MARCH 2025

Budding musicians now is the time to honour all those new year resolutions, and to sign up for Shipston Introducing or the Open Night Mic to get your career in music started. Where better place to start than the Shipston Proms Music Festival where we can give you a helping hand to the next stage.

We are fortunate to have several venues in Shipston where music is encouraged, including the Townsend Hall, the Black Horse, the Thirst Edition, the Coach and Horses and The Lazy Pug. Out of town we have The Cotswold Distillery.

Many successful artists started their career busking or playing at small venues. Ed Sheeran started out singing on the streets before his meteoric rise to fame, and Taylor Swift was discovered when she played at the Bluebird Café in Nashville. Radiohead were a support act for the band Belly in 1993 and ended up as one of the biggest bands in the UK. All honed their craft in small places before experiencing critical acclaim and commercial success.

If you are not chasing fame and fortune, but just love playing, Shipston is a friendly welcoming place for all artists, and we would love to hear what you do.

This year the Shipston Introducing event will be outside of the fortnight for the first time and we will let you know the date as soon as it is sorted. To apply, people should email their interest to shipstonproms@gmail.com. Entrants of the competition will be asked to play two or three songs in front of a panel of judges. There are two categories, one for soloists and the other for bands. Winners will get to play on stage at the Legendary Final Night of the Proms Music Festival in Shipston’s High Street to be held on the 28th June. There is a cash prize too.

In other news, if you were unable to get tickets for the Oasis tour, don’t be disappointed, embrace the zeitgeist, and get down to the Townsend Hall on the 27th June where all the swagger and attitude of Liam and Noel will be provided by ultimate Oasis Tribute Band ‘Oasis 96’, all for a fraction of the cost.

Also at Townsend Hall, for a change of tempo, we are really pleased that after last year’s cancellation, the Astwood Bank Operatic Society will be bringing Gilbert and Sullivan to the Proms. They will be performing assorted songs from G & S and similar. That will be on 22nd June.

Tickets will be available for both nearer the time.

For all updates, please find us on Facebook or www.shipstonproms.org.

Proms dates are 13th – 28th June