The Stroud Arts Festival, funded by the Margaret & Netlam Bigg Trust, started in 1946 and was one of the first festivals in the country. Netlam Bigg, who died in 1988 was awarded the MBE in 1968 as the founder and secretary of what was then called the Stroud Festival of Religious Drama and the Arts. In those days the festival was internationally known for its unique contribution to the arts. The Trust hosted a poetry contest which regularly drew more than 900 entries from 35 countries in the mid 60’s along with a wide range of nationally and locally inspired Art events.

The Arts Festival continues to bring to Stroud a wide range of events including jazz, ballet, art exhibitions, poetry readings and film shows. Visit our reviews page to read about the June 2011 Festival.

Below is our 2012 Festival Programme. As usual, it contains a wide variety of music, poetry, opera, drama, story telling and film.

Stroud Arts Festival also presents in association with SVA an annual film showcase for young filmmakers from the Stroud area. See below.

CALLING YOUNG FILM MAKERS

Stroud Arts Festival and SVA are sponsoring The Third Annual Young Film Makers Showcase in 2012.

The call is out for any film makers, under 25, to submit their short films - five minutes max - on any theme or genre they choose - drama, documentary, animated, even short clips made on mobile phones.

The films will be screened at SVA, John Street, Stroud as part of the 2012 Site Festival on Thursday May 24th @ 6.30

Send or drop off the film you would like shown with a short bio to: Film Showcase SVA, John Street, Stroud, GL5 2HA by April 30th 2012. For more information email info@stroudartsfestival.org

BARBER OF SEVILLE - OperaUpClose

Friday May 11th 7:30pm @ The Subscription Rooms, Stroud
Tickets £15, £12 under 18's from Stroud Tourist Information Centre 01453 760960

The Barber of Seville has been transported to Jane Austen's England, a world of rich, eligible bachelors, feisty heroines and snobbish relations familiar from much-loved BBC costume dramas. Obsequious Doctor Bartleby has designs on his ward Rosina, but she is far more interested in the attentions of a handsome stranger (actually a womanising Count in disguise). The whole affair is stage-managed by Figaro, the barber who knows everyone's business and can fix your hair and love life with ease.

This adaptation is sung in a new English translation which will make the show witty and accessible to modern audiences, while nodding to the style and mannerisms of Regency England. This adaptation offers a fresh take on the original for opera fans and a slick, funny introduction for those who thought opera wasn't for them.

"OperaUpClose is leading an artistic revolution" SUNDAY TIMES

Find out more at OperaUpClose's web site

BABA YAGA'S OVEN

Saturday May 12th at 7.30pm
Venue Openhouse (formerly Five Valleys Foyer) Gloucester Street, Stroud GL5 1QG
Tickets £8/£6 concessions (60+ and students) from Star Anise Cafe 01453 840021

Storytellers Michael Loader (clarinet) and Rebecca Smart together with musician Martin Solomon (fiddle, accordion), invite you to a night of shapeshifting and transformation from the heart of Mother Russia

In the depths of a Russian forest an Old Gypsy sits by the fire in a face off with Dame Death. All he has is a violin and some tall tales. Journey into lands where a Witch's hut whirls on the scaly legs of a chicken and a Firebird's feather may lead you to the very heart of trouble, and ask yourself the question what stories would you tell with your last breaths before dawn...?

Cafe open from 6.30pm serving tasty Russian delicacies

GARLANDING THE WORLD

Sunday May 20th 5-6pm at SVA, John Street, Stroud, GL5 2HA

Story Telling for all the family with Jamila Gavin

FREE

You can read about Jamila at www.lovereading4kids.co.uk

THE THIRD ANNUAL YOUNG FILM MAKERS SHOWCASE

Thursday May 24th @ 6.30
at SVA, John Street, Stroud, GL5 2HA

A programme of short films made by young people from the Stroud area. Drama, documentary, animated, even short clips made on mobile phones; creativity knows no bounderies.

If you are a young person with a short film you would like to submit, see CALLING YOUNG FILM MAKERS above.

REHEARSAL presented by Attention Seekers

Saturday May 26th 5-10.30pm.
at Lansdown Hall, Lansdown, Stroud (The Space)

A dangerous mix of Alice Oswald's electric poetry, actor/playwright Peter Oswald's unpredictably comic and tragic short plays, the mercurial skills of actor Josephine Larsen and the phenomenal talent of multi-musician/singer Nemo Jones, taking you on a journey into as yet unknown theatrical territory. An unmissable experience.

More information on their web sita at www.attentionseekersproductions.co.uk

WHEN THE ROAD BENDS: TALES OF A GYPSY CARAVAN (film)

Thursday May 31st
at SVA, John Street, Stroud

A dazzling display of the musical world of the Roma, juxtaposed to the real world they live in.

This rich feature documentary celebrates the luscious music of top international Gypsy performers and interweaves stirring real life tales of their home life and social background. Shot by documentary icon Albert Maysles, the film takes place on location in Spain, Macedonia, Romania and India, as well as in Europe and in the USA during the Gypsy Caravan concert tour.

Vist the film's web site at www.gypsycaravanmovie.com