Catch a performance at the Westbury Festival

THE WESTBURY Festival is in full swing and there’s still time to go to one of the 40+ events going on throughout the town. 

Among the events still to come are the drop-in session with BBC’s Antiques Roadshow’s own Marc Allum, who will be at All Saints Church on Thursday 29th September from 1pm to 5pm (£2.50 per item to be examined), a variety of different lunchtime concerts at All Saints Church throughout the festival, a performance of Bratton Silver Band called ‘The Lost City of Imber’ at Holy Trinity Church on Friday 30th September at 7.35pm and a Heritage Walk where local historian Sally Hendry will take you on a tour of the 15 pubs that used to thrive in Westbury. 

There will also be an evening with the historian, adventure and filmmaker Alex Bescoby at The Laverton on Saturday 1st October, 8pm to 10pm (cost £10) who will be telling stories about some of his adventures. Alex’s book, The Last Overland, which details his epic adventure on the 1955 Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore will be published on Thursday 29th September and will coincide with a four-part documentary series airing on All 4 this autumn. 

TV archaeologist Julian Richards will also be giving a talk called, ‘A Career in Ruins’ on Tuesday 4th October at 7.30pm at The Laverton (cost is £7). In this lively talk, during which he will demonstrate the art of shovelling, Julian will explore some of his career highlights and explain his lifelong hatred of chemical toilets. 

For music lovers, catch a performance of Irish, Scottish, Appalachian folk band, Crossing the Rockies, on Thursday 6th October at All Saints Church at 1pm. Don’t miss out on the showcase of local favourites from the world of folk, rock and jazz at Radek Evans’ Radek-al Riot at The Laverton this Friday 30th September from 7.30pm. 

There will also be a talk by popular author Matthew Harffy at the Library on Saturday 8th October at 11am. Matthew will cover everything from inspiration and research to pulling from modern-day first-hand experiences, the choice of language and whether history or story is more important in historical fiction. Tickets available from the library only, cost £4. 

A fantastic festival finale show will be held at The Laverton on Saturday 8th October, 7.30pm-10.30pm, with musicians from around the world and the amazing Great Baldini, organised by local musician Leander Morales. The festival closes with a Songs of Praise in All Saints Church Westbury on Sunday 9th October at 6pm. 

For all events, see the festival website www.westburyfestival.org.uk and buy your tickets there, or tel. 03336 664 466, or call into South West Hearing Care.