Live & Local season includes music, comedy-theatre and puppetry in Derbyshire community venues

Live & Local has unveiled a new progamme of surprising shows in surprising places, funded by Arts Council England and district and borough councils. This season promises lots of exciting new performers and shows for audiences to discover, as well as returning favourites. The programme includes:

An Evening with Kellys Heroes, masters of folk who have played in stadiums, festivals and concert halls and released 14 albums during their 40+ years. Kellys Heroes will play at the Fred Hopkinson Memorial Hall in Unstone on October 5, 2024, BIggin Village Hall on January 6 and Ashover Parish Hall on January 17, 2025.

Lyon & BIrd, lead singers and songwriters of cult folk-rockers Holy Moly & The Crackers, present an evening of music and storytelling at KIrk Langley Village Hall on October 10 and at Tansley VIllage Hall on October 12.

Contemporary folk duo Filkin’s Drift wlll light up the stage at Taddington Village Institute on October 19.

Alas Poor Yorick spins Shakespeare’s gravediggers from Hamlet into a world of slapstick comedy, stirring song and inventive theatre. Catch this show at Tideswell Community Hall on October 24.

Fans of rock music, comedy and uplifting stories should check out AWOL, a feelgood adventure about two old men who escape from a care home to attend a metal festival. AWOL wlll be hosted at Doe Lea Resource Centre on October 26 and at Morton Village Hall on January 11.

Pentabus Theatre Company are back with a new show called Make Good: The Post Office Scandal, a musical that tells the story of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice in British history, which will be performed at Killamarsh Parish Suite on Thursday, October 31.

Guitairst Gus Glynn will take a Route to Classics including songs by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Carole King at Crich Glebe Field Centre on November 2.

Grace Smith Trio, comprising Grace Smith (fiddle/viola), Sam Partridge (concertina/guitar) and Bevan Morris (double bass) present an evening of instrumental folk music at Tansley VIllage Hall on November 15 and Great Longstone Village Hall on November 16.

Foot-stomping, old-time music will be aired by Old Spot – Appalachian Duo, composed of multi-instrumentalist, singer and Morris dancer Joe Danks and folk fiddle player and traditional singer Rowan Piggott, at Florence Nightingale Memorial Hall Holloway on December 6.

Award-winning children’s show The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen lands at Fred Hopkinson Memorial Hall, Unstone for an afternoon performance on December 7.

Craig Gould & The Noble Thieves present: The Campfire Sessions, an evening of songs and stories, at Doe Lea Resource Centre on December 7.

Polaris The Snow Bear is a festive treat packed with comedy, puppets, songs and a touch of snowy wonder. Presented by Badapple Theatre, this family show will he hosted at Belper Community Hall on December 21.

Rounding off the first month of 2025, award-winning guitarist and composer Geoff Robb will present a concert entitled The Music Of Trees at The Burton Institute, Winster on January 31.

For tickets, visit www.liveandlocal.org.uk