What’s on in York: York Festival

Madness coming to York

Nothing to do with BREXIT. It’s another outdoor rock concert with this one taking place at the York Sports Club on Shipton Road over 3 days next June. The Sports Club attracted over 3000 people to a Yorkshire County Cricket match earlier this year with the, mainly mature, audience putting little pressure on transport and policing resources.

Rock concerts are another matter with the highly popular Rod Stewart concert on the Knavesmire a few months ago attracting over 30,000 fans

The organisers claim to have been negotiating the new festival event with the York Council for some time. So we will expect to learn today how it is intended to prevent noise nuisance problems at an event which will extend into the evening period and which is located relatively close to residential properties..

As we’ve seen at Knavesmire events, alcohol misuse can be an issue at large events in the City. Add in access to (off site) toilet facilities, transport links and street cleanliness and you have a major set of issues which the authorities will have to provide assurances on.

Further details of the York Festival, including ticket availability, can be found at this web site www.york-festival.com

The line up for the annual “music showcase”, held on the Knavesmire each year, has already been announced. Rick Astley will take to the stage after racing concludes on 25th July. There will also be acts performing on the evening of 24th July and 27th June (just a week after the Shipton Road event)

The Yorkshire Cricket Club – whose fixture list is announced tomorrow – have already said that they will be returning to Shipton Road next summer. This is likely to be for a couple of one day games (although hopefully not on a pitch which has had the Glastonbury wet weather treatment!)

What’s on in York: Julian Barnes, in conversation

York Explore

Tuesday November 26th

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm 

£6

Book tickets »

Julian Barnes’s The Man in the Red Coat delves deep into the artistic life of turn-of the century Paris and London, bringing to life Dr Samuel Jean di Pozzi, dandyish model for John Singer Sargent, and ground-breaking gynaecologist. It’s a superbly-realised hybrid of art criticism and biography; the author comes to York Explore to discuss this new book.

In partnership with Waterstones York

Book online only

£20 to include a copy of the The Man in the Red Coat

£6 admission only

What’s on in York: Simon Parkin – “A Game of Birds and Wolves”

York Explore

Wednesday November 20th

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm 

£5

Book tickets »

Join us to hear the explosive untold story of war at sea and how a secret game of battleships invented by eight exceptional young women and a retired Naval Captain won World War Two.

This event is presented in partnership with Fox Lane Books.

A Game of Birds and Wolves is the astonishing untold tale of an innovative game of battleships, Operation Raspberry, a tactic formulated via the game, and the unlikely heroines whose eureka moment cracked the battle of the Atlantic which, in the words of one of the most senior Admirals of the war, “contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany.” For the first time, investigative journalist Simon Parkin brings these hidden figures into the light in this thrilling tale of war at sea, and of victory against all odds.

1941. Unknown to the British public, a vicious battle is being fought in the Atlantic – and the Allies are losing. Hitler’s U-Boats are mere weeks away from breaking Britain’s vital supply lines and starving the nation of food, fuel and weapons. Defeat would be unimaginably catastrophic, opening the door to a Nazi invasion and surrender. The stakes have never been higher as Britain faces its ‘Darkest Hour’.
In an unassuming building in Liverpool, Churchill is hiding a secret weapon. The Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU) has been tasked with devising a completely new strategy that will win the Battle of the Atlantic and turn the tide of the entire war. Churchill knows he’s asking the impossible of this largely inexperienced team, made up of a retired naval captain and eight fresh-faced Wrens – women as young as seventeen – who have never even seen a battle, let alone fought one. But circumstances are desperate, and Churchill has no other options. WATU is his last line of defence.

What’s on in York: Foxwood Local History Group exhibition at Acomb Explore Library

Exhibition by Foxwood Local History Group now on at Acomb Explore for two weeks.

They are asking local residents to help to fill in the gaps in the areas history.

Foxwood Local History Group on Facebook (click)