What's On
Above: What a catch for Michael Hjort at York Food Festival
Above: Wining and dining at Cliffords Tower during the York Food Festival
Above: Robert Downey Jr
Above: Our House
Above: The Witches of Eastwick
Above: Blood Brothers
Above: Flashdance
Above: Evita at the Grand Theatre, Leeds
Above: Wood engraving from Of the Feather exhibition at the Shandy Hall Gallery
Above: The Summer Show at the Lund Gallery, Easingwold, has art for inside and outside the home
Above: Contemporary work from Tapestry 08 exhibition at the Bankfield Museum, Halifax
Above: Cheryl-ann Taylor fashion designs at Ryedale Folk Museum
Above: Girls aloud are in concert at Harewood House, Leeds
We welcome contributions to this page which should be addressed to: What's On, Yorkshire Life, 1200 Century Way, Thorpe Park, Leeds, LS15 8ZA. These should be sent at least two months in advance of the event. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy at the time of going to press, times, dates and venues can be changed. Please check with the venue before travelling to any of the events.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Harrogate Autumn Flower Show Great Yorkshire Showground September 12th-14th 01423 561049 www.flowershow.org.uk
Opening of Leeds City Museum September 1st-14th 0113 395 1580 www.leeds.gov.uk
The Goddess Show North York Racecourse Knavesmire Exhibition Centre September 7th 01904 620911
Fountains Abbey by Floodlight September 13th-October 18th 01765 608888 www.fountainsabbey.org.uk
Tea and Tall Tales Picture House, Leyburn September 7th 01748 825288
THEATRE
Life and Beth Stephen Joseph Theatre July 17th – August 30th 01723 370541 www.sjt.uk.com
BALLET
A Tale of Two Cities West Yorkshire Playhouse August 30th-September 6th 0113 213 7210 www.wyplayhouse.com
MUSICALS
Evita Grand Theatre & Opera House, Leeds August 18th-30th 0870 122 2820 www.leedsgrandtheatre.com
Blood Brothers Alhambra Theatre Bradford September 8th-20th 01274 432000 www.bradford-theatres.co.uk
Our House Sheffield Lyceum September 23rd-27th 0114 249 6000 www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
The Witches of Eastwick September 23rd-27th Alhambra Theatre, Bradford 01274 432000 www.bradford-theatres.co.uk
Flashdance:The Musical Alhambra Theatre September 29th-October 4th 01274 432000 www.bradford-theatres.co.uk
The Who’s Tommy Grand Opera House, York September 9th-13th 0844 8472 322 www.GrandOperaHouseYork.org.uk
EVENTS AND FESTIVALS
No Coward Soul The Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth All year 01535 642323 A
Shark Summer The Deep, Hull Until August 31st 01482 381000 www.thedeep.co.uk
Kirkstall Abbey Summer Festival Kirkstall Road, Leeds Until August 31st www.leeds.gov.uk
Saltaire Festival Various venues September 11th-21st 01274 585877 www.saltairefestival.co.uk
York Festival of Food and Drink Various venues September 19th-28th www.yorkfoodfestival.co.uk 01904 466687
Food and Drink Festival Holmfirth Market September 27th www.kirklees.gov.uk 01484 225852
Scarborough Jazz Festival The Spa September 26th-28th 01723 357 869 www.scarboroughjazz festival.co.uk
Walking & Book Festival Richmond,North Yorkshire September 26th-October 5th 01748 828742 www.richmondwalking.com www.richmondbookfestival.com
Flower Festival Fairfax House, York September 20th-28th 01904 655543 www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk
St Mary’s Church, Boston Spa September 27th-28th 01937 845711 www.stmarysbostonspa.org.uk
CONCERTS
José González
St George’s Hall Bradford August 28th Starts 8pm
Girls Aloud Harewood House, Leeds August 29th 0113 218 1010 www.harewood.org
ELO Experience Leven Sports Hall, Leven Beverly, East Yorkshire September 6th 01964 542884 &September 21st Sheffield City Hall 0114 278 9789 www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk
FILMS
Is it a coincidence that Indiana Jones came back to our cinemas in May – and, three months later, Brendan Fraser reappears as Indiana-alike Rick O’Connell in THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (August 8th)?We suppose it must be. The glorious Rachel Weisz isn’t in this outing, sadly. Instead, her character is played by ex-ER star Maria Bello.
ELEGY (August 8th) is a drama based on a Philip Roth novel, and sees lecturer Ben Kingsley getting all of a dither over one of his students, Penelope Cruz (we’re guessing she’s a mature student).
STAR WARS: CLONE WARS (August 15th) is an animated spin-off thingy from the George Lucas sci-fi phenomenon. It all looks a bit snoozesome from where we’re standing. But, then, we’re not a 14 year-old boy.
SWING VOTE (August 15th) is a timely swipe at American politics, and features Kevin Costner as a beer-swilling loser who holds the fate of the presidency in his hands (don’t ask us how: it’s too complicated to explain here). Know this, though: the excellent Kelsey ‘Frasier’ Grammer stars as the president. By the way, in the last edition, did we say that GET SMART was coming out in July? We did, didn’t we? Well, if you’re looking for it (and if you are you should get out more), it’s been moved back to August 22nd.
The cinema is looking a bit desperate in September, to be honest. THE WOMEN (September 12th) is a comedy drama with a stellar cast – Meg Ryan, Eva Mendez, Carrie Fisher, Annette Bening, etc – but it also has ‘chick flick’ written all over it, when it should be a classy remake of George Cukor’s 1939 original.
Then there’s TROPIC THUNDER (September 19th), a comedy with Ben Stiller and an unrecognisable Robert Downey Jr, as actors shooting a war movie who are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.We’ve seen a clip and it could be great. But, then again, they might have used up all the best jokes in the trailer.
ZOMBIE STRIPPERS (September 19th) is a searing, emotionally charged and thought-provoking drama which... oh, hang on. No, sorry. That’s On Golden Pond. Zombie Strippers, it turns out, is a film about Zombies.Who are strippers. Easy mistake to make.
BELLE TOUJOURS (September 19th) is a sequel to the Catherine Deneuve classic, Belle De Jour (see what they did there?). There doesn’t seem to be a lot of point in revisiting a story nearly 40 years after the original was told – and Deneuve isn’t recreating the lead role (Bulle Olgier is the star instead). But you have to give director Manoel de Oliveira full-marks because he is – get this – 100 in December and the oldest active film director in the world. Let’s hope he still is when the movie comes out.
DEATH RACE (September 26th) is a big-budget remake of the David Carradine low-budget 1970s schlock car thriller and frankly, we’ll lose the will to live if we have to describe the plot here. Look. There’s a race, and there’s lots of death. And Jason Staham is in it. That’s all you need to know.
EXHIBITIONS
Tudor Fashion Castle Howard, Malton Until August 31st www.castlehoward.co.uk
The Summer Show The Lund Gallery Easingwold Until August 31st 01347 824400 www.lundgallery.co.uk
25th Anniversary Display National Media Museum Bradford Until September 28th 0870 70 10 200 www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
Cheryl-ann Taylor Ryedale Folk Museum Hutton-le-Hole August 3rd- October 19th 01751 417367 www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk
Tapestry 08 Bankfield Museum Boothtown Road, Halifax Until September 28th 01422 352334 www.calderdale.gov.uk
RACE MEETINGS
AUGUST
27th Catterick, 01748 811478
30th Ripon, 01765 602156
SEPTEMBER
4th Redcar 01642 484068
5th Catterick 01748 811478
6th Thirsk 01845 522276
7th Thirsk 01845 522276
9th Beverley 01482 876488
10th Doncaster 01302 304200
11th Doncaster 01302 304200
12th Doncaster 01302 304200
13th Doncaster 01302 304200
15th Redcar 01642 484068
17th Beverley 01482 876488
18th Pontefract 01977 781307
20th Catterick 01748 811478
23rd Beverley 01482 876488
24th Redcar 01642 484068
25th Pontefract 01977 781307