44 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Festivals Ludlow Fringe Festival Various locations in and around Ludlow, South Shropshire, Fri 21 - Sun 30 June For many years the Ludlow Festival - with its major outdoor Shakespeare productions - dominated the summer entertainment scene in the small South Shropshire town. So there was much sadness last autumn when it was announced that the festival, in its usual format, would be no more. But from the ashes have risen two new festivals - The Ludlow Arts Festival and the Ludlow Fringe. While the main festival takes place within the confines of the castle walls, the fringe has an eclectic programme of events at smaller, more intimate locations around the town. But that doesn’t mean to say its line-up is any less impressive. Nine days of entertainment will include big names from the comedy circuit such as Lucy Porter, Joe Lycett, Gary Delaney and Alfie Moore, and musical contributions from Steve Gibbons, Blazin’ Fiddles and jazz singer Sarah Moule. An assortment of activities for younger visitors, exhibitions for art lovers and poetry workshops for budding poets also feature in the festival line-up. Joe Lycett Upton International Jazz Festival Various locations around Upton on Severn, Worcestershire, Fri 28 - Sun 30 June Featuring more than sixty artists, riverboat shuffles, a festival and mardi gras parades, this year’s Upton jazz festival has the makings of yet another fine event. Now in its twenty-eighth year, this annual offering brings together trad and modern jazz, jive and swing, Dixieland, dance, rhythm’n’blues and boogie woogie, in the process attracting artists from all over the world to the delightful town of Upton-on-Severn. Names on 2013’s star-studded bill include gypsy jazz king Remi Harris, legendary clarinettist Pete Allen, and trumpeter Enrico Tomasso, who’s worked with Soft Cell, Bryan Ferry and Clare Teal. Bass Festival Various locations around Birmingham, Tues 11 - Sun 30 June The only Black music and arts festival which commissions new work every year, Bass is one of Birmingham’s most popular independent events. Organisers are hoping that this year’s happening will attract in excess of twelve thousand people. Soul is the focus for 2013, with audiences being promised powerful performances from Terri Walker, Ms D, Shakka, KOF and Monique. Neo-Soul sensation Bilal is booked to perform at an end-offestival concert at the Hare & Hounds pub in Kings Heath (30 June). Updates and news will be provided throughout the festival courtesy of BASS FM, which - run by young volunteers and held at Ormiston Academy - goes live on 87.7fm on 2 June. Check out more about Bilal on page 17. Download Festival Donington Park, Castle Donington, Derby, Fri 14 - Sun 16 June Terri Walker Slipknot Seen as the spiritual home of rock, Donington Park has played host to this major festival for the last ten years. Organised by Live Nation, Download regularly attracts the creme de la creme of rock, heavy metal and punk - and 2013 is no exception. After a three-year absence, American heavyweights Slipknot return to headline on the Friday evening, while Donington Park veterans Iron Maiden take over the top slot the following night. German industrial metal band Rammstein close the festival on the Sunday evening. Queens Of The Stone Age, Motorhead, Gaslight Anthem and Thirty Seconds To Mars also feature amongst the impressive line-up. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 45