Cheltenham Festivals blog

Announcing… Brian Cox

5 days
2 hours ago

Brian Cox cr Vincent Connare

Cheltenham Science Festival welcomes two Guest Directors

Professor of Particle Physics, BBC science specialist and one-time top 10 rock star, Brian Cox has made time in his busy schedule to take on the role of Guest Director at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival 2010. We are thrilled to work with him, to pick his incredible brain and programme some truly diverse and must-see events for you at this year’s Festival.

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We’ve tagged this post with , , , on Thursday 4 February 2010.


Don’t miss out… become a Member before 11 February

6 days
23 hours ago

Cheltenham Festivals Members can book their Jazz Festival tickets a whole week before general booking opens with a very special priority booking period from 15–21 February. Only Members who enrol before 11 February will be able to book during the first two days of priority booking. So join today, and enjoy all the fun of the Festival.

Becoming a Member is a great way to get the best seats in the house as well as fantastic discounts. The full Jazz Festival programme will be announced online on Thursday 11 February, but just a few of the sure-to-sell-out highlights include…

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We’ve tagged this post with , on Tuesday 2 February 2010.


Tenors and Basses — Your Festival Chorus Needs You!

1 week
3 days ago

Following the success of the Festival Chorus’s Carmina Burana at the 2008 Festival, the chorus will be returning on Saturday 17 July at Cheltenham Town Hall for a celebratory evening of opera choruses and arias with Alfie Boe, the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Gareth Hancock.

Although we have plenty of interest from women — Alfie Boe beware — we still need more tenors and basses! Please visit our Festival Chorus web page for more info.

We’ve tagged this post with , , on Friday 29 January 2010.


Exclusive video preview: Festival Directors’ Picks

2 weeks
6 days ago

The year’s only just begun, but we’re already excited about what promises to be one of the best years of Cheltenham Festivals yet.

For the first time this year, we’ve persuaded our Festival Directors to take some time out of their busy schedules to reveal their pick of the year’s events.

Be the first to book and save £££s with Membership.

Jazz Directors’ Picks

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Music Directors’ Picks

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We’ve tagged this post with , , , , , , , on Tuesday 19 January 2010.


Win dinner for two at one of Cheltenham’s top restaurants …with Cheltenham Festivals Membership

3 weeks ago

Curry Corner

Join the Cheltenham Festivals Membership Scheme before Sunday 31 January 2010 and you will automatically be entered into a draw to win a fabulous feast for two at Cheltenham’s Curry Corner restaurant.

Recently featured as a ‘Best Local Indian Restaurant in Britain’ finalist on Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word and winner of Cotswold Life’s ‘Restaurant of the Year’ 2008, Curry Corner is Cheltenham’s leading Indian Restaurant. Run by the Krori family since 1977, Curry Corner is the oldest Bangladeshi restaurant in the country and hotly recommended by festival favourite Michael Palin, who describes the food as ‘the best curry from pole to pole.’

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We’ve tagged this post with , on Monday 18 January 2010.


The theme for the 2010 Science Festival…

3 weeks
6 days ago

Decadence

From Sharon Bishop
Science Festival Executive Director

Decadence is a provocative word: luxurious, sensuous and self-indulgent, a celebration of the good things in life but redolent of moral and social decline.

Your opinion of what is decadent is determined by your own personal values and the society in which you live. Ernest Hemingway said: ‘Decadence is a difficult word to use since it has become little more than a term of abuse applied by critics to anything they do not yet understand or which seems to differ from their moral concepts.’

Our ideas of decadence have changed through the ages

Take travel: the bicycle was once a privilege reserved only for the rich, allowing them to get from A to B at such speeds that they were afraid of developing ‘bicycle face’; nowadays, with the unveiling of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two, space tourism is the ultimate in decadent travel. And, whilst our eyes and minds have been opened by the new experiences that travel permits, climate change has forced us to consider how we balance our wanderlust with its impact on the planet.

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We’ve tagged this post with , on Tuesday 12 January 2010.


Jazz It Up! 2010, the story so far…

4 weeks ago

Jazz It Up! 2009

Jazz It Up! is a musical collaboration between jazz musician Sid Peacock, ten Gloucestershire school jazz bands and Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

Jazz It Up! 2010 has got off to a tremendous start. This year’s theme is ‘Heaven and Hell’, drawing on the roots of jazz music in gospel and blues. Ten Gloucestershire schools have had their first rehearsal session with Sid Peacock where they saw their arrangement for the first time and also worked on some improvisation techniques.

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We’ve tagged this post with , , , on Monday 11 January 2010.


Stewart Lee and free-jazz

1 month ago

Stewart Lee

Following his fantastic win on Celebrity Mastermind — where he specialised on British avant-garde guitarist Derek Bailey — we are excited to announce that comedian Stewart Lee will be joining us at the 2010 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, to explore the world of improvised jazz.

In collaboration with our artistic director Tony Dudley-Evans, Stewart is curating a special three night series, which will include performances by British free-jazz legend Evan Parker, drummer Mark Sanders, bassist John Edwards, rising star of the New York scene trumpeter Peter Evans and a special Xposed Club Night featuring Chris Cundy.

We’ve tagged this post with , , , on Tuesday 5 January 2010.


The Jazz on 3 round-up for 2009

1 month
2 weeks ago

Listen again, as Jez Nelson was joined by a panel of the UK’s leading jazz critics to play selections from their favourite album releases of 2009. The first track was Dave Douglas recorded live at Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the last track Paul Dunmall playing bagpipes at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.

Visit the BBC Radio 3 website and listen again
(link valid for seven days)

We’ve tagged this post with , , , on Tuesday 22 December 2009.


Heston Blumenthal announced as Guest Director for Science 2010!

1 month
3 weeks ago

Heston Blumenthal

We have been very busy at Festival HQ making plans for The Times Cheltenham Science Festival 2010. We are delighted to announce that Chef and TV personality Heston Blumenthal will be joining next year’s line up — as Guest Director! Famous for his eccentric dishes including snail porridge and parsnip cereal, the culinary alchemist will be programming some truly unique festival events.

His dedication and research into exploring the science of food and discovering innovative styles of cooking has earned him international success. His restaurant, The Fat Duck in Bray has won numerous awards, and in 2006 he was awarded an OBE for his contribution to British Gastronomy.

Heston is a huge supporter of The Times Cheltenham Science Festival and has made four appearances since the Science Festival was born eight years ago. Watch this space — we’ll be announcing more news about his Guest Director role very soon.

We’ve tagged this post with , , on Thursday 17 December 2009.