SPOTLIGHT Good news from in and around Exeter

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left: Polka dot fun with The Liberty Sisters; below: The Exmouth Shantymen will be breaking into song

Spring

ABOUT TIME! Yes, finally, spring is nearly here! To celebrate, Topsham will be hosting the Spring Forward Saturday Festival, the day before the clocks go forward, on 28 March.

Now in its third year, this feel-good event involves most of Topsham’s independent shops, cafés and restaurants, with special offers for visitors and locals.

It’s all about celebrating what the local community has to offer, with pop-up art galleries, a special outdoor fair at the town’s Matthews Hall, new exhibits at the Topsham Museum, craft activities for the little ones and loads of toe-tapping and hip-wiggling musical groups providing entertainment throughout the day, including the The Exmouth Shantymen, The Liberty Sisters, and Queen Biscuit. For more: www.LoveTopsham.co.uk

Literature WRITE IN THE MIX Devon bookworms take note: the annual Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival has announced its headliners for this spring.

Festival President and twice Booker Prize winner Dame Hilary Mantel will be talking about the hugely anticipated finale to her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror and the Light on 1 May; veteran BBC broadcaster James Naughtie who, earlier in the day, will share his experiences of many years reporting on life and politics in the USA, outlined in his latest book On the Road. On 20 April, the Sunday Times bestselling novelist Joanna Trollope will be talking about her latest book, Mum & Dad, a poignant story of a family’s behaviour in a crisis; and world-renowned historian and Professor Margaret MacMillan will be looking at how history and our study of it should be treated with care.

“We are so excited to be programming writers of this calibre in Budleigh,” says the festival’s artistic director, Annie Ashworth. “These events are to raise money towards our education outreach work, and I’m sure they will be very popular with our audiences.” All events will take place in St Peter’s Church in Budleigh Salterton and tickets to each event are £15; www.budlitfest.org.uk Hilary Mantel

Joanna Trollope

6 I EXETER LIVING I www.mediaclash.co.uk © ELS ZWEERINK

Night LIBRARY LATES AT EXETER LIBRARY There’s new nocturnal fun to be had in the city. A new season of specially curated, one-off cultural late night events, live from either Exeter Library and RAMM, are happening this year. What to expect? Themed evenings of music, innovative interactive artworks, storytelling, cinema, games, silent disco, hidden spaces library tour, food and drink and much more.

The next Library Lates evening is on 3 April (at the library) with the theme of Women Writes, in celebration of the upcoming ‘Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights’ British Library exhibition which opens in Exeter Library at the end of April. Expect a line-up of female artists, performances and authors keeping guests entertained throughout the night. Daniel Clark, creative director of Evolve, says “The first Library Lates was a great success and it was exciting to see the library come to life after hours. The library offered visitors engaging content and showcased the space in a completely new way. We’re excited to introduce ‘Women’s Writes’ to Library Lates as we focus on female authors, artists and musicians.” For more: www.librariesevolve.org.uk

Freddie rocking out

Music WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Fans of Queen, Abba and Elton John enjoyed a night of nostalgia whilst raising funds for their local hospice recently at the Legends at the Great Hall event.

Over 400 people attended the new event for local charity Hospiscare which saw dazzling performances from the three highly acclaimed tribute bands and helping to raise approximately £3,000 for the local charity.

“Thanks again to everyone who came out to show their support – you made things legendary!” says Martin Stokke, events fundraiser at Hospiscare and organised of Legends.

This event would not have been possible without the support from Events Exeter and Warwick Events.” For more: www.hospiscare.co.uk

SEVEN DEADLY SINS

In our regular Q&A with visiting and local performers, singer JESSICA GUISE – of the band Guise – chats about her wicked soul ahead of the band’s gig in Exeter on 19 March

LUST: Who or what do you find yourself lusting after today? Well, my husband has been on tour for the past month and gets home tomorrow, so...

GREED: What should you be cutting down on? (non-food and drink!) I’m not sure greed has much to do with this, but I’ve been trying to stop biting my nails since I was about six year old.

GLUTTONY: What one thing could you happily eat or drink until you burst? Apple crumble. It’s my absolute favourite and it probably, maybe, counts as one of your five a day…I married a man who doesn’t like cooked fruit so I almost never make it at home anymore, but that just means that whenever I have the opportunity I overindulge outrageously and without guilt.

SLOTH: What should you be really putting your back into right now? I’m doing an MSc in Psychology, so probably that. It’s the first year in a long process of training as a mental health practitioner, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s all online at this point though, which makes it incredibly easy to be distracted by the cat.

WRATH: What/who makes you angry? This is pretty niche but, Shakespeare deniers! I consider the De Vere Society’ to be the most obnoxious, unapologetic snobs, and I can easily laugh or cry with anger at the whole thing.

ENVY: Who are you jealous of ? I’m jealous of people who don’t overthink things. I’m a terrible overthinker, which also makes me a terrible sleeper, a terrible decision maker, and a terrible planner. People who just decide stuff and stop worrying are a magical enigma to me.

PRIDE: What’s your proudest achievement? I produced and performed in a show called Gin For Breakfast in 2017; we ran after-show talks with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) around mental health, as the content of the play was pretty tough. The wonderful Stephen Fry very kindly spoke after one show, and told me post performance that I had made him cry (in a good way). So making Stephen Fry cry, I think!

Guise are performing at the Lemongrove on 19 March, St German’s Road, Exeter; www.exeterboxoffice.com

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