From brass Bands to the Bard

Entertainment for all in the Castle Grounds this summer

Summer Sundays in Newark have long been associated with the sound of music and 2012 will be no exception.

Newark Town Council’s ever popular Sunday Band Concerts return to the Castle Grounds throughout July and August, with a series of seven performances for lovers of jazz, swing and brass alike.

On Sunday, July 1st the Decent Chaps Jazz and Swing Band gets the programme off to a flying start –it’s the turn of the Ashby Concert Band on Sunday, July 8th – and on Sunday, July 15th the Newark & Sherwood Concert Band steps up to entertain the audience.

The Ibstock Brick Brass Band performs on Sunday, July 29th, followed by the Kibworth Band on Sunday, August 5th and the Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Concert Band on Sunday, August 12th, with the Newark Town Band bringing the series to a close on Sunday, August 19th.

Each of the concerts runs from 2pm to 4pm and admission is free – ice cream and soft drinks will be on sale or why not bring along a picnic to enjoy as you listen to the performances in the glorious setting of Newark’s best-loved landmark?

If drama’s your passion, there’s another treat in store at the Castle on Saturday, July 21st, when the Regional Youth Shakespeare Company brings The Taming of The Shrew to town.

After the death of his father, soldier and adventurer Petruchio is facing his biggest battle yet – his duty to repair the family’s crumbling estate and place a fine, capable and monied lady at the head of the household. With his grumbling comrade and dogsbody Grumio in tow, he arrives ‘to wive it weathily in Padua’ where the good Baptista’s eldest daughter, Katharina, is in open rebellion against anything anyone else may say or do.

With original text and Elizabethan costumes, a few disguised identities and Petruchio’s stratagem to out-contrary the contrary Kate, the scene is set for the unravelling of a tale that’s billed as ‘Shakespeare’s living, breathing, kicking tale of one woman’s rise to grace’…

The performance starts at 7.30pm and tickets, priced £9 for adults and £7 for concessions, are available from Newark Tourist Information Centre on Castlegate (tel 01636 655765). Gates open at 6pm – bring a rug or a chair, and perhaps a picnic too, and prepare to be entertained!