EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS after it first opened the Electric Palace in Bridport is returning to its original purpose: OPERA. Yes, opera. “The building was originally erected for dual use as a cinema and opera house for the Palmer brewing family, who wanted to bring opera to Dorset.” So reads the citation for the Grade II listing [...]

A WILD weekend in the woods of West Dorset is being offered to 25 Hardy Women. The exact location is a secret

SO, WEST DORSET has a new artistic venue: Axen Farm outside Symondsbury. Probably just two miles from Bridport town centre, but it feels startlingly like another world, as you suddenly rock up towards the end of a narrow track and find yourself faced with the northern side of Colmers Hill, with just a fleck of Bridport visible eastwards. Dragonflies dart around the improvised car park and the [...]

THE COMRADES Hall at Broadwindsor was jumping this week as John Jones from electric folk legends Oysterband took to the stage. Around 175 people packed into the hall for a gig organised by Simon Emmerson of The Imagined Village fame. Sadly, Phil Beer from Show of Hands couldn’t make it – he’s recovering from an operation [...]

ARTISTS and makers from around Bridport are holding an exhibition at Eype Centre for the Arts this Saturday and Sunday (July 3 from 10.30-6, July 4 from 10.30-4). It will, says Marion Taylor, be “a fantastic combination of exciting art, quality crafts and superb food in a glorious setting.” Now, Marion is one of the [...]

BRIDPORT ARTS CENTRE is expanding its activities for families, starting with a production of Alice in Wonderland. Many families have apparently asked the arts centre about doing things there on a Sunday, and so it’s heading off down the rabbit hole… Alice in Wonderland, based on Lewis Carroll’s book, will be performed by Uncontained Arts, [...]

THE YETTIES’ front man Bonny Sartin will look back to the days when towns like Beaminster had riots when he speaks – and sings – at a new Radical History School. The event will form part of the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, held in memory of the farm workers transported to Australia for forming a proto [...]

FLAGS are out in Broadwindsor – and not just for the football. England may play their first World Cup Game on the evening of Saturday June 12, but first there’s the annual village fun day and scarecrow festival to enjoy. Bunting, Union Jacks and St George’s flags are lining the square and village green ahead [...]

ST MICHAEL’S Studios in Bridport are open to visitors this Bank Holiday Weekend, 10-5pm Sat – Mon. Kit Glaisyer writes here about his participation. I GREW up in ‘deepest darkest’ Dorset, several miles from any town, so the nights were truly dark, and the stars were bright in the sky, with just the sounds of [...]

DOZENS of African animals are preparing to trek from the Corn Exchange to the Borough Gardens in Dorchester Festival’s Grand Parade on Saturday, May 29. Artist Heidi Steller is working with more than 200 children to create a range of animal masks for the procession, which will be led by a giant wicker snake and [...]