Pick of the week

MISCELLANEOUS

THE Lakeland Festival of Storytelling kicks off on Friday night and this year's event promises a sparkling array of storytelling events in Staveley and Ings. The grand opening takes place at Wilf's Caf with Taffy Thomas as the host for the evening. A full programme of events is available at Staveley Village Hall or visit www.taffythomas.co.uk THE Wordsworth Trust's series of Summer Poetry Readings continues on Tuesday (September 28) with an evening with poet Matthew Sweeney. The reading will take place at The Thistle Hotel, Grasmere, at 6.30pm. For details, call 015394-35544.

OUTSPOKEN columnist and media commentator Janet Street-Porter will be appearing at the Old Laundry Theatre, Bowness, on Thursday. The evening begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 015394-88444.

BURNLEY-based outdoor photographer and climber Alastair Lee has spent the past decade travelling and climbing around the world and his photography is the subject of a new exhibition. More than Meets the Eye can be seen at the Mid Peninne Arts Gallery, Burnley, until Saturday.

RHEGED, near Penrith, continues its season of lectures on Saturday when renowned mountaineer Stephen Venables tells of his own explorations and adventures on Shackleton's island - South Georgia. He will recount his own first ascent of Mt Carse and his retracing of Shackleton's epic journey across the unexplored mountains of South Georgia to summon help for his beleaguered men. For details, call 01768-868000.

CONCERTS

THE Lakeland Sinfonia's 30th anniversary season opens on Saturday with a concert of works by Ravel, Bach and Mozart from the Northern Sinfonia featuring Ruth Killius on violin and viola. The concert begins at 7.30pm at Kendal Leisure Centre. For details, call 01539-722533.

INDULGE in some glam disco music nostalgia at the Grand Theatre, Lancaster, on Thursday. Abba Magic is a tribute to the top 70s Swedish band, which has toured to sell-out crowds for the last seven years. The concert begins at 7.30pm. For tickets, call 01524-64695.

EXHIBITIONS

ST ANTHONY'S Church, Cartmel Fell, is hosting an art exhibition to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the church. The exhibition is entitled Window on the Fell and opens this weekend (Friday-Sunday) featuring a variety of arts and crafts. Open from 10am-5pm daily. For details, call 015395-36042-31405.

VIRIDIAN Gallery, Keswick, is hosting an exhibition of Lakeland paintings by Marion Bradley. Aspects of Lakeland runs until November 7.

THE complete body of Lucian Freud's published etchings is 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.

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 is on display in Kendal. The Freud and Sickert exhibitions are open from Monday-Saturday (10.30am-5pm).

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

Brantwood, Coniston, is hosting an exhibition of floral photography by Dave Marshall Ward. The exhibition opens on Saturday and runs until October 24. For details, call 015394-41396.

AN EXHIBITION entitled Stitches in Time: Quilts since 1790, is on show at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle. On display will be a variety of patchwork and quilting including the earliest exhibit made by Martha Jackson in Westmorland in 1790. The exhibition runs until November 7.

JASON Minsky, winner of the first Crosby Homes Manchester Art Prize, is the subject of an exhibition fusing painting, sculpture and installation. The exhibition explores the relationship between work, leisure, competition and art and is described as half bike race and half art show. Get InGet Out is appearing at the Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, until October 3. For details, call 0161-235-8888.

THE Witherslack Group of artists' 11th exhibition is showing at The Old Schoolroom, Witherslack. The exhibition includes work from Alvin Irving, a recent prizewinner at an exhibition in Athens to coincide with this year's Olympic Games. The exhibition runs until October 17 and is open from 10am-5pm daily.

IMPERIAL War Museum North, Salford Quays, is hosting an exhibition entitled The Greater Game: Sport, War and Peace looking at the similarities between sport and conflict and the role of sport in bringing people together in wartime. For details, call 0161-836-4000.

THE Musum of Lakeland Life, Kendal, is hosting an exhibition of glitzy and glamorous 1920s costumes evoking the perennially popular era. The exhibition, entitled Bright Young Things, also feature paintings and furniture from the period. For details, call 01539-722464.

LEGENDARY Northern artist L.S. Lowry is the subject of an exhibition entitled Lowry's Mean Streets of the 1930s and 40s inspired by a strange beauty' he described seeing on the streets. The exhibition is on show at The Lowry, Salford Quays, until January 2. For details, call 0870-787-5780.

THEATRE

THE Coronation Hall at Ulverston plays host to a musical romantic comedy version of Shakespeare's classic, The Tempest, on Friday. The production, by the Shakespeare 4 Kidz theatre group, is especially for children with performances at 10.30am and 1.30pm. For details, call 01229-587140.

KENDAL Amateur Operatic Society presents Shakespeare's Richard III at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on Saturday. The performance begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 01539-725133.

NORTHERN Broadsides present Leopold Lewis's The Bells - a chilling tale of murder, remorse and retribution at the Laundry Theatre, Bowness, this weekend (Friday and Saturday). The performance is part of the Bowness Theatre and Film Festival and begins at 8pm. For tickets, call 015394-88444.

ENJOY a night at the opera at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on Friday night. Pimlico Opera present a new production of Mozart's classic love story Cosi fan Tutte. The performance begins at 8pm. For details, call 01539-725133 MIKE Leigh's comedy Abigail's Party is showing at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster. The play centres on an evening of entertaining in 1970s suburbia in the lounge of Beverly and Laurence. Beverly is hosting a little soiree for her new neighbours, Ange and Tone, and also Sue from number 9, and when the gin and tonics start to flow, so do the home truths. For details, call 01524-598500.

ENGLISH Touring Theatre returns to The Lowry, Salford Quays, on Tuesday, with a major new period dress production of one of Shakespeares greatest comedies, Twelfth Night. For details call 0870-787-5786.

CLASSIC fairytale Sleeping Beauty will be performed by The European Ballet, led by ex Bolshoi principal Stanislav Tschassov, at the Grand Theatre, Lancaster, on Sunday. The performance begins at 6.30pm. For tickets, call 01524-64695.

TAGGED is a hard-hitting play following Chris, a 16-year-old boy who has been electronically tagged. Chris is on his last chance. If he breaks his curfew he is going down. Produced by Red Ladder in association with Half Moon Young People's Theatre, Tagged will be appearing at the Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester, until Saturday. For details, call 0161-274-0600.

THE Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, presents the UK premiere of A Conversation, by Australia's best-known playwright David Williamson. The play deals with the aftermath of the rape and murder of a young child at the hands of a sociopathic young killer. It is showing until October 9. For details, call 0161-833-9833.