What’s on in York: York Festival of Ideas

Various venues

Tue 6 Jun – Thu 18 Jun

Various times

Free

The annual York Festival of Ideas returns from 6 to 18 June 2017 under the banner of The Story of Things. One of the largest free festivals in the UK, it offers a huge range of events including talks, exhibitions, theatre, music, film, guided walks, children’s activities and workshops – all designed to educate, entertain and inspire. With topics ranging from the ancient and natural worlds, to science and creative writing, and from cycling to the human mind, there’s something to interest everyone.

Now in its seventh year, this year’s Festival offers nearly 200 events, with over 150 of them free to attend. Headline speakers include Peter Lord, Co-founder and Creative Director of Academy Award® winning studio Aardman; Reverend Richard Coles, cleric, broadcaster and former Communard; Harriet Harman MP; Ed Balls, former Shadow Chancellor and star of Strictly Come Dancing 2016; Janina Ramirez, writer and broadcaster; Emma Jacobs, of the Financial Times, and Michael Rosen, novelist and poet.

Many of the events, including special Focus Days, tackle issues such as the future of work and democracy that affect us all. The Festival is also working with the French Embassy to launch an exciting new collaboration, ‘A Date with History’.

For more information about the events please visit this website.

What’s on in York: Discover Twitter

Poppleton Library

Mon 5 Jun

3.00pm – 4.00pm

Free

Discover one of the world’s most popular social networks with this free one-hour introduction to Twitter. Get to grips with hashtags, retweets, followers and more!

Free of charge. Booking is essential. Please contact the library to reserve a place.

Poppleton Library on (01904) 552680 or poppleton@exploreyork.org.uk.

 

What’s on in York: Soft play and toy library play

York Explore Library :

Mon 5 Jun :

10.00am – 12.00pm &  2:00pm – 2:30pm 

Free

Bookstart Bear LogoCome and celebrate National Bookstart Week at York Libraries.

In this session we will listen to  the National Bookstart Week book “Everybunny Dance” by Ellie Sandall, enjoy soft play and play with toys from our toy library.

Free drop in.

For more information please call York Explore Library on (01904) 552828 or york@exploreyork.org.uk.

What’s on in York: Kindermusik at Acomb Library

Acomb Explore Library

Mon 5 Jun

2.00pm – 2.30pm

Free

Come and celebrate National Bookstart Week at York Libraries.

Join Cath Smithson from Kindermusik for singing and vocal play, musical instrument & object exploration, creative movement and dance and listening purposefully in a small, friendly setting.

Free but booking essential

Acomb Explore Library on (01904) 552651 or acomb@exploreyork.org.uk.

What’s on in York: Effortlessly Love Flows

Chapter House Choir

3rd Jun 17

19.30

From £5

Beautiful choral music of hope and love including uplifting American Spirituals, Bach’s endlessly joyful Singet Dem Herrn and Andrew Carter’s moving setting of John Donne’s No Man Is An Island.

This will be Stephen Williams’ last York concert as Musical Director of the Chapter House Choir.
We hope you will join us for this wonderful concert of inspirational music to celebrate his remarkable 14 years with the choir.

BOOK TICKETS

Council decides who will use Barbican free days in 2018

York Barbican

The York Council has decided to allocate the two free “community days” at the Barbican auditorium in 2018 to York Pride and the York Music hub

  • York Pride is a registered charity working for the LGBT community in York. According to the Council, they propose to create an evening of song and dance that celebrates a life of diversity in York for the whole city hosted by the LGBT community. A unique blend of west end musical numbers performed by West End singers and joined by community groups and singers to represent themselves, encouragement will be given to local dance groups and music community groups for the disabled, LGBT and Youth groups.

Hosted by a local celebrity to bring together all the strands and stories it will combine acts, groups and musical numbers allowing each and every person to shine. The event will encourage diversity and acceptance in our society and promote a campaign that Hate Crime is not tolerated in York no matter of your gender, sexuality, race, creed, colour or faith.

The charity have identified the performers and celebrities from a unique and diverse group that already exists in York who have established connections within the city to bring the event together.

  • York Music Hub is a newly established charity dedicated to providing the highest quality of opportunities for children and young people and seeks to foster a life-long love of music, both within and beyond the classroom.

The hub provides opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage together with access for pupils to high quality music experiences working with professional musicians and venues. The Hub proposes to stage the York Music Hub Festival, celebrating the musical achievements of children and young people from across the city, drawn from schools, out of school provision and community groups.

This high profile event is expected to attract around 1,000 performers and an audience of up to 2500 (spread across 2 events – one in the afternoon and one in the evening). This will be the first major event organized by the new York Music Hub.

The “free” days were negotiated by the Council in 2010 as part of the lease arrangement which saw the private sector taking over the running of the Barbican.

 

Mixed news in Foxwood as vandals strike

After some delay, the Council have done a good job in clearing the dumping from the Foxwood Park. Accent Housing are going to provide a skip for use by their tenants on a 6 monthly basis . Unfortunately there is still no word on when the Council skip service will recommence

Broken bottle on Foxwood park footpath. Broken glass can be a danger to both children and animals. Please report any problems that you see to the Council ycc@york.gov.uk

We’ve asked for the pedestrian crossing markings on Bellhouse Way to be refreshed

Unfortunately several of the trees recently planted on the Thanet Road sports area field were vandalised over the weekend. The trees were planted following a volunteer led fund raising campaign. We hope that some can be saved. The Police are being advised about the incident.

What’s on in York: “Yarn storming” hits York Minster

Explore the knitted nature trail around Dean’s Park

1st -30th Jun 17

All day

FREE

York Minster’s Dean’s Park will be transformed into a knitted nature trail during June when the cathedral teams up with local craft community the York KnitWits for our first yarn storming installation.

The park, which runs along the north side of the cathedral, will be filled with knitted, crocheted and cross-stitched animals and plants – from wild flowers and fairies to bugs and woodland creatures.

You can get involved with the event at a series of crafting workshops taking place at the cathedral.

And to help you explore the garden in June, we’ll be creating downloadable maps to guide you from fairy village to ugly bug ball and bunny burrow to wild flower meadow.

The York KnitWits is a York craft community where people who love to knit, crochet and cross-stitch can meet other crafting enthusiasts. The group supports local charities by knitting and crocheting items for those in need and holds yarn storms – where handmade woollen items are used to create street art – throughout the year to entertain York’s residents and visitors. For more information, please click here.

What’s on in York: Introduction to English Folklore

 Fulford School :

Tue 6 Jun :

7.00pm – 9.00pm :

£60 or £55 if in receipt of state pension

FolkloreThis course is designed to introduce students to the folklore of English, a country with a right and complicated folklore. We will look at English folklore, superstition, mythology, legends, narratives, folksong, folk dance, folk art, folk belief. We will also complete some case studies of Robin Hood.

Book online.