As the Great Big Green Week kicks off, check out all their events plus our usual cultural delights including live music, comedy, theatre, culture and more.
Enjoy!
Thursday 22 September 2022
Music: That’s All Folk: Will Page
The Place Theatre @ 8pm
Tickets: £13
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Thursday 22 September 2022
Comedy: British Comedian of the Year
The Quarry Theatre @ 8pm
Tickets: £12
This will be a special show where some of the UK’s best acts do their best 10-minute sets in the hope of going through to the final for the chance to win the mega cash prize! The standard of entrant has been outstanding, with established headliners putting themselves forward and some of the most exciting upcoming talent. The quality will be sky high.
Judging at each heat will be by the audience and an industry expert.
Andy Stedman will host the show.
Film: Grease (1978)
The Place Theatre @ 7pm
Tickets: £5
In this musical classic, high school student Danny meets Sandy over the summer holiday and they fall in love. When the holiday is over he expects never to see her again. But after boasting of his conquest to his friends, he discovers that she has been transferred to his school.
Packed with classic songs including ‘Summer Lovin’, ‘Greased Lightning’, “You’re the One That I Want’ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’ the film is a joy from beginning to end.
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Friday 23 September 2022
Live music: The Outcasts
Bedford Esquires @ 8pm
Classic 1977 punk band from Belfast playing a selection of their great tunes. Originally on the iconic Good Vibrations label. The band are still putting new releases.
Friday 23 September 2022
Comedy: Arthur Smith: Laughter, Music, Thoughts & the Odd Poem
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £15
Join comedian, writer, broadcaster and all-round British institution, Arthur Smith, and bask in an evening of laughter and off-the-wall humour with one of the ‘alternative comedians’ who shook up the world of light entertainment in the nineteen eighties and nineties.
Expect an evening of sublime playfulness, crammed with jokes, anecdotes, short stories, poems, songs (at least 1 from Leonard Cohen) and readings from his memoirs” My Name is Daphne Fairfax” which has won praise from literary critics. He will also tell the story of his late father PC Syd Smith, survivor of Colditz POW camp and London copper.
Saturday 24 September – 2 October 2022
Environment: Great Big Green Week Bedford
Throughout the town
Take part in events throughout the town as part of the nationwide Great Big Green Week.
Full details on their website. Find an event, workshop, talk or activity near you.
Saturday 24 September 2022
Community: Great Big Green Week: Bedford Repair Cafe
The Place Theatre from 10am
Tickets: Free (booking essential)
Got torn clothes, broken electricals, toys and household items? Wish you could fix them and avoid landfill?
The Bedford Repair Cafe volunteers are back to help you fix your broken stuff. Bring your broken bikes, clothes, sewing machines, garden equipment, and electricals, or come along to learn more about repair and maintenance.
As part of Great Big Green Week the team at The Place Bedford will be interviewing the amazing volunteers at Bedford Repair Cafe to uncover some useful tips & tricks that you can do yourselves at home! Stay to watch our demos whilst your stuff gets fixed.
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Saturday 24 September 2022
Environment: Great Big Green Week Flower Flash
Silver Square (outside Body Shop) @ 9am – 4pm
Free
Want to get your hands on a free bunch of locally grown flowers and some free seeds? Care about the environment? Want to find out more about sustainability in the cut flower industry?
Then you need to get down to Bedford Town Centre on Saturday, where local cut flower growers and florists will be kicking off Great Big green Week in Bedford, by creating a stunning floral extravaganza of locally grown blooms in Bedford’s first-ever ‘Flower Flash’ based around Bedford…
Theatre: These Hills are Ours
The Place Theatre @7.30pm
Tickets: Pay What You can from £8
Do you ever want to run away from it all? Dan and Boff did exactly that: they ran a series of routes from the centre of the city in which they found themselves, to the top of the peak overlooking that city. But what are we really running from?
In story and in song, These Hills Are Ours is the story of what they found out on those journeys. It’s about escaping it all by running to wild places. Escaping the city, escaping your past, escaping the restrictions of upbringing or class or politics. It’s a celebration of wild places and our freedom to roam them.
Saturday 24 September 2022
Live music: Affleck’s Palace + Pastel + Vega Rally
Bedford Esquires @ 7pm
Tickets: £15
The band’s last two singles ‘This City Is Burning Alive’ & ‘Carpe Diem’ have been playlists on BBC6music.
Saturday 24 September 2022
Live music: Blaze Bayley
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £18
Having started his professional music career in Wolfsbane, Blaze Bayley was elevated to global heights when he joined Iron Maiden between 1994 and 1999.
Since leaving Iron Maiden, Blaze embarked on a solo career, during which he has released eleven full-length studio albums, plus live albums, live DVDs and compilations. He’s also enjoyed an enviable reputation as one of the hardest working artists touring around.
In 2015 Blaze celebrated the 15th anniversary of his first solo release “Silicon Messiah” and then saw a significant worldwide resurgence of interest in his career, not least with the release of the “Infinite Entanglement” trilogy during the period 2016 to 2018.
Sunday 25 September 2022
Great Big Green Weekend: Community Litter Pick
Starting at the Kiosk in Russell Park @ 11am – 1pm
Free to attend but booking at Eventbrite essential
As part of the Great Big Green Weekend, everyone’s invited to take part in a clean up near the embankment area, starting from The Kiosk in Russell Park and finishing near Longholme Café .
Equipment is provided, however, if you have your own equipment (litter pickers etc), please do let the organisers know when prompted by the booking page on EventBrite.
Sunday 25 September 2022
Live music: The Workshop Boys play the Sunday Afternoon Session
Bedford Esquires @ 5pm
Free entry
Formed by former members of Los Marbles and Cutting Out, The Workshop Boys have fast become one of Bedford’s best-loved bar bands.
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Monday 26 September 2022
Great Big Green Week Workshop: Plastic Free Bedford: Alternatives to Single Use Plastic
The Place Bedford @ 7.30pm
Tickets: Free
Monday 26 September 2022
Film: Bedford Film Society present The Outfit
Main Theatre, University of Bedfordshire, Polhilll Avenue @ 7.30pm
Tickets: Season membership £69/day membership £5/free parking
From the Academy Award-winning writer of The Imitation Game (Graham Moore) comes The Outfit, a gripping and masterful psychological thriller in which an expert tailor (Academy Award winner Mark Rylance) must outwit a dangerous group of mobsters in order to survive a fateful night.
Tuesday 27 September – Saturday 1 October 2022
Community Theatre: Jane Eyre
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £10
Tuesday 27 September 2022
Live music: Lunchtime concerts
St Paul’s Church @ 1pm
Free entry with a retiring collection (suggested £5) in aid of church funds
This week’s lunchtime concert at St Paul’s church, Bedford features Nataly Ganina, Piano. Free with retiring collection.
Thursday 29 September 2022
Great Big Green Week Workshop: Reusable Cloth Menstrual Pad Chat/Q&A
The Place Theatre @ 7pm
Tickets: Free
Are you curious about switching to cloth but wouldn’t know where to start? Let’s have a relaxed and informal chat about cloth pads and answer those questions
Jolene, local pad maker from Finch&Bear (and also our Plastic Free Periods Coordinator!) will cover topics such as the benefits, how to start and choosing size and absorbencies.
Thursday 29 September 2022
Theatre: The Event
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £12.50
A man stands alone on stage in a pool of light and wittily deconstructs the theatrical experience – his part, and ours – inside the theatre and in the real world… are we on our own private stages? Are we a part of what’s happening or merely watching? Apart.
The Event is a very funny and thought-provoking journey through the fourth wall of the theatre and into the vast, unseen territory that lies right before our eyes. A must-see for fans of theatre and a Fringe First winner at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Friday 30 September 2022
Comedy: Hal Cruttenden: It’s Best You Hear It from Me
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £19
After 21 years and 224 days Hal’s back being single. But it’s all going to be fine. Instead of getting the therapy he clearly needs, he’s made a cracking show about it. He’s lost enough weight to almost get his wedding ring off and, while he may be flying solo, he’s far from alone; he’s got his grown-up daughters, his dogs and his divorce lawyer.
The fickle finger of fate has turned Hal’s life upside down but he’s sticking a finger right back at it.
Saturday 1 October 2022
Comedy: Comedy Club for Kids
The Quarry Theatre @ 2pm
Tickets: from £5
Since 2005, the Comedy Club 4 Kids has been getting the best stand-ups and sketch acts from the international circuit to do their thing for an audience of children and their families… but without the rude bits!
It’s just like a normal comedy club, but it’s on in the day, kids are allowed in, and thus there is a higher than usual chance of heckles like “why is that your face!?”
Saturday 1 October 2022:
Great Big Green Week: Fun Palaces
The Higgins Bedford @ 11am – 4pm
Free entry
Great Big Green Fun Palaces brings together two brilliant national events – the Great Big Green Week and Fun Palaces.
Between 11am and 4pm enjoy family-friendly hands-on activities including:
- animal encounters
- find out more about our local wildlife
- how to support biodiversity
- what geology can tell us about climate
Find some homegrown bargains for your garden at the plants stall and meet local horticulturist Becky Almond, who will be able to help with your gardening questions.
Places are limited for the close-up animal encounters. Sessions will be at 11.30am and 1.30pm. To book a place or for more information email gemma.hutton@bedford.gov.uk
Saturday 1 October 2022
Live music: The Rocket Man – a tribute to Sir Elton John
Bedford Corn Exchange @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £25
Head to the Corn Exchange to join Jimmy Love (The Rocket Man) and his amazing live band as they take you down the Yellow Brick Road with two hours of glorious Elton hits, including, Saturday Nights Alright, Crocodile Rock, I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues, Daniel, I’m Still Standing, Philadelphia Freedom, Your Song and many many more.
With dazzling costumes, stunning vocals and sensational piano solos, you’ll be taken on a journey through Elton’s life and career, the highs and the lows with many a laugh brought to life, live on stage. This show has it all!
Sunday 2 October 2022
National Theatre Live: Prime Facie
The Quarry Theatre @ 2pm
Tickets: from £12.50
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) makes her West End debut in the UK premiere of Suzie Miller’s award-winning play.
Tessa is a young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from working-class origins to be at the top of her game; defending; cross-examining and winning.
An unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge. Prima Facie takes us to the heart of where emotion and experience collide with the rules of the game.
Justin Martin directs this solo tour de force, captured live from the intimate Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End.
Sunday 2 October 2022
Poetry: Read Poets Society
The Eagle Book Shop @ 7pm
Tickets: Free
Join the Read Poets Society for an evening of avant-garde subversion with readings from Red Poets at The Eagle Book Shop in St Peters Street, MK40 2NN.
Sunday 2 October 2022
Live music: Regressive Left + Phantom Isle
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £8
Esquires is super stoked to announce that one of their favourite new bands, Regressive Left is heading to Bedford as part of their headline UK tour in October!
Last seen here blowing everyone away at the ‘Ceremony’ all-dayer in August 2021, we’ve been waiting a wee while for them to return.
Coming soon…
From 15 October 2022
Some of the most well-loved British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries feature in a new exhibition at the Higgins Bedford on Castle Lane this autumn.
From Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden and Paul Nash to Elisabeth Frink, David Hockney and Lucian Freud, the exhibition brings together some of the biggest names in British art, and explores its history since the 20th century.
Changing Times: A Century of Modern British Art is the first large-scale exhibition since the post-pandemic reopening of The Higgins Bedford.
Read more: David Hockney and Lucian Freud shine in new Higgins autumn exhibition
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.
Until October 2022
Exhibition: Body & Soul
The Higgins Bedford
Free entry
Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Woman with a Brooch (Madonna), 1903 © The Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery
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 Lichtenstein, Lucian Freud and Chila Burman.
Theatre highlights by Paula Walker
