FEEL THE LOVE FIND YOUR MOJO

Morag Stuart & Emma Warren

We’re thrilled to look after The List while Rose is on maternity leave. Thanks for trusting us, Rose! There’s always so much going on in Frome and it is easy to miss those special gigs, restaurant openings or hidden gems, only to find out about them on Instagram the morning after. That is why we felt the need to make it easier for you with our pull-out calendar - stick it on your fridge!

Working on this issue has helped dispel the January blues and made us so grateful for what is on our doorstep. We have so much to look forward to this year. We all owe it to our community to get out there and support these incredible, innovative and passionate local businesses who are putting their heart and soul into enriching our lives in this wonderful town.

Do get in touch with new businesses, ventures or events we can feature. Can’t wait to hear from you. thelistfrome@gmail.com

We wish Rose and her gorgeous family all the very best.

I’m so happy to be leaving The List in the tremendously capable hands of Emma and Morag. Most of you will probably already know them from one of the many Frome projects, businesses or charities they are involved in, bridging the gap so brilliantly between old and new Frome, or from my previous maternity leave when Emma so seamlessly took charge.

As I head off into the land of midnight nappy changes and unimaginable exhaustion, I wanted to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to you, the brilliant and loyal readers of The List. In the ten years I have been Editor, so much in Frome has changed, but you never have. You are the reason our town is unique, and have successfully created a community so rich, supportive and vibrant that no other town can quite measure up. Here’s to you, and a belter of a year ahead.

Rose x

The Sunday Gathering

The Bennett Centre, February 12th, 2pm, Free

The Sunday Gathering is a spiritually uplifting fun and relaxed community gathering with live music, singing, storytelling, ritual, contemplation, friendship, kindness, wonder, tea and cake. Everyone is welcome and entrance is free. Bring a cake to share if you’d like to. Doors 2pm. Main programme 2.30pm.

Kitchen To Tabledavid Oakley

WHY Gallery February 25th - April 8th

David Oakley is known for his small-scale domestic still-life paintings and landscapes. In his ‘Kitchen to Table’ series, he explores the beauty of the whole process of preparing food and the shared eating experience, experimenting with ripening fruit and vegetables placed on shelves or grouped together. As well as cooking utensils, old crockery and cutlery, looking at the relationships, and stories between the objects and their original owner. Private view Friday February 24th, 6-8pm. All are welcome.

Henge

Cheese & Grain, February 10th, 8pm, £16.50 Adv (+ Service Charge)

Extra-terrestrial joymongers – HENGE – have been delighting audiences in the UK and Europe since they landed on Planet Earth seven years ago. Their scintillating live performances earned them ‘Best Live Act’ at the Independent Festival Awards, and they have since cemented their reputation with two acclaimed albums, numerous tours and regular main-stage festival appearances. Their music escapes definition, but occupies a space between rave and prog-rock that nobody knew existed. It is energetic, subversive and invigoratingly playful, jovially going ‘where no-one has gone before’. Ultimately, HENGE are spreading a message of hope which leaves audiences feeling amused and uplifted in equal measures.

Bath Decorative Antiques Fair

Joy Ellis Trio

Cooper Hall, February 4th, 4pm, £16.50 (U25 £5)

Joy Ellis is a jazz pianist, singer and composer based in London and an alumna of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In March 2022, Joy released her third album with long-time collaborators Henrik Jensen on double bass and drummer Adam Osmianski. Recorded at the end of May 2021, her new material has a relaxed and minimalist vibe in keeping with the album’s title, ‘Peaceful Place’.

Moving through the pandemic, Joy felt there were no words she could sing to capture the grief and sense of loss that she and other people she knew had experienced. Therefore, she decided to compose an album with no vocals at all, using her other instrument and first love, the piano. Expect a relaxed and minimalist vibe in keeping with Joy’s new album’s title, Peaceful Place ’.

‘An exquisitely talented performer and composer’ Frank Griffiths, London Jazz News

Shepton Snowdrops Festival

February 14th - 19th

This month sees the welcome return of the beautiful Shepton Snowdrops Festival, their biggest event yet. The week includes: specialist growers and plant nurseries; exquisite craft by some of Somerset’s finest makers; workshops in willow, wire, ceramics and spring flowers; heritage, history and snowdrop walks; talks; seed swaps; open gardens; children’s drama and story telling; photography and poetry competitions and much more. Special snowdrop spectacles are at the Organic Garden of Yeo Valley Organic at Blagdon

Judge Jules

Cheese & Grain, February 18th, 7pm, £20 (+ Service Charge)

The one and only Judge Jules will make his muchanticipated return to the Cheese & Grain exactly a year after his spectacular sold-out show at the venue. The Club DJ that has been there, done that and done it all again for almost three decades! The iconic artist has influenced an entire generation on Kiss FM and Radio 1, and continues to dominate the playlists of millions. Gracing the world’s most iconic clubs and festivals including Gatecrasher, Ministry of Sound, Global Gathering and Creamfields, Judge Jules has released over 100 tracks that include ten top 40 hits. Accolades include ‘Number 1 DJ’ (Mixmag), ‘Best International DJ’ (Dancestar Awards), a regular spot in Mixmag’s Top100 poll and his legendary Ibiza residency.

Burrito Boi’s new bar is open and ready to welcome you! Classic cocktails done well and available with a mexican twist, Local and independent draught beer & cider, organic wines and more!

The bar is in the same building as our restaurantBook a table for food and grab some drinks before or after.

(recent Chelsea gold medal winners) and a private garden with its very own named snowdrop, never opened to the public before. Shepton Art Bank is also hosting a Floral Ball which includes music and entertainment with Mobius Loop. Visit the website for full programme and booking details: www.sheptonsnowdrops.org.uk

Rise

RISE Frome welcomes back weekly classes, and new classes have been added to a diverse calendar for the new year. This includes Pilates and yoga of all types, preschool children’s and baby music classes, adult dance classes, hula hooping and postnatal fitness classes to name a few. The beautiful venue spaces are also available to hire for one-off events and workshops.

The Whittox Gallery, situated in the heights of RISE, continues to show the best of contemporary art throughout the year. Starting with a programme of exhibitions from Spring onwards, the gallery is thrilled to have their first ever resident artist,

Pauline Scott-Garrett, who will be exhibiting in September with installation pieces based on RISE’s history as a sanctuary for the community past and present. The Whittox Gallery’s shop continues to be very popular, sourcing curated work by up-andcoming makers and artists.

Kindness Festival

March 5th - 11th

The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one. Building on the success of last year, Frome hosts its second annual Kindness Festival next month. The town will come alive to celebrate the contribution that kindness makes to our relationships, to our mental and physical health and to our marvellous community. Co-ordinated by local non-profit group The Good Heart, the festival aims to offer something for everyone.

Watch out for seven days of unexpected and creative acts of kindness and appreciation, self-care sessions, live art, crafting, music, book signings and a very special ‘Caravan of Kindness’, running alongside evening events such as lectures, film screenings and performance.

For more information, to sign up for festival updates, or to find out how to get involved, visit www.thegoodheart.uk or The Good Heart Facebook page.

Frome LGBTQ Community Social

Flow Bar, February 24th, 7.30pm, Free

Established by two friends in summer 2019, the group continues to grow with a wide range of gender identities, sexualities, ages and personalities. Friendly and welcoming to newcomers, they meet on the fourth Friday every month from 7.30pm on the first floor at Flow Bar. Frome Co-hosts are happy to meet new attendees on the night and introduce them to others if contacted beforehand on fromesocial@ gmail.com. There are also monthly walks for those that don’t enjoy bars.

YOUNG OPEN 2023

Black Swan Arts, Deadline for entries: February 3rd, Exhibition: March 4th - April 16th

Black Swan Arts is calling for entries to its hugely successful Young Open 2023 competition which will be on show over Spring and the Easter holidays.

The Young Open, now in its eighth year, provides an exceptional opportunity for young people to have their work curated, judged and exhibited in Black Swan Arts’ Long Gallery and Round Tower for hundreds of visitors to see. The competition is open to all young people aged between 5 and 19 years, and is the largest young art competition in the South West.

Winners have the chance to take part in a small group workshop with a professional artist. They will also receive vouchers kindly donated by local Frome business, Postscript.

Tuesday 31 Jan Wedneday 1 Feb | Thursday 2 Feb

Rook Lane, January 31st - February 2nd, 8pm, £8

A headstrong girl desperate to escape the vice-like grip of institutional life; tensions run high between old aged companions, but without each other what have they got? Young lovers torn apart by war; evacuee children ready to take on whatever Hitler can throw at them! And astride it all is the Matron, a protective figure holding lives together. With a grand old building facing demolition, the last Matron of Keyford watches as a parade of spectres appears before her. The building cannot be saved, but it isn’t too late to resurrect the memory of those who passed through its doors.

Dramakarma present a play about the Keyford Asylum, based on real events and discovered diaries in Frome.

THE BIG HUNTING RAVEN BOOK SALE Ridiculous bargains to be had! Silk Mill, Frome 24th & 25th Feb 10am – 3pm

HIRE

FROME

CONCERTS GROUP PRESENT ELUA

Doors 10.45am Concert 11.30am

Tickets £18 online at www.fromeconcertsgroup.org/subs-tickets