Saturday 21st

Open Day at the Weighbridge Railway Museum
Station Street
Time 10am to 4pm
More details to follow
Hot drinks and Homemade Cakes will be available.
Admission Free, Donations very welcome

Build a Bird Box or Bug Hotel  at Walters Workshop
Age 9 – 14 at Enterprise House
Time  10am & 12 noon 
Come and build a Bug Hotel or a Bird Box with the help of Walter’s volunteers.
Up to 6 children per session.
Cost – Free to youngsters but you must book to
secure a places at one of the 2 sessions.
Booking is via the Town Hall or online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/BCTH
A Donations for materials would be appreciated.
Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult

Lego Club Challenge- Drop-in
Time : 10am – 12.30pm
at the Library, Enterprise House, Station Street
Drop in to build a monster for our Lego challenge, suitable for ages 3-103
Also throughout the festival the library will have (during opening hours) a crafts table for children to come and colour, glue and create.
Admission Free – Donations to Festival Funds invited

Castle Artists Spring Exhibition
Time : 10am – 5pm
Venue – The Stars Shop, 70 Church St, Bishops Castle, SY9 5AE
Around 15 local artists come together to show ‘Affordable Art’, which can include paintings, linocuts, watercolours, sculpture, photographs, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and cards. See http://www.castleartists.co.uk/
Admission Free – Donations to Festival Funds invited

Artists’ Open Studio
Time : 10am – 4pm
Sarah Gillard, Painter – Yarborough House, High Street.
Liv Goode, Painter – Yarborough House, High Street.
Drusilla Cole, Printmaker & Jane Pickett, Ceramicist – Bull Street
Jenny Jones, Painter – The Porch House, High Street, SY9 5BE.
Julia Bath, Painter & Jane Allard, Weaver – The Old Bakery, Church Street. (behind Opticians)
Marian Watson – Handmade silver & gold jewellery, and Paintings – Chapel View, Station Street, SY9 5AQ.
Di & Andrew Douce, Painters – The Old Manse, Station St., SY9 5AQ.
Tim Phillips & Kate Evans, Painter & Ceramicist – St. Cleopas, The Cabin, Bishops Castle, SY9 5JG  [10 minutes walk uphill via Welsh Street.   Good parking, good tea.]
Anne Stephens, Jewellery & Crafts – The Garden House, Laburnum Alley, Union Street, SY9 5AJ.
Robert Fowke, 70s Sci-Fi Art – Studio Room at the Barn, rear of 23 High Street, accessible by lane off Union Street at SY9 5AJ
Helen Robinson, Stained Glass artist – The Old Vicarage, Church Lane, SY9 5AF
Georgia of Snailhouse Stitching – 4 Union Street, SY9 5AJ
Nina Archer, abstract landscape painter – The White Cottage, 14 Golden Grove SY95LD (Turn right off the A488 at the Acton crossroads and our entrance gate is about half a mile. Parking available outside the studio)  info@ninaarcher.co.uk

Admission Free
Artists’ Open Studio Going Wild in BC
This year’s Open Studios includes a special collaboration with Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle, a community-led project run by Lightfoot Enterprises that supports biodiversity and stronger connections between people and the natural world.
Artists taking part were invited to display a piece of work responding to the theme “Going Wild” offering personal reflections on nature, and wildlife. The collaboration celebrates creativity and visitors are invited to explore the artworks during Open Studios and find out more about the Going Wild in Bishops Castle project and how to get involved.

Needle Felting Workshop with Clare Linford
at the Town Hall
Time 10.30am – 12.30pm & 1.30pm – 3.30pm

Clare will demonstrate and then guide you through making a lovely dog, the breed is up to you.  All materials are supplied 
Cost £10
Booking is via the Town Hall or online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/BCTH 

Abstract Watercolours with Catherine Jones
at the Border Lights Gallery, High Street
Time 10.30am – 12.00pm
Suitable from age 14 upwards. No prior experience needed!
maximum 8 people

Spend some time out from the busyness of the arts festival, doodling with watercolour and add some embellishments with some marker pens to create a beautiful, unique, tranquil, arty doodle.
Suitable for everyone who wants to have a go at playing with watercolours and finding out what effects you can create. No pressure no realism just colour, pattern and being kind to ourselves in a supportive and relaxed environment.
Cost £13
Booking is via the Town Hall or online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/BCTH 

Shropshire Tales in the House on Crutches Museum with Val Littlehales
Time : 10am – 11am & 11.30am to 12.30pm
at the Cobbles next to the Town Hall
Join local folklorist Val Littlehales as she takes you on a story-telling tour of the museum.
Admission £4  book online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/BCTH or at BC Town Hall 

‘Where the Cows Go Bong!’ – Illustrating Nonsense Poetry with Liv Bargman
at the Poetry Pharmacy Lab, High Street.
Time : 11am
Join local illustrator Liv Bargman in this 2 hour creative workshop for Bishop’s Castle Arts Festival to explore the whimsical world of nonsense poetry through imaginative illustration and playful visual storytelling.
Drawing inspiration from iconic poets such as Edward Lear, Spike Milligan, Ogden Nash, and Hilaire Belloc, the session will blend poetry, drawing, and character design, Liv will share her signature specialism in character creation in a fun, accessible format, suitable for adults.
Materials and refreshments included in the ticket price.
Admission £25 – Refreshments included in the entrance price.
To book your place or for more info: https://poetrypharmacy.co.uk/pages/events-in-bishops-castle


Singing Workshop with Rapsquillion
at the Methodist Hall, Station Street
10.30am – 12.30pm
Anyone who has ever fancied singing with others is very welcome, regardless of experience.  Our aim is to get participants making a lovely sound as quickly as possible.
Admission Free – Donations to Festival Funds invited

B.C. Orchestra – Table d’hote
at the SpArC Theatre
Time – 1.30pm
‘Today’s menu will be Bishop’s Castle Orchestra giving you the Music For The Royal Fireworks, symphonies by Boyce and Haydn and the Community Choirs of Norbury and Ludlow’s Rockspring  leading us all in a rousing singalong selection from The Sound Of Music. Dessert will be Sir Henry Wood’s Sea Songs. Enjoy’.
Accessible and friendly, refreshments available.   No need to book
Admission Free, suggested donations to Festival Funds £5
https://www.sparctheatre.co.uk/event/live-music-the-bishops-castle-orchestra/

Hawthorn Wildlife Role-play with Jenny Ogden
Cancelled – new event on Wednesday between 2pm & 4pm

 

House on Crutches Museum – Drop-in
Time : 1.30pm – 4.30pm
at the Cobbles next to the Town Hall

Displays illustrate the story of Bishop’s Castle from early times to the present day.  Something of interest for everyone.  Activities for children include dressing-up, brass-rubbing, the Toy Cupboard and the popular ‘Piggies Trail’
Also, local harpist Kris Norton will be playing in music in the parlour, a real treat.
Admission Free – Donations to Festival Funds invited

The Real Ancient Mariner by Coleridge – a talk by Bob Fowke
at the Church Barn
Time 2.00pm

In 1719 Simon Hatley shot an albatross in a ‘melancholy fit’ and his scheming captain, George Shelvocke, wrote about it in his memoir of the voyage. On Wordsworth’s recommendation, Coleridge read Shelvocke’s book many years later and was inspired to write The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.
Bob Fowke describes his extraordinary discovery of the true identity and strange life of the man behind the Ancient Mariner, a sailor who sailed on two of the most dangerous privateering voyages of the eighteenth century, was involved in an act of piracy, was twice imprisoned by the Inquisition and, by curious coincidence, once sailed with Alexander Selkirk, the model for Robinson Crusoe, and with William Dampier, mentioned in Gulliver’s Travels as ‘my cousin Dampier’.
Cost £3.50 – Booking is via the Town Hall or online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/BCTH

Bell Ringing TBC
at St John the Baptist Church
Time – 2.00pm – 4.00pm
As part of the Arts Festival, the Bishops Castle  Bell Ringers will be opening the tower doors to visitors to view demonstrations of campanology.  The tower has six bells, the treble being the smallest and the tenor the largest.  If time permits, we may also be able to give viewings of the bells at the top of the tower, when not in operation.
Admission Free – Donations to Festival Funds invited

Textile Hunting in Southwest China – talk by Diane Gaffney
at the Town Hall
Time 5.30pm

“A few years back (pre-pandemic) we finally got to Southwest China. I had long wanted to see for myself how many amazing textiles I’d seen and read about were still being made by minority groups. From the mountainous land border in the far west down to the tropical southern border, we pursued hints and rumours of groups of women still indigo dyeing, making traditional pleated skirts, embroidering, hemp and batik making which led to out-of-the-way villages, workshops and festivals.
There were textile triumphs and disappointments, but always memorable encounters”
Admission – £3.50
book online at http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/BCTH or at BC Town Hall 

Ceilidh featuring This Way Up
at SpArC Theatre, Brampton Road, Bishops Castle, England, SY9 5AY
Time 7.30pm
This Way Up! are Shropshire’s foremost Ceilidh bands with a big sound and unrivalled reputation for high energy.  They play regularly at festivals, clubs and private dances all over the country and also run workshops for ceilidh musicians.  They are a multi instrumental 5 piece band, playing guitar, bass, melodeon, saxophone, whistle, flute, banjo, mandolin and percussion.
We’re really pleased to be able to welcome This Way Up! to Bishops Castle Arts Festival and we know that when you hear them you just won’t be able to resist joining in.
Admission – Adults – £12 and £3 for youngsters – Booking is via the SpArC Theatre
https://www.sparctheatre.co.uk/event/arts-festival-ceilidh-with-this-way-up/