Art

THIS weekend is the last chance to catch The Manchester Art Show at Urbis, Cathedral Gardens. The fair displays the work of more than 80 artists from around the UK. Highlights include the photography of Claire Parr and many pieces are available to buy.

WITCHCRAFT! Did witchcraft exist and does it still exist today? Find out at a fascinating exhibition at Kendal Museum. Witchcraft is open daily from 10.30am-4pm until December 20.

GOSSIP Gate Gallery, Alston, is hosting an exhibition of art and crafts entitled Christmas in the Country. For details call 01434-381806.

THE Bay Potters’ Christmas Show takes place at the Athenaeum, Leasgill, Heversham, on Sunday. The show is an ideal opportunity to meet the artists and buy work directly from them. Doors open from 10am-4pm.

IMPERIAL War Museum North hosts a major new exhibition from Manchester artist Hughie O’Donoghue entitled Painting Caserta Red. The exhibition features a series of paintings and artefacts that trace the artist’s father’s wartime experiences, from conscription, through war in Europe and to his return to Manchester in 1946. Painting Caserta Red runs until January 18.

Books

LOCAL author Peter Wood will be signing copies of his new book Stainton – An Old Westmorland Parish at its launch tomorrow (Saturday). The launch takes place at Kendal Library, doors open from 10am-noon. For details call 015395-61321.

Christmas

GRASMERE Trades Association will be recreating a line from a famous Wordsworth poem by adorning local houses, shops and the school with stars of all shapes and sizes bringing festive cheer to the village this weekend of (Saturday and Sunday). Shops will have star-based window displays and there will also be street entertainment, treasure hunt, antiques fair and a guest appearance from Peter Rabbit. Local hotels and restaurants will be providing mulled wine and other seasonal fare.

Comedy

TRANSVESTITE funnyman Eddie Izzard will be performing at the Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, tonight (Friday). Doors open at 8pm. For tickets call 0870-190-8000.

THERE should be seasonal laughs a-plenty at the Ken Dodd Christmas Show at the Sands Centre, Carlisle, tonight (Friday). For tickets call 01228-625600.

BERNARD Wrigley, star of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, will be appearing at Ulverston Sports Club for an evening of hilarious songs and stories on Thursday. Doors open at 7.45pm. For tickets call 07743-555227.

Concerts

KENDAL South Choir and Orchestra will be performing the complete version of Handel’s Messiah at Kendal Parish Church tomorrow (Saturday). The concert will be conducted by Hugh Davies and features a professional orchestra and soloists. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are available on the door or call 01524-811579.

THE Saturday Evening Concert Series continues at Brantwood with a concert of violin, cello and piano music from The Knox Trio, on Saturday. The programme features music from Haydn and Brahms. The evening includes wine and canapés. Doors open at 7pm. For tickets call 015394-41396.

JULIE Felix is visiting Forum 28, Duke Street, Barrow, as part of her Ruby Tour tomorrow (Saturday). The performance will include songs from Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as well as her own original material. Doors open at 8pm. For tickets call 01229-820000.

CELTIC rock band Runrig are playing at the Sands Centre, Carlisle, on Tuesday. Doors open at 7.30pm. For tickets call 01228-625222.

TOP Britpop band Blur are appearing at a King George’s Hall, Northgate, Blackburn, on Sunday. Doors open at 7.30pm. For tickets call 01254-582582.

THE Cobweb Orchestra will be giving a concert at Rheged, near Penrith, on Sunday. The Cobweb Orchestra is a community project that receives expert guidance from the Northern Sinfonia and they will be performing a programme of Beethoven pieces. Doors open at 7.30pm. For tickets call 01768-860090.

BOARD the time machine for the Ultimate 60s Show and be whisked back to an era of fabulous music from the likes of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, and The Beatles at the Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven, tonight (Friday). Doors open at 8pm. For tickets call 01946-692422.

WESTMORLAND Youth Orchestra will be in concert with the Ulverston Victoria High School swing band at the Coronation Hall tomorrow (Saturday). The programme includes music from stage, screen and swing. Doors open at 7.30pm. For tickets call 01229-587140.

THE Big Chris Barber Band is in concert at Preston Charter Theatre on Sunday. With 11 musicians playing the best in Dixieland and traditional jazz it should be a night to remember.

TAKE 5 salute musical legends such as Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison and Barbra Streisand with a concert at Staveley Roundhouse on Wednesday. Doors open at 7.30pm. Musical Legends runs until December 6. For details call 01539-821379.

FOLK singer Jacqui McDonald will be giving a charity concert of traditional folk music at Staveley Village Hall, tomorrow (Saturday). Doors open at 8pm.

Conferences

LEARN more about the archaeology of the Lake District at a conference organised by the Lake District National Park Authority and the National Trust at St Martin’s College, Ambleside, tomorrow. Doors open at 10am. For details call 01539-792712.

Dancing

THE Let’s Dance Group will be getting the Ulverston Dickensian Festival off to a great start with the Mistletoe Ball at the Coronation Hall tonight (Friday). Victorian dress is optional and dancers will be treated to a warming glass of punch and a finger buffet. Doors open at 8pm. For details call 01229-582610.

DANCE the night away at the Footloose Night to Remember IV at Forum 28, Barrow, from Monday-Wednesday. The night features guest artists performing hits from Tom Jones, James Bond and Bombay Dreams. Doors open at 7pm. For details call 01229-820000.

Fairs

VISIT the festive Christmas Bazaar at the Castle Street Centre, Kendal, tomorrow (Saturday). There will be something for everyone with stalls, raffles, tombola and Santa’s Grotto. Doors open from 10am-2pm.

SHOP ‘til you drop at a Christmas Auction and Fayre at St. Mary’s RC School, Ulverston, today (Friday). There will be various stalls and the auction features goods donated by local retailers. Doors open at 6pm.

THERE will be a Christmas Fair at Ladyholme Community Centre, Lake Road, Windermere, tomorrow (Saturday). Doors open from 10.30am-3pm.

THE ultimate Christmas shopping experience takes place at Manchester’s G-Mex this weekend (Friday-Sunday). The Spirit of Christmas event features over 250 stands offering the very best in food, drink and decorations. There will also be demonstrations from celebrity chefs and an indoor ice-rink creating a genuine winter atmosphere. For tickets call 0870-121-2525.

DON’T miss the Christmas Fayre at Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, tonight (Friday). Doors open from 7pm-9pm.

THE European Christmas Market and the Traditional German Market have made a welcome return to city centre Manchester and will appear until December 21 in Albert Square and St Ann’s Square respectively.

OLD Hutton Christmas Fair takes place at the Public Hall tomorrow (Saturday). There will be a selection of stalls and an appearance from the man himself, Santa Claus. All proceeds will go to Old Hutton Church fund. Doors open from 2pm-4pm.

Lectures

THE Royal Geographical Society Lectures continue at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, tonight (Friday) with a talk entitled Shadows Across the Sahara, by John Hare. The talk will explore Mr Hare’s 1,462 mile trek along a former trans-Saharan slave route from Lake Chad to Tripoli. Doors open 7.30pm. For details call 01539-725133.

Sport

IT MAY be cold outside, but it’s summer revisited when the Cumbria Floodlit Inter Cricket Competition takes place at Ulverston Leisure Centre on Monday and Thursday, December 1 and 4.

More than 50 children from South Lakeland will be taking part in the two-day festival organised by Cumbria Cricket Board.

KENDAL Rugby Club are on the road again for successive weekends, heading for Tynedale in National League 3 North (2.30pm), while Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC host Carlisle and Windermere and Upper Eden entertain Aldwinians and Trafford MV respectively in the North Lancs/Cumbria section of the Powergen Northern Division. (2.30pm).

KENDAL Town footballers are also out of town, this time at Prescot Cables in the UniBond League’s First Division programme on Saturday (3pm).

KENDAL men’s hockey club play at home to Springfield Men on the all-weather pitch at Queen Katherine School, Shap Road, on Saturday (2.30pm).

Theatre

THE Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth, is staging a production of The First Encounter, a nautical tale of madness, revenge and obsession based on Moby Dick, tonight (Friday). Doors open at 8pm. For tickets call 01900-826448.

JOIN Lara on her journey to the dreamworld of Starlight in search of the world’s missing magic in an enchanting fairytale at the Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven, on Sunday. Doors open at 7pm. For tickets call 01946-692422.

LANCASTER University Theatre Group present a double-bill of classic plays at the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster, this week (Tuesday-Thursday). Doors open for Habeas Corpus, an hilarious comedy from Alan Bennett, at 6pm and for Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet at 8pm. For tickets call 0800-028-3042.

HANS Christian Andersen’s classic tale, The Snow Queen, adapted by Neil Duffield, is showing at the Dukes, Lancaster. The Snow Queen lives in a palace in the far frozen North where she has hatched a plot to destroy spring and summer and turn warm, kind hearts into cold, hurtful ones with the help of Jack Frost. The Snow Queen runs until January 3 with performances at various times. For details call 01524-598500.

THE Ghosts Of Scrooge is a musical adaptation of Dickens’s tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from embittered skinflint to generous benefactor and will be appearing at the Library Theatre, St Peter’s Square, Manchester, until January 17. There are performances at various times throughout the day. Call 0161-236-7110 for details.

THE acclaimed Irish play, The Sanctuary Lamp, by Tom Murphy, is appearing at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre tomorrow (Saturday). The play tells the story of three misfits who seek shelter from the world and their demons in a deserted church in a forgotten part of the city. Doors open at 4pm and 8pm. For tickets call 0161-833-9833.

TV PSYCHIC Derek Acorah will be demonstrating his unique abilities to audiences at The Grand Theatre, Blackpool, on Thursday. For tickets call 01253-290190.