Check out this Spring season of fun outdoor events in Cambridgeshire

The new season – beginning next month –brings high quality, affordable arts activities into the heart of towns and villages across Cambridgeshire.

Events will be taking place at a variety of hand-picked outdoor locations and there is also a selection of online workshops.

Tickets are available from today and the season will run from May 22 until July 17.

The Spring season of events provides something for everyone, including: music, theatre and comedy performances, puppetry extravaganzas, educational shows and a series of online workshops.

Gary Porter, head of libraries, archives and culture, Cambridgeshire County Council said: “During 2020, an unprecedented year for all of us, I was so pleased that the team was able to continue to share great arts activities and provide a well-needed distraction through the ‘In Your House’ programme. I am proud to say that the team has organised outdoor events in response to the overwhelming desire we all must be feeling to get out and see something ‘live’.”

Ahead of each new season, people are asked to submit their choices of performances and workshops. As so many of the performances and workshops were unable to go ahead last year, The Library Presents team has re-programmed many of the events for this Spring 2021 season, based on selection for 2020. The new season will welcome back audiences to events that they helped to choose.

A musical highlight is comedy cabaret string quartet ‘Graffiti Classics’, who make classical music wickedly funny and fantastically exhilarating. Their performances have earned high praise from The Times, where the newspaper complimented the routine as a “simply wonderful show”.

For even more laughs, ‘Do Not Adjust Your Stage’ are back with ‘The Improvised Book Club’, a brilliantly clever improvised comedy show themed around books and audience anecdotes.

Families can also check out the award-winning Story Pocket Theatre with clowning, slapstick and magical, non-verbal storytelling in ‘Storyteller, Storyteller’.

Previous sell-out show ‘Journey into Space’ is also back this season, a fast-paced and interactive educational show focusing on live experiments and the science behind space travel.

The Spring season will continue to offer online workshops; children and young people can enjoy a session with professional Manga artist Irina Richards turning a poem of their choice into a comic. Adults can learn how to write audio drama with Andrew Burton in ‘Free Your Imagination’; or explore the poem ‘Greatness in a time of Covid’ with author and actor Tayo Aluko, diving into discussions around empire, migration and politics. The events programme also features outdoor workshops including samba drumming and willow sculpture.

There are also a small number of free short performances to give audiences a taste of what ‘The Library Presents’ events are like, ‘The Puppet Van Presents… The Lost Colour’, an outdoor puppet spectacular exploring the joyful explosion of vibrant colour and ‘Dancing Jukebox Gems’, which takes audiences through three decades of fun music and comedy dance moves. The programme also has six special 10 minute performances in Wisbech and March available to book for outside your house or in your garden, perfect for anyone who can’t easily come into town; invite your neighbours to join you for some socially-distanced fun.

The Library Presents is run by Cambridgeshire County Council working with Babylon ARTS and funded by Arts Council England.

Joanne Gray, partnerships, projects and funding manager, Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “Following the last year of online activity, I am thrilled that we are able to go back to our roots and produce a fantastic season of live events in venues across Cambridgeshire. This Spring, we are delighted that we can once again get together and celebrate the wonderful artists and performers who are part of the season. The difference is that we will be outdoors instead of in the libraries so that we can be sure the events are safe for participants to attend. ”

The outdoor events will be held at a number of locations across the county including: Huntingdon Hinchingbrooke Country Park; March Community Centre; March West End Park; Ramsey 1940s Camp; Whittlesey Library; Wisbech Castle garden; Wisbech Museum Square.