Events, Arts & Entertainment

May Diary and Events

Sunday 1
Sedgefield Farmers Market, Village Green, 8:30am-12:30pm.
Monday 2
Sedgefield Local History Society, Cragside Upstairs Downstairs by Geoff Hughes. Ceddesfeld Hall 7:45pm. Please contact Suzanne Hopper 01429 882250.
Wednesday 4
Sedgefield Women’s Institute, Annual General Meeting, Parish Hall, 7:15pm.
Friday 6
U3A, Parish Hall at 2pm. 10th Anniversary Party. All members welcome.
Monday 9
DIDO, trip to Whitby. Please be outside of the Parish Hall at 9:15am. Returning from Whitby at 3:30pm.
Wednesday 11
Sedgefield Neighbourhood Watch, Sedgefield Social Club at 7pm.
Thursday 12
Sedgefield Show Planning Committee, Sedgefield Social Club, 7.30pm. New people welcome, email Ian Mason at ian@sedgefieldshow.co.uk.
Tuesday 17
Ferryhill, Sedgefield & District Flower Club, invite you to join us for our 35th anniversary celebrations, at the Parish Hall. Celebrations start at 7:30pm. Flower demonstration by Jean McClure titled “Frameworks”. All welcome to join this special evening, members free, £5 for non-members.
Repair Café, planning meeting, Parish Hall, 7pm-8pm.
Friday 20
Sedgefield Blues Club, Brave Rival plus support, Sedgefield Parish Hall, doors 7pm
Saturday 21
Sedgefield Mediaeval Fayre, on the Village Green and in Ceddesfeld Hall and Grounds, 10am-4pm.
Friday 27
Sedgefield Village Veterans, coffee morning, Parish Hall, from 10am.

More dates for your diary

Charity tattoos On Friday 13 May, Obi Studios are offering small floral tattoos for charity on a walk-in basis. All the profits will be divided equally between Sedgefield in Bloom and the Great North Air Ambulance.

The price will be £31 and the designs will be a set size chosen from predrawn sheets. Abigail Wells

Christian Aid Week 15–21 May
For many years we have invited the people of Sedgefield to take part in the annual national Christian Aid Week appeal.

Since the pandemic lockdown we have not been able to arrange the usual annual house to house collection. However, donations can be made by visiting the Christian Aid website at www.christianaid.org.uk. Christian Aid seeks to help some of the poorest people in our world. We will display the advance publicity banners and posters outside our Methodist Church.
Thank you for supporting this appeal.
Margaret and David Glass.

Sunday 22 May 2022—The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride.
On Sunday 22 May 2022, we are teaming up to ride solo in The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride with fellow men and women across the globe to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer and men's mental health on behalf of Movember.

Men die on average 6 years earlier than women and for largely preventable reasons. The number of men that are suffering is growing, and we need to do something about that. So, before we press our tweed and polish our boots, we are asking you to join us in raising funds and awareness for these causes by donating what you can for this meaningful cause and to help the men we love, live happier and healthier lives. Please see

www.gentlemansride.com/ fundraiser/IanClifford440924 to donate. Ian Clifford

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Sedgefield in Bloom are holding a music night at Sedgefield Parish Hall on Saturday 4 June 2022 at 7:00pm continuing on from celebrations being held in the village in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Local artiste Lily Ho (Lily from Bettys Boudoir) will be providing a musical medley for the evening, along with the usual raffle, bingo and quiz to entertain you. The catering will be provided by Robinsons of Wingate who will be able to cater for any dietary requirements; please bring your own drinks.

The theme for the evening is, Surprisingly, Red, White & Blue and a spot prize will be given for the most original outfit!! The evening concludes at 11:15pm with the singing of the National Anthem.

Tickets are available from Sedgefield Town Council offices and are priced at £12:50. Any special dietary requirements should be made known when purchasing the tickets. Alice Hobson Chair, Sedgefield in Bloom

Arts Update with Geoff Millichap

The Beautiful North

Celebrated local painter Jane Spink is artist in residence at The Hive on Rectory Row and has also exhibited at The Manor House and The Temple of Minerva at Hardwick Park in recent years.
Her beautiful watercolour and acrylic works are often inspired by the landscapes and terrain of this area and of the wider North East.

During May, she will partner with painter Sarah Drought to stage an exhibition of their work at the fantastic Station Gallery, Richmond, occupying the large and prominent Mezzanine Gallery space. Sarah Drought, also primarily a painter of landscapes and rural scenes, is based in North Yorkshire and has been teaching young artists for over 15 years. Their work will be available to view from 13-25 May.

During May, she will partner with painter Sarah Drought to stage an exhibition of their work at the fantastic Station Gallery, Richmond, occupying the large and prominent Mezzanine Gallery space. Sarah Drought, also primarily a painter of landscapes and rural scenes, is based in North Yorkshire and has been teaching young artists for over 15 years. Their work will be available to view from 13-25 May.

It is a busy month for fine art enthusiasts generally; David Venables’ ‘Hewing out the Image’ is on show at the Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until 12 June - aucklandproject.org. Dog lovers will relish Ushaw College’s outdoor presentation of ‘Barking – A Celebration of Dogs in Art’ - ushaw.org/whatson/barking-acelebration-of-dogs-in-art available to visit until 3 July.

As if that were not enough there will also be an array of talent on display at the Python Gallery at Royal Middlehaven House in Middlesbrough as the Cleveland Art Society hosts their 2022 annual exhibition until 24 June.

Hardwick Festival

Hardwick Festival returns in August 2022 and the line-up features huge names such as Stereophonics, Jake Bugg, The Specials and Seasick Steve alongside many many others.

The event has grown in stature to rank among the biggest highlights of the North East musical calendar and 2022 promises to be another bumper event.

The prestige and calibre of the Hardwick acts continues to go from strength to strength with first headliners The Stereophonics having already headlined Glastonbury and Isle of Wight festivals, and released 8 No.1 albums. The event closes on Sunday with a performance by legendary two-tone pioneers The Specials.

The evergreen and universally beloved Proclaimers will be performing on Sunday 21, as will the talented chart-topping chanteuse Becky Hill, who came to prominence on BBC’s The Voice.

Tickets are available for the whole weekend, as well as for each day. For details, please visit hardwickfestival.ticketline.co.uk.

Comedy across County Durham

Plenty of laughs to be had this month all across the local area; Durham City welcomes household names Stewart Lee (7 May) and Sarah Millican (25 May) to the Gala Theatre as well as comedy duo Flo & Joan (19 May) and Josh Widdecombe (21 May) - see www.galadurham.co.uk/whats-on.

Comedian Rich Hall showcases his musical side alongside the jokes in his rooting tooting Hoedown Deluxe at Stockton Arts Centre on 12 May arconline.co.uk/whats-on/rich-hallshoedown-deluxe.

Meanwhile, Funny Way to be Comedy at The Witham, Barnard Castle hosts police officer-turned-comic Alfie Moore (7 May) and comedienne Lou Sanders (13 May).

Tim Jasper plays Sunderland Empire

Congratulations to local musician Tim Jasper who recently stepped up to join the band in the Jersey Boys tour at Sunderland Empire.

Tim, aged 28, from Rosedale Close in Sedgefield, is currently completing his MA in Musical Direction at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Due to the withdrawal of a regular player Tim found himself - at 24 hours notice - learning the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ repertoire and deputizing on keys for four successful performances to packed houses.

A great achievement for any musician; and a huge well done to Tim on successfully rising to this challenge.

Sedgefield Rock & Blues Club

Brave Rival are the South East’s brand-new rip-roaring rock and blues machine. Hailing from Portsmouth, the UK Blues Award Nominated band features the powerful and beautiful twin vocals of Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick. On lead guitar, providing dramatic guitar solos and crunching rock riffs is Ed “The Shred” Clarke. And holding it all together is the rhythmic backbone, the self-proclaimed engine room of Billy Dedman (bass) and Donna Peters (drums).
Tickets are £15 each and available at sedgefieldblues.com/gigs.

BAMS Concert

On Friday 6 May the second B.A.M.S. concert of the season will see Annemarie Federle (horn) and Dafydd Chapman (Piano) perform beautiful compositions from Beethoven, Debussy and J.S. Bach, among others, at Bishop Auckland Methodist Church.

Both are prodigiously talented young artists and scholars at the Royal Academy of Music, who have between them been variously honoured at a host of competitions including the biennial televised BBC Young Musician 2020, at which Annemarie won the Brass category, and the National Urdd Eisteddfod, which Dafydd has won three times.

Tickets for the event are available at bvemv.orpheusweb.co.uk/BAMSWeb/ticketing.html. The Bishop Auckland Choral Society will also be performing in May, with their spring concert of light classical favourites “The Gift Of Music” due to be staged at the Town Hall at 7pm on Friday 13 May.

Tickets available on the door or from Choir Secretary Sophie Hassall on 01388 834359.

Get in touch

Submit your events/updates or information to:
Diary/Event Dates:
diary.sedgefieldnews@gmail.com
Arts & Entertainment:
sedgefieldartsandevents@outlook.com
Event Posters:
admin@sedgefielddevelopmenttrust.co.uk

Event Posters

SEDGEFIELD LIBRARY

The library is open again with temporary opening hours:
Wednesday 9.30 to 12.30
Thursday 9.30 to 16.30 (Closed for lunch from 12.30 to 13.30)
Friday 13.30 to 17.30
Saturday 9.30 to 12.30

There is no longer a limit to numbers or browsing times, so there is no need to queue. See www.durham.gov.uk/libraries for updates and information about any service changes. Tel: 0300 026 9521
Craft Group and Book Circle are back!
Craft Group, 2nd and 4th Friday of the month from 1:30pm. Book Circle, 3rd Friday of the month from 2pm.

Baby & Toddler Group

Methodist Church every Monday from 9:30am—11am.

Sedgefield Social Club

Singer every Saturday from 9pm.
Quiz on Friday 13th May at 8pm.
Karaoke on Friday 27th May at 8pm.

T Dance

The T dance is taking a break but will start back again in June. More details nearer the time.