*Look for our Child Friendly Events (blue background)
What's On This Month?
Thursday 01 April - Sunday 11 April
Oxfringe
Oxfringe is the fringe festival for Oxford, featuring music, literature, comedy, theatre and visual arts.
Various venues - see website below for full event listings
24th March - 11th April
Thursday 01 April - Monday 12 April
Dancin Oxford - Dance Festival 2010
Welcome to the 2010 Dancin’ Oxford Festival. We believe we have something for everyone programmed this year, whether you simply want to sit back and watch, like to join in and try a new dance form or get involved in a workshop. The dance forms this year include African, ballet, ballroom, bangra/bollywood, ceroc, charleston, contemporay, flamenco, family, film, hip hop, historical, jazz, kathak, Latin American, rags sharqi, salsa, samba reggae, street, tango, tap, tea dance and zumba. See website for fulll programme details.
February - April
Thursday 01 April - Sunday 04 April
Oxford Jazz Festival 2010
The Oxford Jazz Festival returns in 2010 for a second year of exciting and eclectic jazz. The four day event will take place over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend with acclaimed jazz artists performing in some of Oxford’s finest and most historic venues.
See website below for newsletter sign-up and programme information
Friday 02 April - Monday 05 April
Great Blenheim Palace Easter Egg Challenge
Join in the family fun with the annual Easter Egg Challenge at Blenheim Palace, including face painting. Follow the trails of clues around the beautiful Pleasure Gardens; will they be in the Marlborough Maze, Butterfly House or the Blenheim Bygones exhibition? Complete the hunt and you will receive a prize.
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock
Saturday 03 April
The Boat Race
On Race Day up to 250,000 spectators crowd the banks of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake to witness the action. Cambridge currently lead the series since 1829 by 79-75. Oxford won the 2009 Race. The 156th Boat Race takes place on Saturday, 3 April 2010 at 16:30.
4.30 pm
Sunday 04 April
C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien Guided Walking Tour
Two highly popular university lecturers and authors, friends J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, wrote some of the most popular books of the 20th century. Share the environment in which they studied, lived and spent their leisure time in their beloved Oxford. Adult £7.50 / Senior £7.50 / Child £4.00
13.30
Sunday 04 April
Maggie’s Easter Egg Hunt
Help support our Charity of the Year by visiting the gardens on Easter Day or taking part in our Maggies Easter Egg Hunt. All entrance money for the gardens will be donated to the Maggies Cancer Caring Charity appeal to build a 3 million cancer caring centre in Oxford. Proceeds from the Easter Egg Hunt will also go to Maggies. It costs 2 per child payable on the door.
Waterperry Gardens, Waterperry, Near Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1JZ
10.00 am - 5.30 pm
Tuesday 06 April
Spring Scenes at The University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum
Come along to the Harcourt Arboretum during the Easter holiday and join in our FREE family friendly activities. Keep your eyes and ears open to the signs of spring all around you, as you explore our 130 acres. Be inspired by this beautiful site and create a spring scene on your own canvas to take home with you. 2010 is International Year of Biodiversity. Have a go at our challenge to see how many different plants and trees you can find growing at the Arboretum. You might even like to have a go at growing some of them in your own garden!
University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire, OX44 9PX
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm
Wednesday 07 April
Meet the Industry - New Writing South
Join speakers from the world of publishing in conversation with New Writing South at this year’s Oxfringe 2010 Festival. Get an overview of the publishing industry today, what authors should know about the business of publishing, discover what experts do and how they can help your career as well as gain tips and insights into the book and publishing world. The evening also offers an informal opportunity to network and ask questions.
The Vaults, Radcliffe Square
6.30 pm - 8.15 pm
Wednesday 07 April
Advice & Information Surgeries - New Writing South
New Writing South is pleased to be at this year’s Oxfringe 2010 Festival offering individual advice and information surgeries. These surgeries are designed to answer your professional development questions including areas such as: your writing practice, finding time and space to write and overcoming blocks. Each 50-minute surgery is aimed at guiding your career and professional development and will be with leading literary manager Sarah Dickinson (for playwrights) and publisher Adrian Weston at Raft (for authors.) CV’s and a short example of work must be sent in at least one week prior to your session. £40 (concessions £25)
The Oxford Playhouse
11.00 am - 5.00 pm
Thursday 08 April
Crime Salon - New Writing South
Crime Salon will take a sideways and fresh look at what is a perennially popular genre. Join successful crime writers Sue Walker and Lesley Thomson along with writer, film-maker and producer Carole Hayman (Ladies of Letters) for an evening of readings from crime novels; debate and extracts from the highly acclaimed film No One Escapes – about serial killers and those who work with them.
The Vaults, Radcliffe Square
7.30 pm - 9.30 pm
Friday 09 April
The Games People Play
Come along to meet Leslie Scott, the inventor of the blockbuster game Jenga and author of About Jenga, and attempt to beat Leslie at her own game while she chats about her story of creating a game that became a household name.
7.15 pm
Malmaison Hotel.
Sunday 11 April
Orvis Fly-Fishing Fair at Blenheim Palace
Come and have a go at fly-fishing at the Blenheim Palace Trout Fishery in Blenheim Park. Enjoy a full programme of fly-fishing with the Orvis Pro-Guide Team, and beginners can enjoy demonstrations and free casting tutorials. Orvis Fly-Fishing Tackle will be available to hire or purchase at the marquee including professional tips and advice from instructors. Enjoy a BBQ and family activities including falconry and archery.
11:00 to 16:45
Tuesday 13 April
Spring Scenes at The University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum
Come along to the Harcourt Arboretum during the Easter holiday and join in our FREE family friendly activities. Keep your eyes and ears open to the signs of spring all around you, as you explore our 130 acres. Be inspired by this beautiful site and create a spring scene on your own canvas to take home with you. 2010 is International Year of Biodiversity. Have a go at our challenge to see how many different plants and trees you can find growing at the Arboretum. You might even like to have a go at growing some of them in your own garden!
University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire, OX44 9PX
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm
Friday 16 April - Sunday 18 April
Sunday 18 April
The Oxford Mail OX5RUN
The Oxford Mail OX5 RUN annual 5 mile run around Blenheim Palace, raising funds for the Children’s Hospital and children’s services at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust. Stage, Screen and Pop Star Jason Donovan to officially start the OX5RUN!
Blenheim Palace
10.30 am
Wednesday 21 April - Monday 26 April
OxDox International Film Festival
The annual documentary film festival takes place at the Ashmolean Museum and the Ultimate Picture Palace. The films are set on a world stage by internationally acclaimed directors and expose the global issues of importance to all of us. Films, with their directors, from architecture to Punk, from the weaponization of space to the White Stripes are all in the 2010 programme. In 2010, OxDox will continue with the special space created for a ‘Great Debate’ on issues that affect us all. A series of UK premiere films, with their directors attending, put the spotlight on the pharmaceutical industry and our health. Scientists Under Attack, The Idiot Cycle, and Toxic Baby expose the role of big business and government in our health. Scientists Under Attack reveals, as one example, that only 5% of medical research in genetic engineering is independent. The Idiot Cycle is an exposé of all we are not being told about cancer. My Toxic Baby takes us on a journey through a typical supermarket that is unlike any shopping trip you have ever experienced. The directors of these films alongside a panel of experts will be answering your questions after the screenings. Rob Lemkin’s multi award winning film ‘Enemies of the People’ follows the journey of a young journalist whose family were among the approximately 2 million killed by the Khmer Rouge, in his search for their killers. His ten year quest includes finding ‘Brother Number 2’ Nuon Chea, Pol Po’s right-hand man. Rob Lemkin will be at the festival screening on Saturday 24th April to discuss his film with the audience, described by Andrew Marr on Radio 4’s Start the Week as ‘the most moving and gripping film I have ever seen’. The UK premiere of U.N. Me with the director Ami Horowitz coming over from New York for the screening on Thursday 22nd April, is a revealing and shocking journey of corruption and incompetence through an organisation founded as the embodiment of our hopes for a safer world. The UK premiere screenings of ‘Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space’, together with the director, Denis Delestrac, will open OXDOX at the Ultimate Picture Palace on Wednesday 21st April at 6.30 p.m.
For further information go to the OxDox website
Wednesday 21 April
Oxford Geek Night
Oxford Geek Nights offer a chance for web developers and designers in the local area to get together, share their skills and talk about new ideas, techniques and technologies. Each OGN consists of two keynote talks of 15 minutes each, and two sets of 5-minute-long microslot sessions. In between are bouts of socialising and sometimes advertising for other related local groups.
OGN17 will feature:
* GPL: not very dangerous really, by Andrew Katz, partner at Moorcrofts LLP
* User centred design: be careful not to listen to everything your users say, by Rebecca Gill, head of customer insight at Bunnyfoot
Microslots are five-minute “lightning” talks that anyone can volunteer for. They’re easy to do: pick something that excites you, or a project you’ve worked on that you think might be of interest; then talk to a friendly audience for just five minutes with a handful of slides. Submit your microslot and we’ll see you on the night! Here are the confirmed microslots for OGN17:
* Twonky + smart box of tricks = £, by Jon Baxter
* YQL for your mashup, by David Sheldon
* Eventility - event and venue provenance, by Robin Brattel
* We Love Curry on Facebook (tbc), by Rob Salmon
Upstairs at the Jericho Tavern, Walton Street.
7.30 pm
Friday 23 April - Saturday 24 April
Oxfordshire Ideal Green Home Show
Oxfordshire ClimateXChange and the Climate Outreach Information Network (COIN) are hosting another Ideal Green Home Show at Oxford Town Hall, featuring local Eco-renovation suppliers as well as home eco-renovation Case Studies presentations. Practitioners, businesses and community enterprises are pioneering eco-renovation pathways, and an increasing number of home owners are showing how it is possible to slash heating bills and make their homes warmer, brighter and more desirable. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and get involved!
Friday 4-7 pm. Saturday 10 am - 4 pm.
Sunday 25 April
St. George’s Day Celebrations at Oxford Castle Unlocked
Live entertainment, Morris Dancing, lots of stalls selling gorgeous local produce. 700 Scouts will parade up the Mound where a ceremony will take place. Look out for the Dragon!
Monday 26 April
Gilad Atzmon & Ramzy Baroud at the Albion Beatnik Bookshop
Atzmon and Baroud speak at the Albion Beatnik Bookshop, 34a Walton Street, Jericho at 6.30pm. Atzmon is a legendary maverick saxophonist, discussing the way in which listening to Israel’s Arab neighbors shaped a life changing epiphany, both ethically and musically. Baroud, an internationally respected Palestinian/American writer, reads from his new book ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story’
http://www.gilad.co.uk
http://www.ramzybaroud.net
6.30 pm
Wednesday 28 April - Friday 30 April
Oxford May Music Festival 2010
Returning for its 3rd year, the Oxford May Music Festival once again takes place in the historic centre of Oxford. Based in one of the gems of 18th century architecture, the Holywell Music Room, with one of the best acoustics in the world, the festival brings together some of the finest musicians performing in the UK today and many leading lecturers in their fields. For a full line-up of events view the official website or see our listings here.
28 April – 3 May
