This Weekend's Events (3rd to 5th July)

Hi Everyone

I, your humble narrator along with my trusty assistants have just returned from a trip to see Kent's newest tourist attraction, Operation Stack.  They're a rather conservative bunch in that part of the world, so we were really surprised that such a brave experiment in modern art could be organised so successfully.

The many lorry drivers who were present on a normally busy stretch of motorway seemed very gallant and sporting, even though they didn't seem quite so sure why they were participating.  It was somewhat understandable that Hendryx, J's flamenco inspired take on "Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry" was met with confusion...

Ironically, here at the Rising Sun we have a massive line-up of events for your delcatation.  We'd even go as far as saying that it's even more packed than a certain stretch of Kentish motorway...

On Friday,we have something special in the shape of LEONARD COHEN NIGHT III

Once upon a time, esteemed performance poet and local legend, AF Harrold, thought it might be rather fun to organise a night in celebration of the songs of Leonard Cohen.  It happened on 15 July 2005.  It was so successful and fun that he repeated the whole exercise on 4th August 2006, and this became the beginning of a regular quarterly event that came to be known as Tribute Night.  This July, we'll be having a 'Pre-10th Anniversary Tribute Night Prologue-Show Re-enacted Reprisal of the Original Standalone Experiment Leonard Cohen Night'

(Might possibly need a snappier title for that)

Co-hosted by the original Tribute Night mastermind AF Harrold and current Tribute Night compere Damien A Passmore.

We'll be open at 8pm for an 8.30pm start and as usual, there will be no charge on the door, but  we suggest you keep £5 or more aside for when the friendly people with hats circulate the room, the bar, the hallway, the porch, the little bit of pavement out the front, and the smoking pen out the back.

Saturday lunchtime sees another instalment of CLASSICAL FOR CHARITY

Classical For Charity is a series of classical and jazz concerts at The Rising Sun Arts Centre, performed by local musicians and hosted by local pianist and piano teacher Maija Tuomi-Nikula.

Come and support us by enjoying top-quality, rarely heard music in a great, relaxed atmosphere without having to pay enormous ticket prices!

This time Classical for Charity brings you SECRETS OF THE NORTH - PART II

This is the second part of our mini-series of Northern European and Scandinavian music. This time we will bring you more Norwegian music (Edvard Grieg, naturally!) and some more famous Finnish pieces as well.

The performers are Maija Tuomi-Nikula on piano and as an alto vocalist, and the wonderful jazz singer and mezzosoprano Nicole Monique Johnson, who has performed in a CFC concert previously with great success.

Maija would like to thank everyone who has performed, attended or helped out helped with these concerts. CFC has entered its second year with condifence and we're looking forwards to many, many more concerts and bringing you classical music (and a bit of jazz) from all over the world, from all eras, and in all styles!

We're open at 12.30pm for a 1pm start Tickets cost £3 as usual, and of course, there are some lovely refreshments available at the bar.

On Saturday evening, it's time for THE READING KABARET KOLLECTIVE

Featuring MC and chanteuse Baroness Maria von Hackemann (from Alternative Queen Reading, and Here Comes the Sun) plus talented guests SHANE AND ALEX, and the delightful TANIA TWINKLE, as well as our ukelele kabaret singalong corner with KATE COOPER!
 
Come to the cabaret and enjoy a night of live eclectic 'klein Kunst'! 
We'll be flinging our doors open at 8pm and it'll cost you £10 (£8 concs) to get in

Finally on Sunday, we have our CREATIVE SKILL SHARE DAY

Come and get creative with local artists and makers at a one-day skill sharing event with all the money raised going back into the centre and our 2016 YEAR OF CULTURE programming.  We will be hosting workshops and drop-in sessions throughout the day including traditional printing, book-binding, jewellery-making, stone carving and more!

Enjoy some homemade cakes and a bustling creative atmosphere as we celebrate local arts alongside Reading Arts Week and Jelly's Open for Art Weekend.

We're open from 10am to 4pm and workshops start from £3 upwards

That’s everything for another week, just to remind you that we are, as always, at 30 Silver Street, Reading, RG1 2ST (If you pop it into your satnav or Google, we shall magically appear!)

Have a nice weekend!