In Festivals, Events, music, theatre, classical, exhibitions

It’s a bumper month for events, so we’re really packing them in to this edition of our what’s on guide. From dragons to superheroes, classical music to superstars on stage, check out what’s happening around Leicestershire.

Big events coming your way!

Don’t miss Leicesters’ St George’s Festival on the 20 April. For the first time it will be held in Leicester’s Old Town there will be Morris and Maypole dancing, historical reenactments, magic shows, tours of the Guildhall and Cathedral, a medieval market and of course knights and dragons! On both Saturday and Sunday you can also follow the Ale Trail around Leicester’s historic pus and get great offers on proper English beer.

The Great British Dog Walk is taking place at Belvoir Castle on 21 April. Sign up and join hundreds of others on a sponsored walk to raise funds to transform the lives of deaf adults and children. Take part in a 3km or 8km sponsored dog walk and raise funds to train more incredible hearing dogs for deaf people.

Comic Con Mania is coming to the Mattioli Arena Leicester on the 27 April. Expect celebrity guests from film and TV, console gaming, anime, manga, prop and set recreations, board gaming, comics, interactive Q&As and more!

Immerse yourself in floral splendour at the Belvoir Castle May Day Garden Party. Running from the 4-6 May, this will be a captivating blend of blooms, design inspiration, and horticultural delights, mixed with family fun and entertainment for all.

Experience a historical recreation of the House of Bayard at Bosworth Battlefield on the 4 May. Step into the military camp of a 15th Century French household on loan from the King of France to the Lancastrian cause (Henry Tudor) during the Wars of the Roses.

Exhibitions

Procession in Bali is now on at Leicester Museum and Art gallery, an exhibition telling the story of the eponymous painting and its creator, the Scots-born artist Ian Fairweather (1891 to 1974). Painted in 1933, this artwork is taken from the Leicester Museums collection and has rarely been displayed in public.

Pop along to the Attenborough Arts Centre for their annual Craft and Arts Fair on the 27 April. Meet, browse and buy from over 50 selected exhibitors, showcasing some of the best jewellery, glass, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, painting, wood, stationery, accessories and more from across our region.

Theatre

Coming to Curve on the 11 April is Adam Kay Undoctored, fresh from a record-breaking run at the Edinburgh Fringe. His first book was a literary sensation, selling three million copies and becoming a multi-BAFTA-winning BBC series, and the second aims to replicate that huge success! Hear all the stories at this one man show.

Adapted from the testimonies and stories of people who lived through Partition, Silence comes to Curve from the 16-20 April. This moving and powerful production is based on Kavita Puri’s acclaimed book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories.

Spend an evening in the extraordinary company of Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE at De Montfort Hall on the 17 April. ‘The world’s greatest living explorer’ goes beyond his record-breaking achievements to explore the man behind the myth.

Aled Jones looks back on his remarkable career at the Curve on the 22 April. His one-man show Full Circle features never-before-heard music, tales from the decades and for the first time, his story told in his own words.

Written by Willy Russell, the legendary Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving tale of twins who, separated at birth, grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with fateful consequences. Book your seats at the Curve from 23-27 April

The crowning glory of Broadway, the West End, and beyond, the international smash hit musical Six makes its royal return to Leicester from 2-12 May following its previous sell-out success! Winner of 26 major international awards including the Tony Award for ‘Best Original Score’ and ‘Best Costume Design’.

Classical music

Senbla presents Opera International's award-winning Ellen Kent Production of Bizet's Carmen with international soloists, highly praised chorus and full orchestra at De Montfort Hall on the 10 April. Then the following night at the Hall, the award-winning production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly returns with exquisite sets including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costumes!

Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress is a cynical but sympathetic tale of a young man’s fall. English Touring Opera’s new production, coming to the Curve on the 15 April, is helmed by Polly Graham, Artistic Director of Longborough Festival Opera, and the highly regarded conductor and composer Jack Sheen. It’s another double header here because on the following night, the ETO bring Puccini’s Manon Lescaut to the Curve. This is a devastating depiction of a woman wrestling with her desire for love on her own terms, and the rigid double standards imposed on her by society.

There’s a more popular bent to the next few, as the The London Concert Orchestra and Coro Spezzato bring the music of Hans Zimmer and John Williams to De Montfort Hall on the 27 April. Expect film themes including Gladiator, Superman, Harry Potter, Inception, Jurassic Park, The Dark Knight Rises, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and many more!

On the 4 May at De Montfort Hall the Leicester Symphony Orchestra present the family concert Witches, Wizards & Sorcerers. Music will include Night on a Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky, The Wizard of Oz Medley by Stothart and Arlen, Harry Potter by John Williams, Mozart's the Magic Flute, and many other spooky favourites.

Immortalised in the hit film Brassed Off, The Grimethorpe Colliery Band have played on the world’s biggest stages and on the 5 May they’re coming to Loughborough Town Hall. Experience the performances that have won them a BAFTA Award and two Gold Discs.

Pop and rock on stage

Described by The Guardian as ‘the finest instrumental duo on the traditional scene’, Spiers & Boden are coming to the Y Theatre on the 12 April. They first rocketed onto the music scene in 2001, quickly winning a clutch of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and going on to form and front the extraordinarily successful folk big band Bellowhead, selling out The Royal Albert Hall several times.

Take a step back into the 60s with some of its top stars at De Montfort Hall on the 18 April. Sensational 60s includes Dozy Beaky Mick And Tich, The Trems (Former Members Of The Tremeloes), The Fortunes, The Swinging Blue Jeans and Vanity Fare.

A whole weekend full of OI! As the For Punk Sake Festival comes to the Vic Bikers Pub in Coalville from 19-21 April. It’s great value too, just £33 for a weekend ticket! On the same weekend, it couldn’t be more of a contrast as vocal harmony group and original X Factor stars G4 celebrate 20 years together at De Montfort Hall on the 19 April.

If you’re more of a fan of the decade that taste forget, then BBC Radio 2 Sounds of the 80s: The Live Tour is at the O2 Academy on the 19 April. Legendary DJ Gary Davies takes the UK’s most popular 80s radio show on tour together with his producer Johnny Kalifornia.

Step back Kasabian, Leicester’s most famous sons Showaddywaddy come to De Montfort Hall on the 20 April. One of the most famous acts to come from our fair city, they’ll take you under the moon of love with a show full of rock n roll classics.

And finally, 80s stars Big Country will be performing their classic number 1 album Steeltown live at the O2 Academy on the 26 April alongside classic hits and live favourites including ’Fields of Fire’, ‘In A Big Country’, ‘Chance’, ‘Wonderland’, ‘Look Away’ and many more.

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