Things to see and do in and around the area this week.

Miscellaneous

Knights in shining armour will be rescuing damsels in distress at Brockhole this weekend (Saturday & Sunday). Medieval Merriment weekend also features jousting and jesters. For details, call 015394-46601.

THE Festival of Talent and spectacular two-day gala opens at Ambleside Rugby Club on Friday night. The programme features local artists, music, dance and martial arts. For details, call 07967-724367.

ENJOY some traditional English Morris dancing at the Summer Dance Out at Hawkshead Square, on Friday night at 7.15pm. For details, call 015395-34136.

RHEGED, near Penrith, is hosting the New and Vintage Guitar Show this weekend (Friday-Monday). The show will feature performances, workshops and a host of rock-related films including a special preview of the new rock documentary Metallica - Some Kind of Monster. For details, call 01768-860092.

THE Dentdale Annual Festival takes place this weekend (Friday-Saturday) on the sports field at Church Bridge, Dent, featuring live music, sports, games and stalls. The village's annual gala is on Monday with fancy dress, sideshows and stalls.

MUNCASTER Country Fair takes place at Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass, on Monday with a wide range of animals sports and crafts on show. Doors open at 9am. For details, call 019467-24606.

CONCERTS

EXPERIENCE some first class music at a Celebrity Concert at Forum 28, Barrow, on Friday night. The concert will showcase the musical talents of the bursary winners of the Anne Hood Music Award, also featuring the K Shoes Male Voice Choir and soprano Miss Nan Christie. The concert begins at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 01229-820000/832595.

EXHIBITIONS

SEDBERGH and District Art Society's exhibition is showing at the Masonic Hall, Sedbergh.

THE fifth Ormside Annual Art Exhibition opens at Ormside Village Hall this weekend (Saturday-Monday). On display will be watercolours by Diane Gainey and local crafts including pottery by Bob March of Soulby. The exhibition is open from 10.30am-5pm daily and all proceeds will go to Great North Air Ambulance.

MEMBERS of the Heron Theatre in Beetham have kindly loaned their favourite paintings and pictures to form a varied exhibition. Open until the end of August on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (10am-noon), it is your chance to see just what members of the public hang on their living room walls.

KENDAL'S Brewery Arts Centre is hosting a fascinating exhibition by Sophie Henderson and Catherine MacDiarmid. FACE2 looks at the way two independent and differing artists co-exist in the same gallery space. Call 01539-725133 for details.

UPSTAIRS at Kendal Library, check out the eight-piece panorama of Skelwith Bridge to the Langdales by artist Rex Marsden. The delightful oils can be seen until the end of the month. Call 01539-773520 for details.

FOXHOUNDS are the focus of animal-loving artist, Mary Ann Rogers's exhibition of fine watercolours at the Upfront Gallery at Hutton-in-the-Forest. Call 01768-484538 for details.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition, reflecting the feelings of locals who live and work in and around Morecambe Bay has opened at Ulverston's Lanternhouse. Featuring photographs by Ania Grom-Yoncali, Bay Tales is part of Longline - Welfare State International's three-year project exploring ecology, mythology, people and industries of Morecambe Bay. It is open from Monday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturdays 11am-4pm.

BLACKWELL, the Arts and Crafts House at Bowness, is now housing the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau. This stunning new exhibition, featuring furniture and objects from the continentally-styled movement, explores the developments of the 20th Century modern design. It is open daily from 10.30am-5pm. For more details, call 015394-46139.

WIRE and bronze sculptures, installations, collages and prints of human torsos, animal heads, and strange and wonderful creatures all feature in a fascinating exhibition at the Storey Gallery in Lancaster this week. You can view the inspiring body of work by internationally-acclaimed artist Sophie Ryder, on Friday & Saturday, 10am-4pm or check out the selection on show in the city centre. Call 01524-844133 for details.

AN INTERESTING textile exhibition at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, displaying work made from a variety of materials from wool and silk to hand-made papers and embroidered lace, closes on Wednesday. Select Fibres features the work of five textile artists whose work is linked by felting techniques and a passion for fibres and colours. Open 10.30am-5pm daily, call 015396-21958 for more information.

SOME rare Blake drawings, last seen in the UK in 1914, are on display at The Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere - as part of an exhibition on Milton's Paradise Lost. Works by Medina, Romney, Turner and original editions of Milton's work will also feature. Call 015394-35544 for details.

THE complete body of Lucian Freud's published etchings are being displayed at Kendal's Abbot Hall Art Gallery. Including some rare early prints and several new and unpublished works, the 60 pieces cover a variety of subjects from portraits and nudes to studies of nature. It is open from 10.30am-5pm, Monday-Saturday. Call 01539-722464 for details.

THE Alfred Wainwright Exhibition continues at Kendal Museum this week. Call 01539-721374 for details.

THE Severn Studio at Brantwood (the former Coniston home of John Ruskin) has been literally transformed by the talented Pamela McTurk. Her rich and diverse exhibition, Transformed, is a thoughtful collection of paintings on show daily (11am-5.30pm) until September. Call 015394-41396 for details.

THEATRE

SHOWSTOPPERS, an all-singing all-dancing cabaret spectacular featuring many of the biggest hits from the West End and Broadway, returns to the Bryce Institute, Burneside, on Friday & Saturday nights. This year's show includes excerpts from Chicago, Phantom of the Opera, Carousel and many more. Performances begin at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 07792-777213.

RENOWNED storyteller Taffy Thomas will be spinning a yarn or two and holding a storytelling workshop in the garden at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, tomorrow (Saturday). Catch him from 2pm-3pm. To book a place, call 01539-725133.