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 Wednesday and is the only guide you need to find out what’s on and what’s happening across the Borough for the next 11 days.
The Bedford Clanger’s What’s On Guide is kindly sponsored by The Cellar Bar.
Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Theatre: Victorian Gothic
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: from £12
This is an anthology stage show based on a classic trio of nineteenth-century chillers – The Body-Snatcher, The Monkey’s Paw and Lot No 249. Dramatic story-telling in the theatre style at its best! Actor Jonathan Goodwin performs a show scripted by himself and co-directed with Gary Archer.
Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Karaoke: Drag karaoke and Bingo hosted by Drag Queen Fanny Burns
The Cellar Bar @ 8pm / bar opens at 7pm
Free entry
Guaranteed to be a very funny evening with Fanny Burns, her new home at The Cellar bar.
Joining us every month, drag queen Fanny Burns will bring her own spin on karaoke and bingo, it’s hilarious and good fun. The bingo cash jackpot has been well over £100. £2 per card of 6 tickets, meaning 6 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.
Make sure you’re there early enough to get drinks and bingo tickets. Bar opens at 7pm. This show contains adult humour and swearing and is strictly an over 18’s event.
Thursday, 30 January 2025
Live music: Karaoke
The Cellar Bar at 9pm / requests @ 8pm
Free entry
The ONLY place you need to be for karaoke on a Thursday night – The Cellar Bar on the High Street. Pure karaoke with over 50,000 songs to choose from.
Perform like a pro with the Cellar Bar’s professional lighting, sound and a proper stage, with the best-sounding performers and acoustics on the High Street. Sing with your friends using multiple microphones and, of course, the Cameo and Sarah Ellen hosting your night.
Thursday, 28 January 2025
Dancing: Planet Swing featuring The 251s
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, 31 January 2025
Children’s Storytelling: Exploring Animals with Kaye Leidoscope
The Place Theatre @ 10am
Tickets: Pay What You Can 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, 31 January 2025
Comedy: Shaparak Khorsandi: Scatterbrain
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £18
Having reassessed her life through the prism of an ADHD diagnosis in last year’s funny and moving memoir, one of Britain’s most beloved and most scatterbrained stand-ups lets you back into her mind (warning: it’s cluttered in there).
Among other things, this show will be a love letter to letter-writing, a trip back through her early years as a comic and woman-about-town, and a whirlwind tour of a chaotic, hilarious brain.
Friday, 31 January 2025
Live music: Anti-Nowhere League
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £20
An unmissable ‘all killer, no filler’ show from the band who are starting their 45th-anniversary celebrations at Esquires on the start of their own 35th anniversary.
Friday, 31 January 2025
Live music: New Classics
The Cellar Bar at 8.30pm / bar opens @ 6pm / Happy Hour @ 6pm – 9pm
Free entry
Hailing from Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, this five-piece band blends eras and genres to create an unforgettable musical experience.
Friday, 31 January 2025
Live music: Helen Lester
The Cellar Bar at 11pm / bar opens at 6pm / happy hour @ 6pm – 9pm
Free entry
Helen Lester is back, once again making quite an impact at the Cellar Bar! Performing a wide range of material from across the decades, Helen will blow you away with her powerful vocals and upbeat style. Expect a bit of everything from Motown, pop, disco, soul and more.
Saturday, 1 February 2025
Live music: CEREMONY 4.5
Bedford Esquires @ 2pm
Tickets: SOLD OUT
The first music all-dayer of the year at Esquire – and predictable it’s a sell-out.
Headliners Divorce plus Heartworms, TTSSFY, KYNSY and more… There may be some returns, so check with Esquires to see if you could be lucky.
Saturday, 1 February 2025
Live music: Soul Factory – Saturday Afternoon Chillout with DJ Rocky & Bobby
The Cellar Bar @ 3pm
Free entry
Head to the Cellar Bar for an afternoon of pure soul, funk, R&B, house, Motown & Northern Soul classics with Soul Factory.
Saturday, 1 February 2025
Community Theatre: From Scratch
The Place Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £10
From Scratch is Bedford’s very own short play scratch night, aiming to provide a platform for new and upcoming artists to share their work. Playwrights, directors and actors will have the opportunity to showcase their talents as as series of short plays is staged in the legendary Place Theatre.
It will be an evening of raucous fun with a line-up of brand-spanking new short plays to keep you entertained.
Saturday, 1 February 2025
Live music: Double header featuring Cameo & Five Five Six
The Cellar Bar at 8.30pm / bar opens at 6pm / happy hour @ 6pm – 9pm
Free entry.
They are back!
First up 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 to party.
If you’ve not seen Five Five Six at The Cellar Bar before, you are in for a treat, get ready for a great night of legendary rock tunes. The Cellar Bar literally rocks when these guys play!
Sunday, 2 February 2025
Poetry: Read Poets Society
The Eagle Bookshop @ 7pm
Tickets: Free but please book via theplacebedford.org.uk
Join the Swan Poetry Society for their monthly reading of poems and prose reflecting the season. This month’s theme is – Pipe Dreams.
Sunday, 2 February 2025
Jazz: Cong-Fusion & Gina Sedman
The Cellar Bar @ 4pm
Tickets: Free entry
The two-hour bottomless afternoon tea may have sold out, but you can still come along to enjoy an afternoon of jazz with Cong-Fusion.
Making their debut at The Cellar Bar, Cong-Fusion combines Afro-Cuban, Latin, funk, soul and jazz with the added bonus of Bedford-based Californian soul singer, Gina Sedman joining them.
Sunday, 2 February 2025
Dance music: Gilles Peterson presents Independent Venue Tour feat Oreglo
Bedford Esquires @ 4 – 8pm
Tickets: £20
Small independent venues are the lifeblood of the British music industry both as places where artists, bands and DJ’s can develop their craft but also as places where audiences can discover and develop musical bonds that can last a lifetime.
As part of a wider effort to shine a light on this vital part of our cultural landscape and celebrate it in all its diverse musical glory, DJ and broadcaster Gilles Peterson is going on the road for the first instalment of his Independent Venue Tour.
He will accompanied by the young, upcoming band Oreglo and book-ending the event with a DJ set.
Sunday, 2 February 2025
Live music: Cheap Thrill$ play the Sunday Afternoon Session
Bedford Esquires @ 5pm
Free entry
Female-fronted rock and blues covers featuring Bob Peters on keyboards.
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Live music: Tuesday lunchtime concert
St Paul’s church, St Paul’s Square @ 1pm
Free entry with retiring collection (suggested donation £5)
Changyu Yin is a pianist from Changsha, China with an impressive music resumé in competition, performance and recitals in China, Hong Kong and Europe.
His chosen programme is works by Scriabin and the piano suite ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ by Mussorgsky.
Free with a retiring collection.
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Film: Bedford Film Society presents – Didi
The University of Bedford, Polhill Avenue @ 7.30pm
Tickets: members free / £5/day guest
In 2008, during the last month of summer, before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mum.
Wednesday, 5 February 2025
Comedy: The Cellar Bar Comedy Club with headliner Tadiwa Mahlunge
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.
As always, there are four quality acts and this month’s headliner is Tadiwa Mahlunge.
Billed as “one of the country’s top new comedy acts” by The York Press, he has performed at, among others, Latitude, Greenman, and Greenwich Comedy Festivals – alongside the biggest names in comedy – and has provided tour support for Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Jessica Fostekew, and TV warm-up for Desiree Birch’s Amazon Prime special.
As seen on BBC 1, BBC 2, Dave, Comedy Central, UTV, Comic Relief and heard on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Northampton and BBC Sounds – Tadiwa Mahlunge has established himself as one of comedy’s hottest prospects. As such, he featured on the 2022 Pleasance Comedy Reserve at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
️️️️ ‘An impressively accomplished and infectiously funny debut hour, Tadiwa Mahlunge is a name you’ll want to watch out for’ – The Skinny
Hosted, as always, by Mr Sparkly Boots himself, Simon Hall.
Thursday, 6 February 2025
Exhibition: Vessels – Mother and Daughter
The Panacea Museum, 11, Newnham Road, MK40 3NX @ 10am – 4pm
Free entry
To mark the Spring reopening of the Panacea Museum, a new exhibition is launching, featuring the work of Bedford-based mother and daughter artists, Jacqui and Lauren Saunders-Love.
Entitled Vessels – Mother and Daughter, the duo have responded to the Panacea story and the relationship between Mabel and Dilys Barltrop. Lauren has spent many hours creating photographic art inspired by the museum’s collections, whilst Jacqui has made her signature intricate paper sculptures reflecting the society’s buildings. There will be associated talks and events along with the exhibition, with details on the Museum’s website.
The museum is open Thursday to Saturday.
Thursday, 6 February 2025
Art and culture: The Higgins Highlights Tour
The Higgins, Bedford, Castle Lane @ 11.15am – 12.15pm
Tickets: £6.85 / Concessions £5.50 / booking essential
An introductory tour of the highlights of The Higgins Bedford featuring Bedford’s heritage.
To book a place call the Box Office on 01234 718044 (open Tues – Sat 10am – 4pm) or visit The Higgins’ website.
Thursday, 6 February 2025
Creativity: Bedford Producer Hub Webinar: Budgeting and Fundraising
Online @ 5pm – 6pm
Free
This webinar, bought to you by Bedford Creative Arts in partnership with 1Degree East, serves as a basic guide to setting and monitoring a budget for a creative arts project.
The webinar will recommend a useful budget template and help you understand the terminology and principles of good budget management. It will also include an introduction to different forms of income generation and signpost sources of further information about fundraising.
Booking link here
Thursday, 6 & Friday, 7 February 2025
Theatre: Kin
The Place Theatre @ 7.30 pm
Tickets: from £10
Two estranged sisters meet after twenty years and in a remote cottage, over a single night they bury the hatchet. As their dying father lies in the room next door they’re forced to confront who they were and who they’ve become. When the only person they have left in common disappears, is their relationship worth saving?
This darkly comic tale examines how a sibling can be both your best friend and your worst enemy. And asks the question: how can you forgive the past when you can’t even agree what it looks like?
Thursday, 6 February 2025
Dancing: Planet Swing featuring Six Feet Apart
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.
Thursday, 6 February 2025
Live music: Irish Folk Night
The Castle, 17 Newnham Street @ 8.30pm
Free entry
A fun evening guaranteed of foot-tapping Irish music to sing along to.
Friday, 7 February 2025
Comedy: Matt Forde: End of an Era Tour
The Quarry Theatre @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £17.50
Finally, the UK has a new government. That can only mean one thing: new people to take the piss out of. Leading political comedian and satirist Matt Forde (British Scandal, Spitting Image, The Last Leg) makes this his personal mission.
Friday, 7 February 2025
Live music: Jarvis Cocker B2B Alexis Taylor + The Grubby Mitts + Simon Munnery
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
SOLD OUT
Jarvis Cocker and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor will play a special back-to-back DJ set at Esquires to raise funds for three charities.
The special event is part of Bedford Esquires’ 35th-anniversary celebrations and the money raised will be shared between S.O.B.S (Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide), CHUMS (Supporting Mental Health Improving Lives), and Samaritans.
Also on the bill are Bedford’s art-pop ensemble, The Grubby Mitts, performing live with their extended lineup including a full brass section.
Completing the lineup is comedian Simon Munnery (“One of the all-time greatest stand-ups” – Stewart Lee). Simon has performed – at the last count – at thirty-eight Edinburgh Festivals and is a regular at our very own Bedfringe.
He has collaborated with Andy Holden and the Grubby Mitts and will open the night with a short set of jokes and aphorisms.
Friday, 7 February 2025
Live music: Highstone
The Cellar Bar @ 8.30pm / bar opens @ 6pm / Happy Hour @ 6pm – 9pm
Free entry
Head to the Cellar Bar for Highstone’s mix of 70’s and 80’s dance music mixed with a good set of sing-along hits from Stevie Wonder, The Bee Gees, Chic, The Temptations, Kool & The Gang, Luther Vandross, Earth Wind & Fire, Santana and more.
Or if artists like Van Morrison, The Eagles, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Mavericks and Wilson Pickett are more your style, you’re in the right place.
Saturday, 8 February 2025
Walking: North Bedfordshire Ramblers’ weekly walk
Morning walk: St Leonard’s Church car park, Old Warden, SG18 9HD @ 10am
A 12-mile walk over Greensand Ridge, down to Cople and Northill and the Shuttleworth Estate.
Please bring a drink, snack or lunch as the group always stops for a break. Check out the North Bedfordshire Ramblers’ excellent website for further information.
Saturday, 8 February 2025
Children’s Theatre: Creation – the Bubble Show
The Quarry Theatre @ 2pm
Tickets: from £12.50
Don’t miss this mesmerizing family experience which will leave you spellbound. Book your tickets today and enter an enchanted realm where dreams do come true—through the wonder and joy of bubbles!
Saturday, 8 February 2025
Live music: Mad Dog Mcrea
Bedford Esquires @ 7.30pm
Tickets: £20
Mad Dog Mcrea blend a unique mixture of folk rock, pop, gypsy jazz, bluegrass and ‘shake your ass’ music, from self-penned songs of adventure, drinking, love and life, to traditional songs of gypsies, fairies, legless pirates and black flies.
In constant demand and having played just about every festival and two-bit, jibe-arsed dive in Christendom, Mad Dog Mcrea are, in every sense of the word, a live, band.
Matched with the unshakable dedication of their massive and “loyal-to-the-hilt”, fan base – Mad Dog Mcrea are more than just a very popular, festival act – with five albums under their belts, they are serious and acclaimed recording artists too. December 2019 saw Mad Dog Mcrea release a five-track EP titled ‘It’s a Sign’.
Saturday, 8 February 2025
Live Music: Generation 5pan
The Cellar Bar @ 8.30pm / bar opens at 6pm / Happy Hour until 9pm / 3am close
Free entry
We’re delighted to welcome Generation 5pan back to The Cellar Bar. Playing a mix of Rock/pop & blues covers from the 50’s to modern day, these guys know how to rock a venue and we’re looking forward to them rocking The Cellar Bar.
Sunday, 9 February 2025
Live Music: Daytime disco for grown-ups
The Cellar Bar @ 3pm
Free entry
This Sunday afternoon, The Cellar Bar Daytime Disco returns. Dance and sing along to some of the greatest hits ever with the perfect excuse to get out on a Sunday afternoon. Why wait for the evening to have fun? And it’s all free, no tickets required.
Indulge in an afternoon filled with nostalgic tunes, singalongs, and a great atmosphere. The glitterball will be up and the neon outfits on. Anyone who dresses up will get a free shot from the bar. Free glow sticks and props too!
Sunday, 9 February 2025
Live music: The Vinyl Frontier play the Sunday Afternoon Session
Bedford Esquires @ 5pm – 7pm
Free entry
Post Punk and New Wave Covers from the 70’s & 80’s.
At the Panacea Museum
Permanent exhibition: Discover the amazing story of a unique religious community
Panacea Museum, 11 Newnham Rd, Bedford MK40 3NX @ 10am – 4pm (Thursday – Saturday)
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.
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
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
