestrials’ have been documented too. Dr Cal Cooper will be presenting examples of such cases, the history, controversies, theories and more… ring, ring
Thursday 21 November 2024
Live music: Desperate Journalist
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £15
Formed in 2013 in North London, Desperate Journalist return to Equires following their sell-out show in January 2022. Their self-released ‘Cristina’ EP and energetic early live shows soon caught the attention of ‘most indie man alive’ Simon Williams who promptly signed them to Fierce Panda records.
Over a decade and four albums later, the post-punk foursome (Jo, Rob, Simon and Caz) have built a growing loyal fanbase around the UK and across Europe. Support comes from Esquires favourites ‘Enjoyable Listens’ who will return after a full house at Ceremony festival earlier this year.
The show will be attended by – ‘Tonic Music’ a mental health charity formed in 2012 upon the belief that participation in music is good for mental health.
Thursday 21 November 2024
Dancing: Planet Swing featuring The Gary Wood Swing Band
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 22 November 2024
Live music: Max Ryan
D’Parys, D’Parys Avenue @ 7 – 9pm
Free entry
Every Friday in November the D’Parys will be hosting live music performances in the bar. This week, catch singer/songwriter Max Ryan.
Friday 22 November 2024
Live music: This Is Queen – Queen tribute band
The Addison Centre, Kempston MK42 8PN @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £19.50
This is Queen, one of the country’s leading tribute acts, will be paying fitting homage to perhaps the greatest rock band of all time when they play the Addison Centre on Friday 22 November.
Who will ever forget the incredible Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor? This Is Queen use authentic costumes and equipment to recapture that distinctive sound and build the rapport with the crown that was Freddie’s trademark.
The band will be playing two scintillating sets featuring songs such as Radio Gaga, We Are The Champions and, of course, Bohemian Rhapsody. Advance tickets guarantee reserved seating with easy access to both the dance floor and the fully licenced bar. Ample free parking and food available on-site.
Friday 22 November 2024
Live music: Facedown (playing until 1am)
The Cellar Bar at 8.30pm / bar opens at 6pm / happy hour 6pm – 9pm
Free entry
Not sure what to expect when the ultimate pop-punk tribute band, Facedown, play at the Cellar Bar this month? Well, they can confirm they’ll be playing covers by Jimmy Eat World, Allister, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, Bowling for Soup, GreenDay, Reel Big Fish, NOFX, The Offspring, New Found Glory, Sum 41, Lit, Blink 182, Goldfinger, Alien Ant Farm, Feeder, Avril Lavigne, Yellowcard, Rancid, Alkaline Trio, American Hi-Fi, Ash, All Time Low, Simple Plan, The Ramones plus the band’s originals.
Friday 22 November 2024
Live music: Maruja + Guests
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets £12.50
Maruja is an evocative force that transports listeners to a world of diversity and gritty realism. For the better part of a decade, they have relentlessly honed their craft, pouring over every note with a precision that borders on the obsessive. It is not just a passion that drives them but rather an all-consuming need, a force that compels them to create and perform with a visceral intensity that is both electrifying and terrifying.
Saturday 23 November 2024
Live music: Bad Hombre
The Cellar Bar @ 6pm
Free entry
Bad Hombre return to the Cellar Bar this month after their last incredible high-energy performance. These guys are musical geniuses – a must see.
They play the best of Surf, Pop, Rock, Mod, Indie, Punk & New Wave covers, so expect to hear your favourite tunes from The Jam, Stereophonics, The Kinks, The Fratellis & Kaiser Chiefs amongst many others.
The band’s energy is infectious, dancing shoes and drinking hats are recommended!
Saturday 23 November 2024
Classical music: Bedford Choral Society presents Mendelssohn’s Elijah
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: prices vary
Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah is often described as his choral masterpiece. It is the story of the Old Testament prophet Elijah, a zealot but a man also full of doubts and compassion.
Commissioned to be performed at the 1846 Birmingham Festival, versions were written in German and English but our performance is in English. The music is elemental and dramatic, with operatic solos and stirring choruses.
Saturday 23 November 2024
Live music: Fire Fall + Hereward + Invicta + Ditch the Demon
Bedford Esquires @ 7pm
Tickets: £10
Heavy metallers Fire Fall launch their new single ‘RA’ in their home town venue Bedford Esquires this month. Bringing hard hitting riffs, powerful vocals and stunning harmonies in their music, they have gone from strength to strength playing their local music scenes and beyond.
Alongside their live performance Fire Fall will release their new single and music video ‘Ra’, a song inspired by Egyptian mythology and one which is very popular with their fans.
This will also mark the final show for good friend and guitarist Riley, as such the show will also be a leaving party for their good friend and bandmate.
Sunday 24 November 2024
Live music: Soul Factory – Sunday chillout with DJ Rocky
The Cellar Bar @ 3pm / Happy Hour from 3pm
Free entry
Enjoy Happy Hour (from 3pm on Sundasy) and an afternoon of soul & rnb music with Soul Factory at the Cellar Bar.
Sunday 24 November 2024
Live music: The Feelgood Band play the Sunday afternoon session
Bedford Esquires @ 5pm – 7pm
Free entry
This week’s Sunday Afternoon Session sees another high-energy performance of classic Dr. Feelgood, from the 1970s ‘Gypie’ Mayo period.
Tuesday 26 November 2024
North Bedfordshire Arts Society: The Holiday Season – food and feasting in art
The Addison Centre, Kempston @ 11am
Tickets: £10
North Bedfordshire Arts Society welcomes Sarah Ciacci for a talk on The Holiday Season: food and feasting in art. Christmas is historically a time for feasting and celebrations, largely because it occurs in the middle of the dark and cold days of winter so a mid-season celebration with lots of food and drink helped spur people on towards the spring.
In this talk, lecturer Sarah Ciacci we will look at how food and feasting is depicted in paintings, and it will hopefully help us through the dark days of winter as well.
Tuesday 26 November 2024
Live music: Tuesday lunchtime concert
St Paul’s church, St Paul’s Square @ 1pm
Free entry with retiring collection (suggested donation £5)
This week’s concert features a piano recital by Elizaveta Velikhova.
Free with a retiring collection.
Tuesday 26 November 2024
Art: The Circus of Illustration’s Drink and Draw – Advent
The Park pub, Kimbolton Road @ 7.30pm
Free (£2 donation appreciated)
On the last Tuesday of every month, Bedford’s creative community meets up at the Park pub for the Circus of Illustration’s monthly Drink and Draw sessions. With a different theme each month, it’s open to absolutely anyone (over 18) of any skill level and there’s no need to book.
Join them for their final drink & draw of 2024 and help make an illustration for each day of advent! Using the most adorable little matchboxes, each will be illustrated with festive cheer, and will be revealed on social media in the run-up to Christmas.
They are also hosting an art raffle to raise money for local charity, Beyond Detention.
Equipment and resources are provided in a no-pressure, relaxed atmosphere to chat, drink and doodle.
Tuesday 26 November 2024
Live music: Gareth Malone – sing-a-long-a-Gareth
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £27.50
British choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth Malone is self-described as an ‘animator, presenter and populariser of choral singing’.
He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as The Choir with a focus on singing and introducing choral music to new participants. Gareth is also Patron of the Military Wives Foundation, set up to support the choirs that have been springing up in garrisons around the world since the programme The Choir: Military Wives aired.
Tuesday 26 November 2024
Film: Bedford Film Society presents – War Pony
The University of Bedford, Polhill Avenue @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £70/annual membership, £5/day guest
At 23, Bill is determined to hustle his way to the “American Dream”. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Matho can’t wait to become a man. Desperate for approval from his young father, Matho’s finds himself unequipped to deal with the harsh realities of the adult world.
Tuesday 26 November 2024
Theatre: Nightmares
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £14
Three classic ghost stories – live on stage!
Vengeful spirits, murderous revenants and gruesome promises kept from beyond the grave – every horror imaginable is conjured in this uniquely terrifying experience. Nightmares is a gothic show that will leave you quaking in your seat… and dying for more.
The show features three of the most spine-tingling tales ever written – ‘The Judge’s House’ by Bram Stoker, ‘The Kit-Bag’ by Algernon Blackwood and ‘John Charrington’s Wedding’ by E Nesbit.
These pleasing terrors are brought to you by The Book of Darkness & Light, who have toured the length and breadth of the country with their unique brand of ghost story theatre for the past nine years.
Wednesday 27 November 2024
Comedy: The Cellar Bar Comedy Club with headliner Phil Nichol
The Cellar Bar @ 8pm
Ticket Price: £10
The Cellar Bar Comedy Club is back, featuring some of the best comedians from across the country from club legends to TV superstars for the cool, cool price of just £10.
This month’s headliner Phil Nichol is a truly unique performer. An acclaimed actor, award-winning comedian, producer, presenter, writer and musician there is no end to his talent.
His skill as an improviser whether it be musical, comedy or straight is unparalleled. With a surreal edge to some of his mischievous rantings, Nichol always brings something new to the stage, his keen sense of fun and eye for the shocking and absurd has cemented his position as one of the best comedians on the circuit today.
Also featuring: Tom Alban, Emily McQuade, Alexis Coward
Hosted, as always, by Mr Sparkly Boots himself, Simon Hall.
Wednesday 27 November 2024
Comedy: Milton Jones
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £32.50
This is not a musical. Milton Jones is tone deaf and has no sense of rhythm, but at least he doesn’t make a song and dance about it.
He has more important things to discuss. Like giraffes…and there’s a bit about tomatoes. You might know him from Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo or Radio 4. Or that time he stood for the Scottish National Party, fought a hard campaign, but in the end had to respect the wishes of the people of Cardiff.
A whole new show of daftness. You know it makes sense.
WARNING: contains jokes from the start.
Thursday 28 November 2024
Live music: Juicebox 1264 presents Carole King’s Tapestry
Bedford Esquires @
Tickets: £15
This event sends us back to California in the 1960s and 1970s as the hippies took over the Sunset Strip. With the house prices too costly in the centre of town, a creative hub emerged in Laurel Canyon; an area overlooking Los Angeles in the Hollywood Hills. Just some of those who took advantage of this cheaper living space included members of The Byrds and The Doors as well as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Carole King…
In the first half of this concert, you will hear music from the artists listed above as well as many others by the Laurel Canyon residents during this time.
In the second half, the band will perform in its entirety Carole King’s masterpiece Tapestry. Of all the albums released at this time in the Laurel Canyon community, Tapestry, arguably, sums up this counter-culture best. It is a statement of togetherness, love in all its forms, feminism, and endless hope for the future.
Friday 29 November 2024
Storytelling: Exploring with Kaye Leidoscope
The Place Theatre @ 10am
Tickets: from £2
Join Kaye Leidoskope for these lively & lovely interactive storytelling sessions for under-fives and their grown-ups. Expect songs, games, crafts and dancing …perfect for little ones to creatively learn through play!
Friday 29 November 2024
Live music: Kerry Jo Jazz Trio
The Castle, 17 Newnham Street @ 8.30pm
Free entry
Join Kerry Jo Hodgkin and her band this Friday night singing Jazz, blues and soul vocals.
Friday 29 November 2024
Live music: Roxy Searle
D’Parys, D’Parys Avenue @ 7 – 9pm
Free entry
Roxy Searle performs live at the D’Parys tonight.
Friday 29 November 2024
Comedy: Tony Slattery- Resuscitated
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £16
Back from the dead following a failure to file his living will, please welcome Lord of Misrule Tony Slattery (Kingdom, The Crying Game, Coronation Street) for this rare discussion show with his good friend, Erica Lear, as they chart the highs and lows of his life and career, including his time as a stalwart on Whose Line Is It Anyway? and how he nimbly dodged the global superstardom that claimed so many of his colleagues.
Includes an unusual opportunity to ask your own questions of Tony without recourse to a Ouija board. Then Tony – together with his improv accomplice James Payton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Captain America: The First Avenger, Glass Onion) and their troupe of friends – will turn your brilliant suggestions into unforgettable, never-to-be-repeated improvised comedy, or at least that’s the plan.
Friday 29 November 2024
Live music: But of Course
The Cellar Bar @ 8.30pm / bar opens at 6pm / happy hour @ 6pm – 9pm
Free entry
You’re in for a treat folks, as brand new duo, But of Course, make their The Cellar Bar debut. While they are not exactly strangers (those that frequent The Cellar Bar regularly will know Hugo and Markos from Five Five Six), come along and see these incredible musicians perform a mix of pop and rock classics all night long.
Friday 29 November 2024
Live music: One Night in Dublin
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £23.50
One Night in Dublin will come to Bedford when The Wild Murphys will set up Murphy’s Pub at the Corn Exchange, guaranteeing one glorious night of high-energy Irish Music and more than a little bit of Irish Craic.
In their inimitable style, multi-award-winning Irish band The Wild Murphys perform classic tracks including: Galway Girl, Tell Me Ma, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, Brown Eyed Girl, Seven Drunken Nights, Sally MacLennane, When You Were Sweet Sixteen, Whiskey in the Jar, Wild Rover and Molly Malone – all guaranteed to have the audience’s hands clapping and toes tapping all night long.
Friday 29 November 2024
Live music: Baalam and the Angel
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £18
Balaam and The Angel first emerged on the scene in 1983 and by 1984 had set up their own record label Chapter 22 releasing three classic singles before signing a worldwide deal with Virgin Records.
As a major label act the band released a number of critically acclaimed albums (The Greatest Story Ever Told and Live Free Or Die) and were included on the soundtrack of John Candy/Steven Martin movie “Trains, Planes And Automobiles”.
The band have toured consistently as headline act and as a guest to the likes of The Cult, Iggy Pop, Aerosmith, Kiss and more recently by request of The Almighty.
Still one of the few bands from their era to boast the original line up of the three brothers Jim, Mark and Des Morris they continue to generate deeply authentic and accomplished performances that makes them a phenomenal live act making the forthcoming tour something to savour.
Saturday 30 November 2024
Festive fun: Wreath-making workshop
Panacea Museum, 11 Newnham Rd, Bedford, MK40 3NX @ 10.30am – midday
Ticket price: £5 (booking essential)
Join local artist Anne-Marie Abbate to make wreaths using foliage from the Panacea Museum’s ‘Garden of Eden’.
Saturday 30 November 2024 (postponed from 23 December)
Christmas: Festive light switch-on
Harpur Square from midday
Free
Bedford’s annual Christmas celebrations are back, bigger and brighter than ever and on Saturday, 23 November, the town centre will be transformed with the highly-anticipated Christmas Lights Switch-On.
The Christmas festivities will commence in Harpur Square from 12 noon with live performances on the Love Bedford stage throughout the afternoon from school choirs, local bands, singers and dancers.
Try your hand at Crazy Golf on Silver Square, free to the public from noon – 4pm and be sure to capture a festive family photo under the Love Bedford Christmas wreath which will once again adorn Silver Square. The Christmas wreath, painstakingly made by Jane Hutcheon and the team at Hay Lane Flowers, has been made possible with funding from town centre businesses.
At 4pm, songstress Lissie Allsopp will entertain the crowds with festive favourites leading up to the countdown for the lights switch on at 5pm.
The fun continues with a Christmas sing-along, led by Lissie, and then Local Radio host Steven Gordon-Wilson will spin modern Christmas tunes until 6.30pm.
Read more: Join in the free fun and festivities at Bedford’s annual Christmas lights switch-on
Saturday 30 November 2024
Festive fun: Christmas origami
Panacea Museum, 11 Newnham Rd, MK40 3NX @ 1pm – 3pm
Free drop-in session
Join local artist Anne-Marie Abbate to make origami Christmas trees, drop-in with no need to book.
Saturday 30 November 2024
Festive fun: Wixams Christmas Fayre
Wixams Village Hall, Brooklands Avenue, Wixams, MK42 6AB @ midday – 6pm
Free entry
Step into Wixams Winter Wonderland for some family-friendly festive fun. From exhilarating fairground rides to cozy stalls inside and out, there will also be holiday treats and seasonal sips at the bar.
The highlight? A special visit from Santa and the grand Christmas tree light switch-on to set the season aglow. Bring family, friends, and all your holiday cheer—it’s an event you won’t want to miss.
Saturday 30 November 2024
Classical music: Philharmonia Orchestra presents Santtu and Jess Gillam
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £15 – £40
Celebrated saxophonist Jess Gillam joins the Philharmonia’s Principal Conductor for an evening of irresistible tunes.
Jess will show audiences exactly what the saxophone can do, in Glazunov’s 1934 concerto – a staple of the repertoire. Santtu opens the concert with music by Glazunov’s student, Shostakovich: the suite from his satirical operetta, Moscow, Cheryomushki. The concert ends with Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony, the work of a composer at the top of his game and remains one of the most popular in the canon.
Saturday 30 November 2024
Live music: Special Kinda Madness
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £15
Back at Esquires for their annual gig, Special Kinda Madness will once again bring their classic take on Madness and The Specials.
Here’s the lowdown; SPECIAL KINDA MADNESS perform a truly authentic set from each band, combining the phenomenally energetic stage presence of The Specials with the wonderful iconic tunes of the Madness ‘Nutty Boys’. Playing a set from each band and producing a show that will have the audience up and dancing from the off, Special Kinda Madness will have everyone hankering after that exciting era of 2-Tone and ska.
Saturday 30 November 2024
Live music: Zeroes
The Cellar Bar @ 8.30pm / ar opens at 6pm / Happy Hours @ 6pm – 9pm
Free entry.
Zeroes hail from Hitchin and play a heady mix of the best 00s Indie tunes (think Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon, The Strokes, The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs, The Wombats) as well as a smattering of 90s classics (Pulp, Blur, James) and a few timeless gems (Smiths, Joy Division). Not to be missed.
Sunday 1 December 2024
Dance: The Nutcracker
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 2.30pm
Tickets: £27/£25
After last year’s successful tour, Crown Ballet returns to the UK to enchant audiences with a delightful production of The Nutcracker – a charming and kind fairy tale that is one of the jewels of Tchaikovsky’s repertoire.
The original Christmas story is based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King written by E.T.A. Hoffmann. It tells the story of Marie, a sad little girl, whose godfather, Drosselmeier, gives her a Nutcracker doll as a present on Christmas Eve. In her lively imagination, it turns into a prince and the magic starts…
This eternal seasonal favourite will be an unforgettable journey and an ideal introduction to audiences of any age to the magic that is classical ballet.
A wonderful treat full of glitter for the whole family!
Sunday 1 December 2024
Live music: Moulton 77 Brass Band play Christmas carols
The Cellar Bar @ 4pm / bar opens @ 3pm / Happy Hour @ 3pm – 9pm
Free entry
To kick off the festive season, Moulton 77 Brass Band will be at the Cellar Bar on 1 December for a fabulous performance of Christmas Carols.
The venue will be decorated and there will be free mince pies for customers with special Cellar Bar mulled wine available to purchase.
Sunday 1 December 2024
Live music: The Dirty Rhodes Band play the Sunday Afternoon Session
Bedford Esquires @ 5pm
Free entry
The Dirty Rhodes Band are all about the gritty sounds of 1970’s Jazz, Soul and Motown, bringing it up to date with a touch of neo-soul, jazz funk, and Lo-Fi influences.
The electric Fender Rhodes piano is the signature sound from the Motown era, and that’s what they love. Add a bit of vintage snap, crackle and pop … and hey presto, you got the Dirty Rhodes Band.
With a repertoire including classic Motown tracks from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye and Al Green, they also play more modern influences from artists such as D’Angelo, Lenny Kravitz, Jamiroquai and Mamas Gun.
Sunday 1 December 2024
In conversation: Richard Jobson
Bedford Esquires @ 7.45pm
Tickets: £5
Richard ‘Jobbo’ Jobson returns to Esquires for conversation, stories, a Q&A and readings from his new book ‘Another Dead Soul’. Best known as The Skids and The Armoury Show frontman, Richard Jobson is also a celebrated author and the book will also be able to buy on the night.
Another Dead Soul is a reflection on the corruption of responsibility to an artist’s vulnerability, where art is a money-making tree that is shaken until nothing is left. Set as a series of dreamlike vignettes, memories overlap and collide as a manager is haunted by his actions.
Living in a parallel universe to the fans who buy the music and attend the shows, his drug-addled personality finds a natural home in a world of private planes, five-star hotel suites and Russian billionaires parties. He deceives, abuses, extorts, and makes people disappear who might get in the way of his vision. At the heart of that vision is him: the deal-maker, the untouchable king of all he surveys. A combination of moral decrepitude and nihilism as a lifestyle, leads him on a downward spiral of paranoia and fear.
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
Permanent exhibition: Discover the amazing story of a unique religious community
Panacea Museum, 11 Newnham Rd, Bedford MK40 3NX
11am – 5pm (last entry 4.30) Thursday – Sunday | From 3 October: Thursday- Saturday – 10am – 4pm (last entry 3.30)
Free entry
This fascinating hidden gem of a museum tells the story of the Panacea Society – a Christian group formed in the early twentieth century who created their own ‘Garden of Eden’ in the centre of Bedford.
The Panacea Museum is located across several Victorian buildings that formed the community’s headquarters. It tells the story of the Panacea Society and other similar religious groups.
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
