Olympic Outdoor Cinema in the Gardens

Join Blenheim Palace this summer to watch the Olympics with friends and family in the splendid setting of the Pleasure Gardens at Blenheim Palace. Every day during the London 2012 Olympics, from 28th July - 12th August, Blenheim Palace will host a Big Screen showing BBC coverage of the games whilst you enjoy a host of hospitality including sizzling BBQs, refreshments at the Pleasure Gardens Deli, a Pimms and Champagne Bar, in addition to all of the family attractions within the Pleasure Gardens.

10am - 10pm

Category: Events

All Saints’ Summer Music Festival

There are nine concerts in All Saints Church, continuing through June, July and August and ending on Wednesday 29 August 2012. All concerts start at 8pm.
Free admission, and a glass of wine afterwards.

8pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Stories from the Gardens

A trip to Blenheim Palace this summer offers the perfect day out for families. For the summer holiday period 21st July - 31st August, special costumed entertainment ‘Stories from the Gardens’ will bring history to life in the East Courtyard. Families can hear about the daily life of people who lived and worked at Blenheim Palace in the 1930s, through the eyes of Mrs Collett the ‘Head Gardeners Wife’, who moved to Blenheim Palace with her husband aged 21 years.

This entertaining storytelling tour will guide visitors through the East Courtyard and across to the Water Terraces revealing intriguing - and amusing - insights about working life for the Chamber Maids, Gardeners and Game Keepers throughout the late 19th and early 20th Century at Blenheim Palace. Tours will run daily, throughout the day from the East Courtyard.

Official website

Category: Family Friendly

Film Evening

A James Joyce evening at Albion Beatnik Bookshop, Walton Street.

8pm

Category: Events Performance

Jekka McVicar - Expert Talk and Lunch

Jekka McVicar returns to Waterperry with a talk entitled ‘Herbs that transform a meal into a feast’.
With more than 60 RHS gold medals under her belt, Jekka will provide you with expert advice and insider information and then join you for a buffet lunch in Waterperry House.
Tea and coffee available from 10am and the talk starts at 10.30am.
If the weather is good the event may include a short garden tour. Tickets cost £35.

Waterperry Gardens

10am

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Daisy Birthing Classes

Daisy Birthing™ is a gentle relaxed-active birthing concept by http://www.lazydaisychain.co.uk  Suitable for or all mums-to-be. Combining gentle yoga inspired moves, alongside breath work, relaxations, birth education and self- hypnosis techniques. Special introductory class price of £6.60 per session; £40 for 6 classes.

Barefoot Books, Summertown.

11am

Category: Courses & Workshops

Artist Talk: Apophenia

Please join us at The China Shop for a talk in The Workshop Studios by the curators of Apophenia, Phoebe Mitchell and Charles Robinson. The China Shop and The Workshop Studio will be open from 6.30pm for drinks. The talk will commence at 7.30pm. We anticipate finishing by 8.30pm.

7.30pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Kino Club Film Screening

Zelig (PG) In this legendary mockumentary, Woody Allen tells a story of a human chameleon, Leonard Zelig, a fictional 1920s celebrity with a fantastical ability to psychologically and physically take the shape of people he encounters, from jazz musicians to psychoanalysts. Zelig is a powerful allegory of conformity and its consequences.£3 booking essential.

Modern Art Oxford.

7pm

Category: Performance

Five by Five – Collaborative independent filmmaking

Five by Five is an example of independent film making at its best. Five directors, all passionate about making independent films, collaborated to make five high quality films in ten days. They ran a successful crowd funding campaign and tapped into a combined network of contacts from across the country. They shared equipment, locations and crew and with everyone donating their time for free, were able to successfully make five films for roughly the cost of one.

Booking is essential. Film Oxford, 54 Catherine Street.

7.30pm

Category: Performance

Oxford Farmers’ Market at Gloucester Green

A Farmers’ Market is a venue for local people, making local food with local ingredients to sell their produce directly to you. All produce must be locally grown or locally produced - local means within 30 miles of the market location.

9am - 2pm 1st Thursday of the month, 9am - 3pm 3rd Thursday of the month

On the 1st & 3rd Thursday of the month

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

West Oxford Farmers Market

Along with a cafe, there is produce, bread, cakes and pastries available, as well as eggs, jams and chutneys.
The West Oxford farmers market is held on the first Friday of every month at West Oxford Community Centre.

1pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Jousting Tournament featuring ‘The Knights of Royal England’

From 3rd - 5th August the battle will strike in deadly earnest and the Knights, as in medieval times, will give no quarter!  Families can watch and cheer as points are awarded to the knights who compete in the skills on horseback, riding the quintain, spearing small, smaller and even the smallest rings, picking up Saracens heads from the ground, all at a gallop.  The thrills continue when the knights compete in hand to hand combat with their choice of medieval weapon, on the ground.  As the tension mounts, knights will gallop at full pace to meet face-to-face with a three metre lance, with only a shield and helmet to protect them!

Blenheim Palace

11am

Category: Events Family Friendly

Making and Using an Astrolabe

In this workshop for adults, participants will make their own model astrolabe and discover how to use it. Booking is essential, voluntary materials donation: £5.
Call 01865 277280 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to reserve a space.
Museum of the History of Science.

11am

Category: Courses & Workshops

East Oxford Farmers’ Market

The East Oxford Farmers’ & Community Market is a small, friendly local market which can provide the staples for your weekly shop, all from sources within 30 miles of Oxford: bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cheese, various meats, refills for cleaning supplies - as well as a range of other products such as jewellery, clothing and secondhand books. It has been running since August 2006, and is a non-profit making organisation, run by a committee and a group of volunteers. We are passionate about the market and what it sells. We actively source food from within 30 miles of Oxford and encourage community stalls run by local residents. We also offer Fairtrade produce from further afield and try to make sure it comes to us by land or ship. The market has a cafe which runs each week selling delicious breakfasts, lunches, cakes and fair-trade teas and coffee. This is a lovely place to meet up and take a break from shopping.
East Oxford Primary School directly behind the Tesco car park

10:00 to 13:00

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Appleton Dene - Open Garden for NGS

Beautiful secluded new garden set in a hidden valley bordered by woods and a field. The ¼-acre garden on a steeply sloping site surrounds a mature tulip tree. There is a skillfully incorporated level lawn area overlooked by deep borders incl a wide variety of plants for long seasonal interest.

Admission £3, Children free. Appleton Dene, Oxford Oxfordshire OX2 9BG.

11am - 5pm

Category: Events

Farmers’ Market at Wolvercote Village

Sunday mornings at Wolvercote School, it’s a real community get together. All our fresh farm produce is:
* GROWN LOCALLY
- our most distant supplier is less than 30 miles away;
- the majority are within a 10 mile radius of Wolvercote
- Oxfordshire’s only cheese producer sells at our market
* SOLD DIRECTLY BY THE FARMERS THEMSELVES
- no middle-men!
- the vegetables are freshly picked, often just that morning;
- the eggs are only 1 or 2 days old
- our honey—made exclusively for us—is from bees that are surrounded by organic farms
All our LIVESTOCK is:
* RAISED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF WELFARE
- our chickens, goats, pigs are free-range;
- all our cattle are raised outdoors on grass, that receives no artificial fertilisers
Many of our farmers:
* HAVE SOIL ASSOCIATION ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
PLUS:
* Jams, chutneys, pates; pastries, biscuits and cakes; quiches, pizzas and S Asian savouries; organic bread and buns
- all locally produced
PLUS:
* Environmentally friendly household goods (cleaners, shampoos, soaps)
* Hand-made tiles, jewellery, pottery and plants
FINALLY WE SELL:
* Fair trade and/or organic groceries (coffee, tea, sugar, rice, olive oil and pasta, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate)

10:00 to 13:00

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Dickens and His World Gallery Talks

View the Bodleian Library’s current exhibition through the gallery talks led by the curator. The gallery talks take place in the Bodleian Library Exhibition Room, Old Schools Quadrangle and last for one hour (17.00-18.00). They are limited to 15 places.

The exhibition’s curator will talk a little about the ideas behind the exhibition by way of introduction and then take visitors round discussing each of the topics covered. We will consider how the material was identified and how it relates to Dickens’s life and works via the quotations featuring in the display-cases.

5pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Post-natal Yoga

Join Barefoot Books’ YogaBirth instructor, Kay Millar, as she leads this post-natal class that offers gentle but empowering yoga for you. Babies are welcome. £50 for 6 sessions.
Mondays.
Barefoot Books, Summertown

11.30am - 12.45pm

Category: Courses & Workshops

Oxford City v Hayes & Yeading

Oxford City’s pre-season friendly versus Hayes & Yeading at Oxford City Football Club.

7.30pm

Category: Social Clubs and Gatherings

Arboretum Olympics – The Giants

Find out about the world’s biggest trees by making a scale model.

The University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay
Free with entry to the Arboretum (£4, children free admission)

1pm - 4pm

Category: Family Friendly

Pilates

Pilates is a core strengthening, non-impact form of exercise. It’s a great way to improve your posture, tone your body and find muscles you never knew you had! Discover how you can exercise anytime, anywhere. All fitness abilities welcome. £10 per session or £55 for 6 sessions, every Tuesday.

Or join us for Lunchtime Pilates (Thursdays,1.15–2 pm). Book early to avoid disappointment! Present your receipt for the Lunchtime Pilates class at the Barefoot Books Storyteller’s Café and enjoy 20% off a sandwich and juice of your choice.

Barefoot Books, Summertown. Pilates will be back on Tuesday 4th September.

6.30 - 7.30pm

Category: Courses & Workshops

Biomimicry Workshop

Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas will be joined by Tracey Warr and an aquatic life expert, to lead an aquatic biomimicry workshop for adults. The workshop will consider how we might imitate water-dwelling birds, animals, plants and other life to adapt to an environment with the rising water levels. Participants will have the opportunity to make films, sculptures and drawings to propose new solutions for living in a ‘water age’.

£7/£5 concessions, booking essential. Modern Art Oxford.

1 - 4pm

Category: Courses & Workshops

Film Oxford Presents Shadowlight Artists

The Shadowlight Artists is a collective of Oxfordshire-based artists with learning disabilities. Digital Lives presents eight distinctive and challenging digital art productions, incorporating dance, animation, drama and documentary at Modern Art Oxford.

Free, booking essential.

6.30pm

Category: Performance

Oxford Singles Mingle

The Oxford Singles Mingle takes place on the 2nd Friday monthly from 8pm and is organised by local social events calendar for singles called OxfordNightsOut.com. Singles Mingle meets at The Oxford Retreat Pub.

8pm

Category: Events

Supernormal Festival 2012

SUPERNORMAL is a festival like no other, blurring the boundaries between contemporary art and live music, performer and audience in the idyllic surroundings of Braziers Park, Oxfordshire with its 17th century mansion, and its countercultural links spanning decades – from John Latham and R.D. Laing to Marianne Faithfull (and Mick Jagger).

SUPERNORMAL is an intimate event for an audience of five hundred, a non-profit event entirely organised and curated by a small network of artists and musicians who share its aims and ethos. The event takes place on an eco-site with fresh running water, eco toilets and hot outdoor showers with a wooded camping area.

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Oxford City FC v Oxford United FC

Oxford City’s pre-season friendly versus Oxford United FC at Oxford City Football Club.

7.45pm

Category: Social Clubs and Gatherings

Farmers’ Market at Headington

Where? At the top end of Kennett Road, near to London Road. Kennett Road is between New High Street and Windmill Road
When? Second and Fourth Friday of each month (except in December, when it is held on the third Friday), from 8 am till 12:30 pm.
What can I buy? Fresh Vegetables in season, Soft fruit , Pork and Pork Products, Bread, Sauces, Jams, preserves and chutneys, Fresh Fish, Herbs, Asparagus and soft fruits, Lamb, Poultry, Cheese, Apples and Apple Products, Honey, Eggs
What should I bring? Your own shopping bag, so that you don’t have to rely on plastic bags from the stallholders (though if you need such bags, they will provide them on request).

8.00 am - 1.30 pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Matthew Brady: Photographic Pioneer

One of the pioneers of early photography, Matthew Brady made his fortune photographing high-society in 19th-century America. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 he made it his mission to document the conflict – a project which cost him his fortune but created an astonishing historical record.
Free talk given by Mike Betts and held at the Ashmolean Musuem. Suggested donation of £5, no booking necessary.

3pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Artist’s Choice Film Screening: A Short Film About Killing

Film chosen by artist Jenny Saville shown at Modern Art Oxford.

Polish director, Kieslowski first rose to prominence with Decalogue, a series of television commentaries on the Ten Commandments set within a suburb of Warsaw. A Short Film About Killing is an extended version of one of these, and tells the story of a young man who kills a taxi driver and is executed for the crime. The film caused a sensation when released, and was influential in the abolition of the death penalty in Poland. £3, booking essential.

7pm

Category: Performance

The Oxford Art Fair

The Oxford Art Fair will be held at the beautiful gardens of Oxford’s finest country pub ‘The Fishes’ Oxford. A collective of emerging UK artists showcasing original contemporary art. A fun and enjoyable family event with music, outdoor bar, picnic arrangements and kids entertainment.

More than 20 artists will be displaying their art at an affordable price. Hundreds of Contemporary art pieces will be on show for you to see. Browse around for that special piece of great art! You can purchase your art direct at the art fair and pay either by cash or by card. All artists create original artworks, that come with authenticity certificate and all art is signed by the artist. There will be Paintings on show, Photography art, Multimedia Art, Limited Edition Art, Sculptures, and much more. Most artists are happy to take orders for commission art, so if you see the style you like, feel free to discuss with the artist what they can do for you, and create a personalised piece for you!

10am

Category: Family Friendly Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Literary Dinners

Literary Dinners is coming to the Oxford Botanic Gardens.

Nestled among the foliage, our resident guide will welcome guests to a luncheon of over-flowing baskets and sultry tropical treats as Edward Docx, journalist and author of The Devil’s Garden, reads and shares an exclusive insight into his own experiences of the Amazon.

1pm

Category: Events

Gardening Group

Come along to help with weeding, pruning, and planting and keeping the garden beautiful. All levels of horticultural skill welcome. Please bring your own secateurs and tools if you have them.

The garden group meets once a month, but you don’t have to commit to every month, just come along and help when you can. Sessions are led by Kate Jury, garden designer and horticulturalist.

Barracks Lane Garden

11am - 5pm

Category: Events Social Clubs and Gatherings

East Oxford Farmers’ Market

The East Oxford Farmers’ & Community Market is a small, friendly local market which can provide the staples for your weekly shop, all from sources within 30 miles of Oxford: bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cheese, various meats, refills for cleaning supplies - as well as a range of other products such as jewellery, clothing and secondhand books. It has been running since August 2006, and is a non-profit making organisation, run by a committee and a group of volunteers. We are passionate about the market and what it sells. We actively source food from within 30 miles of Oxford and encourage community stalls run by local residents. We also offer Fairtrade produce from further afield and try to make sure it comes to us by land or ship. The market has a cafe which runs each week selling delicious breakfasts, lunches, cakes and fair-trade teas and coffee. This is a lovely place to meet up and take a break from shopping.
East Oxford Primary School directly behind the Tesco car park

10:00 to 13:00

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Marathon Dance Competition

• Do YOU love to dance?
• Have YOU got what it takes to impress the judges?
• Do YOU have the stamina to keep your (and your partner’s) feet moving for 8 hours non-stop?
• Would YOU like to feature in a film being made about the whole project?
• Could YOU use a CASH PRIZE of £150?

To tie in with the themes of the brand new production at The North Wall, Dead on her Feet, a new play by Emmy Award-winning writer Ron Hutchinson, we are inviting local people to come and experience the thrills – and the spills – of the Marathon Dance craze for themselves. Set during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, but with a timely eye on the present day, the play explores the mad dash in times of desperation to win cash prizes and find instant media stardom.

Open to people of all ages, no previous dance experience required. Entry fee: Just £6 per pair, including:
• dance experts to lead you through a range of fun dance styles
• free refreshments throughout, plus
• chance to win some cash AND some free tickets to the show

12 - 8pm

Category: Events

Headington Family Sports Day

Join in the fun this year at the Oxford Family Sports Day at Bury Knowle Park, Headington.

There will be a number of free sports taster sessions and activities to enjoy, along with exciting stalls to take a look around. Whilst having fun at the various activity stations, this is also an excellent opportunity to find out more information about sporting opportunities and clubs in the city, so that you can take up a sporting habit for life.

1 - 5pm

Category: Family Friendly

Farmers’ Market at Wolvercote Village

Sunday mornings at Wolvercote School, it’s a real community get together. All our fresh farm produce is:
* GROWN LOCALLY
- our most distant supplier is less than 30 miles away;
- the majority are within a 10 mile radius of Wolvercote
- Oxfordshire’s only cheese producer sells at our market
* SOLD DIRECTLY BY THE FARMERS THEMSELVES
- no middle-men!
- the vegetables are freshly picked, often just that morning;
- the eggs are only 1 or 2 days old
- our honey—made exclusively for us—is from bees that are surrounded by organic farms
All our LIVESTOCK is:
* RAISED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF WELFARE
- our chickens, goats, pigs are free-range;
- all our cattle are raised outdoors on grass, that receives no artificial fertilisers
Many of our farmers:
* HAVE SOIL ASSOCIATION ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
PLUS:
* Jams, chutneys, pates; pastries, biscuits and cakes; quiches, pizzas and S Asian savouries; organic bread and buns
- all locally produced
PLUS:
* Environmentally friendly household goods (cleaners, shampoos, soaps)
* Hand-made tiles, jewellery, pottery and plants
FINALLY WE SELL:
* Fair trade and/or organic groceries (coffee, tea, sugar, rice, olive oil and pasta, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate)

10:00 to 13:00

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Dickens and His World Gallery Talks

View the Bodleian Library’s current exhibition through the gallery talks led by the curator. The gallery talks take place in the Bodleian Library Exhibition Room, Old Schools Quadrangle and last for one hour (17.00-18.00). They are limited to 15 places.

The exhibition’s curator will talk a little about the ideas behind the exhibition by way of introduction and then take visitors round discussing each of the topics covered. We will consider how the material was identified and how it relates to Dickens’s life and works via the quotations featuring in the display-cases.

5pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Arboretum Olympics – Is Speed Important?

Find the Arboretum’s fastest and slowest growers and see how you measure up.

The University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay
Free with entry to the Arboretum (£4, children free admission)

1pm - 4pm

Category: Family Friendly

Game On! Family Day

Everyone is welcome to come and join us for a fun-packed day celebrating Oxford’s Sporting History at Oxford Town Hall. Try on an unusual sporting outfit, read an intriguing sporting tale, create a sporting craft and maybe even learn how to fix your bike! As part of this event, we will also be offering a free globe making workshop. You can come and decorate our sports-themed globe taking inspiration from Oxford’s sporting heroes and from Olympic stars of the past and present.

You can stick, print or paint your own designs onto the globe and the end result will go on display for all to see in the Museum’s summer exhibition. Materials will be provided to give you lots of ideas! The event is free but there is small charge for some of the craft activities.

10.30am - 3.30pm

Category: Family Friendly

The role of nutrition in mental health and performance: getting the fats right

Dr Richardson will discuss the importance of nutrition in children’s learning and behaviour at this months Oxford SciBar, specifically the role of Omega-3 fatty acids in the diet.

Port Mahon.

6.30pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Upcycling workshop

Upcycling is the action of taking something that would normally be recycled and then turning it into something else to be used, looked at or sold.

Upcycling workshops will run on the 3rd Thursday of every month throughout 2012. Every session will have a demonstration of one upcycling idea or project. There will be 2 electric and 2 hand turned sewing machines available at every session.

The sessions are informal and friendly and you can just drop-in. £5 (£3 concs) per session, including refreshments. Note: under 12’s must bring a responsible adult.

Barracks Lane Garden

6.30pm

Category: Courses & Workshops

Oxford Farmers’ Market at Gloucester Green

A Farmers’ Market is a venue for local people, making local food with local ingredients to sell their produce directly to you. All produce must be locally grown or locally produced - local means within 30 miles of the market location.

9am - 2pm 1st Thursday of the month, 9am - 3pm 3rd Thursday of the month

On the 1st & 3rd Thursday of the month

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Rewind - The 80’s Festival

Rewind – The 80s Festival returns for its fourth year from Friday 17th August – Sunday 19th August at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames. As with last year’s unforgettable concert performances and audience participation celebrations, this year’s Rewind Festival includes another incredible live outdoor line-up of the crème de la crème of 80s recording artists/performers.

This year’s line-up will feature the legendary Kool & The Gang on Saturday 18th August, and synth pop pioneers OMD on Sunday 19th August.  Other highlights include rare performances from The Bangles, Grandmaster Flash, Soul II Soul, plus the reformed original line-up of Five Star.  Also appearing in anticipation of British medal success at the London 2012 Olympics are Heather Small (Proud, Search for the Hero) and Tony Hadley (Gold), plus Starship, Rick Astley, T’Pau, Wang Chung, Marc Almond, Roland Gift, Sinitta, Right Said Fred, Lightning Seeds and many more.

Official Rewind Festival website

Category: Events Performance

Oxford City FC v Chester

Blue Sq North League game between Oxford City FC and Chester at Oxford City Football Club.

3pm

Category: Social Clubs and Gatherings

Family Printing Workshops

Learn how to print by hand at The Story Museum. Print your own keepsake. This exciting two-hour workshop is led by Dr Paul Nash, a specialist in historic printing techniques and presses at the Bodleian Library. Paul will give you a short talk on the history of printing, after which you’ll set your own name in type and print, using some of the historic printing presses.

Places are limited to 16 only. Suitable for ages 8 plus. Children aged 8-16 must be accompanied by an adult. Cost £8 pp.

2 - 4pm

Category: Courses & Workshops Family Friendly

East Oxford Farmers’ Market

The East Oxford Farmers’ & Community Market is a small, friendly local market which can provide the staples for your weekly shop, all from sources within 30 miles of Oxford: bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cheese, various meats, refills for cleaning supplies - as well as a range of other products such as jewellery, clothing and secondhand books. It has been running since August 2006, and is a non-profit making organisation, run by a committee and a group of volunteers. We are passionate about the market and what it sells. We actively source food from within 30 miles of Oxford and encourage community stalls run by local residents. We also offer Fairtrade produce from further afield and try to make sure it comes to us by land or ship. The market has a cafe which runs each week selling delicious breakfasts, lunches, cakes and fair-trade teas and coffee. This is a lovely place to meet up and take a break from shopping.
East Oxford Primary School directly behind the Tesco car park

10:00 to 13:00

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Caption Festival

Oxford’s annual small-press comics convention is a unique, friendly event that brings comics creators, manga artists, comic-book readers and professionals together to mingle and discuss their work. Two days of talks, workshops, discussions and opportunities to meet comic book creators and buy their work.

Saturday (14+ age recommended) looks at creating and publishing graphic novels, Sunday (8+ age recommended) is a family orientated day and guests include creators of Transformers, The Phoenix, Manga and Wallace & Gromit comics.
East Oxford Community Centre.

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Elder Stubbs Festival 2012

Set on the beautiful Elder Stubbs allotment site and sculpture park, this popular Cowley event features a range of family activities and entertainment including live music, performing arts, workshops and diverse stalls selling food from around the world. This year the pony rides are back by popular demand, along with bellydancers, jugglers, African dance, swingboats, falconry plus many more activities.

There will be music from local artists including The Mighty Redox, Creaky Knees, Headington Hillbillies, OX4 Allstars, Jamatone and streetband Horns of Plenty, across a main stage, acoustic stage and a reggae tent.

The event will have a seaside theme in line with the coral traditionally associated with 35th wedding anniversaries and is the biggest fundraising event for Restore, and last year raised £6,000 with between 3,000 and 5,000 people plus children coming through the gates. Tickets on the door cost £1.50 for adults and children go free.

12 - 6pm

Category: Family Friendly Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Oxford to London Eco-Rally

The Oxford to London Eco-Rally will showcase a wide range of vehicles from the world’s leading automakers. Many will be driven by familiar faces setting off in convoy from Oxford to London - proving that modern, eco-friendly cars, bikes and vans can get us from “A to B without the three Cs” - congestion, carbon and cost.

The event kicks off with an interactive green lifetsyle show in the centre of Oxford and culminates at an exhibition in central London to complement the Investing in Future Transport Conference. For more info, videos, comparisons and green transport advice, visit eco-rally.org.

Category: Events

Bike Blenheim Palace - A Festival of Cycling

Bike Blenheim Palace is the UK’s fastest growing and most exciting event, held annually since 2008 in the magnificent grounds of Britain’s Greatest Palace, a location unrivalled anywhere in Britain.
Bike Blenheim Palace has something for everyone from the competitive cycling fanatic to families looking for somewhere safe to ride their bikes in beautiful surroundings.
In 2012 the event is expanding to a two day event with news races, activities and cycling disciplines.

Blenheim Palace

Official Blenheim Palace website

Category: Events

JLS in Concert

Chart-topping pop sensation JLS are to play a massive open-air concert in Oxford’s South Park.

5pm

Category: Events

Bike: Bartlemas to Binsey by Bike!

Enjoy Oxford’s green spaces with Oxford Preservation Trust.
£3, children go free

10am

Category: Events Family Friendly

Farmers’ Market at Wolvercote Village

Sunday mornings at Wolvercote School, it’s a real community get together. All our fresh farm produce is:
* GROWN LOCALLY
- our most distant supplier is less than 30 miles away;
- the majority are within a 10 mile radius of Wolvercote
- Oxfordshire’s only cheese producer sells at our market
* SOLD DIRECTLY BY THE FARMERS THEMSELVES
- no middle-men!
- the vegetables are freshly picked, often just that morning;
- the eggs are only 1 or 2 days old
- our honey—made exclusively for us—is from bees that are surrounded by organic farms
All our LIVESTOCK is:
* RAISED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF WELFARE
- our chickens, goats, pigs are free-range;
- all our cattle are raised outdoors on grass, that receives no artificial fertilisers
Many of our farmers:
* HAVE SOIL ASSOCIATION ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
PLUS:
* Jams, chutneys, pates; pastries, biscuits and cakes; quiches, pizzas and S Asian savouries; organic bread and buns
- all locally produced
PLUS:
* Environmentally friendly household goods (cleaners, shampoos, soaps)
* Hand-made tiles, jewellery, pottery and plants
FINALLY WE SELL:
* Fair trade and/or organic groceries (coffee, tea, sugar, rice, olive oil and pasta, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate)

10:00 to 13:00

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Film Screening and Q&A

In 1994 the disappearance of 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay rocked his Texan town to its core. Without any clue to his whereabouts, the ensuing search looked like a lost cause. But his family kept hoping and praying and, over three years later, they got their miracle. Nicholas was found halfway around the world, living on the streets in Spain, leading to the most unlikely and emotional of reunions.

But all was not as it seemed. Nicholas looked and sounded decidedly different. Stranger still - why did his family seemingly not notice these glaring inconsistencies? It is only when an investigator starts asking questions that this astounding true story takes an even more extraordinary turn. With its jaw-dropping twists and revelations more reminiscent of film noir than documentary, The Imposter rivals 2010’s Catfish for pure unscripted thrills, while evoking classic identity thrillers such as The Talented Mr Ripley.

After the screening, there will be a satellite Q&A with Director Bart Layton and Jon Ronson Supported by Stella Artois.
Phoenix Picturehouse.

3pm

Category: Events

Dickens and His World Gallery Talks

View the Bodleian Library’s current exhibition through the gallery talks led by the curator. The gallery talks take place in the Bodleian Library Exhibition Room, Old Schools Quadrangle and last for one hour (17.00-18.00). They are limited to 15 places.

The exhibition’s curator will talk a little about the ideas behind the exhibition by way of introduction and then take visitors round discussing each of the topics covered. We will consider how the material was identified and how it relates to Dickens’s life and works via the quotations featuring in the display-cases.

5pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Film Screening and Q&A

We are delighted to welcome director Hugh Hartford to the Phoenix for a Q&A after the film.
Pensioners from across the planet compete in the World Over-80s Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia. Eight players with 703 years between them guide us through the extraordinary world of life at the table, sometimes ruthless, sometimes emotional, always entertaining. With intimate and candid portraits of the players’ lives, Ping Pong explores the hope, regret and immediacy of growing old.

Phoenix Picturehouse are delighted to welcome director Hugh Hartford to the Phoenix for a Q&A after the film.

6pm

Category: Events

Arboretum Olympics – His-tree

Which trees live the longest? Add to our timeline and see how your life compares.

The University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay
Free with entry to the Arboretum (£4, children free admission)

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Towersey Village Festival

The best artists, wonderful settings, real surprises and hidden gems;  comfortable campsites where your neighbour becomes your friend;  a cool drink and a plateful of tasty food under a big blue sky where flags and banners flutter in a summer breeze that carries the sounds of great music, laughing children and cheering crowds. Music, dance, art, spectacle, magic & colour and that special something that you just can’t put your finger on. It all comes together at Towersey in “Another Lovelier World!”  Headline act this year is Bellowhead.

Official website

Category:

Reading Room: Jenny Saville

Open to everyone, Reading Room draws on philosophy, literature and art criticism to encourage lively debate, reflection and writing on contemporary art and exhibition making.
This session explores extracts from two books selected by Jenny Saville: John Gray’s philosophical work Straw Dogs (2002) and J.G. Ballard’s experimental novel The Atrocity Exhibition (1970).
Modern Art Oxford.

6pm

Category: Social Clubs and Gatherings

Book Signing - Tom Hingley: Carpet Burns

Tom Hingley be will visiting Blackwell’s for an in-store signing of his memoir Carpet Burns, My Life with Inspiral Carpets on Friday 24th August.

Inspiral Carpets is one of the big three bands of the Manchester movement, who along with The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays changed music for a generation. Tom’s memoir provides an account of what it was like to be a load singer of the band, what it felt like to become a household name and what happens what the hits end and arguments kick in. Carpet Burns is an insight into the world of 90s pop with attitude.

1pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Farmers’ Market at Headington

Where? At the top end of Kennett Road, near to London Road. Kennett Road is between New High Street and Windmill Road
When? Second and Fourth Friday of each month (except in December, when it is held on the third Friday), from 8 am till 12:30 pm.
What can I buy? Fresh Vegetables in season, Soft fruit , Pork and Pork Products, Bread, Sauces, Jams, preserves and chutneys, Fresh Fish, Herbs, Asparagus and soft fruits, Lamb, Poultry, Cheese, Apples and Apple Products, Honey, Eggs
What should I bring? Your own shopping bag, so that you don’t have to rely on plastic bags from the stallholders (though if you need such bags, they will provide them on request).

8.00 am - 1.30 pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Film Screening: The Mirror

One of Tarkovsky’s most personal and challenging films, The Mirror interweaves historical footage, loosely autobiographical scenes, childhood memories and poetry composed by his father to offer a complex and enigmatic reflection on Russian history and society.
Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet Union, 1975, 108 mins

Chosen by Jenny Saville and shown at Modern Art Oxford.

7pm

Category: Social Clubs and Gatherings

Study Afternoon: Astronomy in 16th-Century England

During the course of the exhibition the Museum of the History of Science will announce an important gift: a 16th-century pocket sundial by an English maker. The acquisition of an Elizabethan instrument creates a very special occasion, which will be marked by a study afternoon on astronomy in England in the 16th century. Speakers include Jim Bennett, Louise Devoy, Stephen Johnston, Stephen Pumfrey and Katie Taylor.

2.30pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Foodies Festival

Foodies Festivals are excited to be returning to South Park in Oxford for the third year running. This beautiful setting for the UK’s largest celebration of food and drink, and will see visitors flock from the surrounding areas to feast on the vast array of culinary activities. Now in its sixth year, Foodies Festivals also take place across the UK in Edinburgh, Brighton, Battersea Park, Hampton Court Palace, Bristol and Tatton Park in Cheshire.

Top chefs, including Michelin-starred Daniel Galmiche of the Vineyard at Stockcross, Gary Jones of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Maxwell Mason of The Big Bang, and Ready, Steady Cook’s Alex McKay will cook signature dishes live in the Chefs’ Theatre and explain how amateur cooks can prepare the same dishes at home.

Other features for food-lovers include restaurant tents, bars, a producers’ market and an exhibitor’s area. Throughout the weekend there will be live music on the entertainment stage, including Gloria Miller Duo, The Coronettes and Contagious Vibes.

Saturday 10am -7pm, Sunday and Monday 11am - 7pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

East Oxford Farmers’ Market

The East Oxford Farmers’ & Community Market is a small, friendly local market which can provide the staples for your weekly shop, all from sources within 30 miles of Oxford: bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cheese, various meats, refills for cleaning supplies - as well as a range of other products such as jewellery, clothing and secondhand books. It has been running since August 2006, and is a non-profit making organisation, run by a committee and a group of volunteers. We are passionate about the market and what it sells. We actively source food from within 30 miles of Oxford and encourage community stalls run by local residents. We also offer Fairtrade produce from further afield and try to make sure it comes to us by land or ship. The market has a cafe which runs each week selling delicious breakfasts, lunches, cakes and fair-trade teas and coffee. This is a lovely place to meet up and take a break from shopping.
East Oxford Primary School directly behind the Tesco car park

10:00 to 13:00

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Woodstock Live Music Festival

The Woodstock Live Festival, now in its 8th year, brings an eclectic mix of live music into the centre of the town….something for all tastes…and all for free! We run a bar on the square to help fund the festival and there will be some nice food on offer as well. Woodstock’s many bars, restaurants and hotels will welcome visitors. The festival is known for the diversity of musical genres we present and for the great sound and atmosphere in the historic amphitheatre of the Town Square.

Official website

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Eccentric Oxford Walking Tour

Writer from Radio 4’s Now Show conducts a walk covering 1000 years of Oxford eccentricity in 90 minutes. Where history and comedy meet!
Meet at Martyrs’ Memorial.

2pm

Category: Events

Archery in Oxford

Hosted by the County of Oxfordshire Archery Society, the Grand Final takes place in front of a backdrop of the historic colleges, and the city’s famous ‘dreaming spires’.

Olympic archers Simon Terry, Larry Godfrey, Alison Williamson and Naomi Folkard will be among those chasing British archery’s top prize. The line up contains two defending champions and a former champion, and there will definitely be a first time winner in women’s compound.
Christ Church Meadow, Oxford.

10.30am

Category: Events

Farmers’ Market at Wolvercote Village

Sunday mornings at Wolvercote School, it’s a real community get together. All our fresh farm produce is:
* GROWN LOCALLY
- our most distant supplier is less than 30 miles away;
- the majority are within a 10 mile radius of Wolvercote
- Oxfordshire’s only cheese producer sells at our market
* SOLD DIRECTLY BY THE FARMERS THEMSELVES
- no middle-men!
- the vegetables are freshly picked, often just that morning;
- the eggs are only 1 or 2 days old
- our honey—made exclusively for us—is from bees that are surrounded by organic farms
All our LIVESTOCK is:
* RAISED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF WELFARE
- our chickens, goats, pigs are free-range;
- all our cattle are raised outdoors on grass, that receives no artificial fertilisers
Many of our farmers:
* HAVE SOIL ASSOCIATION ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
PLUS:
* Jams, chutneys, pates; pastries, biscuits and cakes; quiches, pizzas and S Asian savouries; organic bread and buns
- all locally produced
PLUS:
* Environmentally friendly household goods (cleaners, shampoos, soaps)
* Hand-made tiles, jewellery, pottery and plants
FINALLY WE SELL:
* Fair trade and/or organic groceries (coffee, tea, sugar, rice, olive oil and pasta, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate)

10:00 to 13:00

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Stanton St John Festival

When it comes to good old fashioned village festivals you can’t do better than the well established Stanton St John Festival and this year it’s one not to be missed! Among the surprises will be the chance to come face to face with a live Crocodile, take part in the “mini Olympics” and view an art exhibition in a field!

Stanton St John, Oxford, OX33

1 - 6pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

The 7th Oxfordshire Classic Car Show

A spectacular gathering of classic cars from vintage through to kit and custom will be on display in the palace grounds on 26th and 27th August. Blenheim Palace provides the most appropriate venue and work in partnership with vehicle event specialist Andrew Greenwood’s Classic shows to organise an event to excite, amuse & educate vehicle enthusiasts & the general public alike. This two day event has the added bonus of vehicle judging and an experienced motor commentator to talk us through the day’s events. On the Monday there’s a Supercar Picnic and Bike Display taking place so it promises to be a good two day event and something well worth attending

Blenheim Palace

Official Blenheim Palace website

Category: Events Social Clubs and Gatherings

Art and Craft Fair

A monthly Art and Craft Fair will be held at Oxford Town Hall on the following dates to help showcase the work of local craft workers and artists.

Craft workers and artists signed up to the Fair include Garry Curran with his wire bicycle sculptures, Shalotte’s copper wirework jewellery, knitwear, artwear, accessories, hats, aprons, gifts and work by local artist Ali Clements.

The event takes place in the Long Room at the Town Hall. Entry is free.

11am - 3.30pm

Category: Festivals, Markets & Fairs

Oxford City FC v Worcester City

Blue Sq North League game between Oxford City FC and Worcester City at Oxford City Football Club.

3pm

Category: Social Clubs and Gatherings

Christoph Simon: Zbinden’s Progress

Christoph Simon appears in conversation at Blackwell’s Bookshop with Barbara Trapido about his new novel, Zbinden’s Progress.

Winner of the Bern Literature Prize 2010, Zbinden’s Progress is the newly translated fifth novel from Christoph Simon. Described by Barbara Trapido as “a little Odyssey, a little Ulysses”, Zbinden’s Progress is both heart-rending and hilarious.

7pm

Category: Lectures, Meetings & Seminars

Arboretum Olympics – The Wonderful World of Trees

Discover the strange, the unique and the special of the tree world. Could you design any better?

The University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay
Free with entry to the Arboretum (£4, children free admission)

Category: Family Friendly