Hockley's winning theatre festival...
The Font Festival
The best of Nottingham’s theatre will be taking the streets of Hockley by storm in this year’s Font Festival. Doing what it ses on the tin, each of the performances are categorised as bold, italic, or underlined depending on whether they’re a finished production, a work in progress, or ‘one to watch’. Local faves Sheep Soup will be presenting an extract of their brand spankin’ sketch show, The Invention of Acting, and the funniest feminists on the block, Major Labia, are ready to dazzle all with their vagina-themed humour. If that hasn’t properly tickled the pickle, then there’s sommat wrong with you. The event ties in with the citywide NEAT16 festival, and will provide all the theatrical juice your summer needs.
Wednesday 25 - Tuesday 31 May, suggested donation £6-£8, The Corner and The Lofthouse
Full of bubbles an' knowledge...
Pint of Science Festival
Science meets cider across Nottingham this week, and if you ask us, it’s a match made in heaven. The Pint of Science festival offers a huge range of talks on science-based topics, from the ‘Future of Food’ to ‘Neuroscience 101.’ Good luck keeping your concentration though, all of these sessions are taking place in your favourite watering holes around the city. Sounds a bit counterintuitive, but any excuse for a bev, ey? Make sure you have a load of scran before you go, to make sure your belly can soak up all the bubbles, and your brain can digest all the facts. It promises to be both an engaging and intoxicating event.
Monday 23 - Wednesday 25 May, £4, Missoula, Spanky Van Dkye’s, Rough Trade and Canal House
#QueenBey
The Rebirth of the Protest Song in the Era of #BlackLivesMatter
The third of four talks from the American Music Listening Group is to be held at the proper intellectual ‘Tempreh. The University of Nottingham’s Nick Heffernan will be hosting a session on the Rebirth of the Protest Song in the Black Lives Matter Era, and whether the protest song is enjoying a well deserved comeback. There’s no need to register for this event, and no need to know anything about music, anyone who enjoys listening to, and discussing music is welcome to join the conversation. There’s a chance there’ll be a bit of Beyoncé in there as well, so pop your head round the corner and you might learn sommat. Plus, it’s free, so it’s basically rude not to.
Thursday 26 May, 6.30pm, free, Nottingham Contemporary
What bank holidays were made for...
The Backyard Beer Festival
By the powers that be, you’ve been granted an extra day off work. What’ll you do with it, we wonder? Perhaps you’ll take the kids to the park, or finally get round to clearing out the shed? Nope. Just like the millions of Brits that have come before you, you’ll spend the entire weekend getting utterly trollied, as is practically tradition. This time round, get yersens over to The Lion at Basford for their Backyard Beer Festival. The pub will be offering over thirty cask and craft beers, live music, a barbecue and music quiz. It’s all for a good cause too; the pub is raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity in honour of the notorious ‘Dancing Pete.’ So rock up and rock out for the local legend.
Friday 27 - Monday 30 May, The Lion at Basford
For a good cause, duck...
Never Have I Everest Zine Fair
Students at NTU are after your loose change this week. But no fear, it’s all for a good cause. The young whipper snappers are trying to raise money for a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest in aid of the charity, Childreach International, who provide children in Africa and Asia with better healthcare, education, and safer community to grow up in. The less hip among us are probably wondering what a ‘Zine Fair’ is. It’s a Fanzine fair, so a magazine written for, and by fans. The fair’s offerings include a zine making workshop, zine stalls, and a live DJ. If you’ve never been to a zine fair, a charity event’s a good place to start, so gi’ it a go, duck.
Saturday 28 May, 12pm, free, Rough Trade
City Bird EP launch...
Bud EP Launch
The debut EP from Bud is about to fly into our cerebral cortex and make itself proper at home. City Bird is set to take the citeh by storm, complete with a live band to boot. And that live band contains none other than our designer, Raph Achache, so if that don’t give you enough of a reason to get down and have a goose, we dunno what will. Support on the night comes in the form of Notts faves, Kane Ashmore and Joshua Crofts from Unknown Era, who have taken it upon themselves to perform as a duo. Tickets will only set you back a fiver, and a copy of the EP comes included in the ticket price. Winner. You can collect both from the NVA itself, or buy ‘em online. If you were kind enough to support Bud’s Kickstarter campaign, your entry won’t cost a penny.
Saturday 28 May, 8pm, £5, National Videogame Arcade
Join up them dots...
Dot to Dot
Like the grazed knees of your childhood, the plaster of sleepy winter is about to be unceremoniously ripped from the city of Nottingham, as festival season kicks off with the incredible venue-hopping masterpiece that is Dot to Dot. If the thought of pitching a tent in a muckeh field a million miles away from the warmth of your sofa knocks the wind right out of your sails, then this city-wide musical love-in was practically invented just for you. This year, indie legends Mystery Jets, The Temper Trap and Augustines will be headlining venues including Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth and Bodega. NME’s best new artist Rat Boy will be on hand to provide his Jamie T-esque ditties, and local act Crosa Rosa will deliver their kick-in-the-teeth garage rock for what will more than likely be a right rowdy crowd. It might be advisable to book the next day off work.
Sunday 29 May, 12pm till late, £25, various venues
Where you'll go, nobody knows...
The Armchair Traveller
The Nottingham Black Archive is offering a whistle stop walking tour of the Black presence in NG7. From the first generation of Caribbean’s to settle in Notts in the 1950s, the Nottingham community will share their stories throughout time to the present day, in a range of forms: from poetry and music to film and drama. The cultural adventure wants to inform communities about the tales that are on their doorstep, and also gives you the opportunity to get to know your area a bit better. The meeting point and route are yet to be confirmed, so keep an eye out online for further information. If you can’t find them, you’re only ten minutes from home anyway, at least it got you out the house.
Sunday 29 May, free entry, meeting point and route tbc
Gerrit dahn yer...
Great Food and Drink Festival
The Great Food and Drink Festival returns to Nottingham Castle over the Bank Holiday weekend by popular demand. Following last year’s huge success, the event will again offer a fantastic array of food and drinks, and cookery demos from top chefs. Unfortunately we couldn’t get out hands on Mary Berreh, so the confirmed line up so far includes Tom Kerridge of the Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen, (so we’d say he’s pretty good) and champion of the Great British Bake-Off, Nadiya Hussain, we all remember that ‘Very British Wedding Cake.’ There’s food, there’s drink, and there’s a playpark for the kids, what’s not to love?
Starts Sunday 29 May, £8/£10, Nottingham Castle
For the full motherload of everything else going on this week check out our comprehensiveNottingham events listings.
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