What's happening where in the area.

MISCELLANEOUS

YORKSHIRE Dales Workshops, one of the region's leading exponents of folk and traditional arts, brings a day of workshops and performance to the Otley Courthouse on Saturday. There will be workshops in art, dance, storytelling and fiddling and many others. The day runs from 11am-10.30pm. For details call 01756-799367.

IMMERSE yourself in the spiritual atmosphere of the beautiful 12th Century Cartmel Priory and enjoy the first Flower Festival to be held at the church for 13 years. The theme of the festival is For all the Saints and it features 43 floral arrangements, each representing a saint. The festival opens on Friday and runs until Sunday (September 5). For details, call 015395-36015/36261.

FAMED as the man who cut Joe Simpson's rope in Touching the Void, renowned climber Simon Yates returns to the Brewery Arts Centre on Saturday to give a special lecture and slideshow about his adventures in South America. The talk begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 01539-725133.

THE Kirkby Lonsdale Flower Festival opens on Friday and this year's theme is Nursery Rhymes. The festival is taking place at St Mary's church and runs until Sunday.

FORMER Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell will be switching on the lights at this year's Blackpool Illuminations on Friday night. She will be joined by a host of celebrities to mark the 125th anniversary of the event. The lights will be shining until November 7.

SHOW season is still in full swing with the Westmorland County Show at Lane Farm, Crooklands, on Thursday (015395-67804); and shows at Bellfleckers Field, Bentham (015242-61606); Lowick Show Field (01229-885638) and Silverdale, Gaskell Hall, on Saturday. Ingleton Horticultural Show takes place at Ingleton Community Centre on Sunday.

STEP back in time at the Kirkby Lonsdale Victorian Fair this weekend (tomorrow and Sunday). The fair will include music, stalls, attractions and period costumes with something for all the family. For details call 015242-71437.

ULVERSTON Charter Festival opens on Saturday and features a variety of events such as a beer festival, sports, exhibitions and music. The event runs until September 18. For details, call 01229-585778.

FOR some fantastic floral finery visit the Ambleside Flower Show and Craft Fair which opens at the Show Field, Grasmere, on Friday. The show runs until Sunday. For details call 015394-32252.

CONCERTS

HOLY Trinity Church, Kendal, will be hosting a concert of Italian and German masterpieces on Saturday. Conducted by Charles Edmondson, the programme will include pieces by Handel and Vivaldi. Tickets will be priced £7 and are available from 01539-723494 or at the door. All proceeds will be donated to the Church Roof Appeal.

VISIT the Fylde Folk Festival this weekend, which takes place in a variety of locations around the fishing port of Fleetwood. The programme features many big names from the world of folk music including Mercury Prize winner Kate Rusby. The festival runs until Sunday (September 5). For tickets, call 01772-872317 or visit www.fylde-folk-festival.com THE Kendal Gathering Concert takes place at Kendal Town Hall on Thursday and features the K Shoes Male Voice Choir with guest soloist, soprano Rachel Little. Doors open at 7.15pm. Tickets are available from Kendal Tourist Information Centre.

EXHIBITIONS

CATCH the Tim Stead exhibition at Barrow Dock Museum until September 12. The exhibition celebrates his lifelong creative passion for wood through sculpture, furniture making, photography and poetry. For details call 01229-894444.

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. 01539-725133. The exhibition closes on Sunday THE complete body of Lucian Freud's published etchings are currently 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.

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. 015394-46139.

ABBOT Hall Art Gallery continues to draw the crowds with Walter Richard Sickert: The Human Canvas, a significant exhibition of 43 paintings by the father of modern British art which is on display in Kendal. The exhibition is open from Monday-Saturday (10.30am-5pm).

THE Museum of Lakeland Life is currently hosting an exhibition entitled Sense and Sensibility which explores the changing attitudes towards the Lake District in the Regency era. On display will be costumes, art, drawings and artefacts. The exhibition closes on Sunday.

GREEN Door Artists are holding an exhibition in the Court Room Gallery at Preston Patrick Hall this weekend. On display will be a variety of paintings, textiles and jewellery inspired by plants and flowers. The exhibition will be open from 10am-4pm (Friday-Sunday). For details call 015395-67764.

SOME rare Blake drawings, last seen in the UK in 1914, are currently 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. 015394-35544.

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 Sunday (September 5). 015394-41396.

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

THE largest ever exhibition of graffiti art ever held in the UK is currently on show at Urbis in Manchester. Ill Communication II features artists from all over the world and runs until the end of October.

THEATRE

THE world-famous Cambridge Footlights, the comedy troupe which sired many of today's comic talents such as Fry and Laurie, are appearing at the Brewery Arts Centre on Friday night. The show, Beyond a Joke, features a series of energy-fuelled sketches against a bizarre backdrop of humanity. The show begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 01539-725133.

STORTH Entertainers production of Alan Ayckbourn's Confusions opens on Tuesday (September 7) at Storth Village Hall. Performances begin at 7.30pm and tickets are available on 015395-63308 (day), 01524-761903 (evening) or at Storth Post Office.