Enjoy an evening of folk music, start Sunday right with Bridport's Best Breakfast or create a 'fish headress' - there are a whole host of events happening across Bridport, Beaminster and Lyme Regis this weekend.

If you would like your event listed in our what's on round-up, email news@bridportnews.co.uk

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

  • Mitchell and Vincent will be performing in Bridport Town Hall at 7.45pm as a fundraiser for this year’s Bridport Folk Festival. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets cost £10.50 and are available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre.

The Westcountry duo bring traditional and contemporary styles on fiddle and guitar to folk tunes and songs from the British Isles, as well as original material drawing on the folk traditions, producing their own varied arrangements and great foot-tapping folk music.

  • Enjoy a double-bill of music at The Ropemakers from 9.15pm with the Sweetchunks Band and The Devil’s Prefects.

The Sweetchunks Band are a Southampton based eccentric comedy outfit, performing versions of songs that you know and songs that you don’t. They are known for their ability to entertain any audience with a fun, engaging performance that leave people smiling, dancing and humming the tunes for hours afterwards.

The Devil’s Prefects performs country music with its tongue firmly jammed in its cheek. Johnny ‘Country’ Crow and Willie ‘The Fury’ Ford are a country duo; two men and a guitar, bringing you songs about beer, automobiles, trailers, zombies, television and more beer. With a nod to Johnny Cash and a wink to Elvis, this is what happens when country music goes bad.

  • Sam Kelly’s Station House will be at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis from 8pm, with the bar opening at 7pm. Tickets cost £8 in advance at www.marinetheatre.com or £10 on the door.

The much-cherished blues musician and his ‘groove band’ will bring their repertoire of Jimi Hendrix, Keb Mo and Gary Moore. Expect calypso, soul and funk with roots firmly in the blues.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

  • Transition Town Bridport will be hosting a ‘Green Day’ in Bucky Doo Square from 9am to 12.30pm as part of Bridport Green Fortnight. There will be stalls and information from other local groups and the Dorset Waste Partnership looking at more sustainable lifestyles choosing food that doesn’t cost the earth.
  • Jericho McLean will be performing in Bucky Doo Square from 10am to 12noon, performing a selection of original material and covers.
  • An arts workshop on prehistoric fish headresses will be taking place at The HUb in Lyme Regis for anyone over the age of eight.

Artist Darrell Wakelam will help you create your masterpieces which will then be used in Lyme Regis Fossil Festival's illuminated lantern parade on Friday, May 3. Tickets can be booked at www.fossilfestival.co.uk 

  • A traditional three-course Syrian supper will be held at Uplyme Village Hall from 7pm. There will be a bar, music, raffle and quiz and tickets cost £20, which are available from Uplyme Stores. All proceeds will go towards the Uplyme Community Sponsorship Fund.
  • A charity spring ball organised by Weldmar Hospicecare Trust and British Heart Foundation will take place at Freshwater Holiday Park from 7.30pm to late. There will be a one-course dinner with music from Shelby’s Elbows and a raffle. Tickets cost £20 and are available by calling Helen on 07762 374838 or Michelle on 07983 712156.
  • The Story Café at The Lyric Theatre present, ‘In The Deep Heart’s Core: a mystic cabaret from the works of W.B. Yeats’ from 7.30pm.

It has been conceived and composed by Joseph Sobol with Daria Kulesh on vocals, Marina Osman on piano and Matt Tarling on fiddle. This piece follows the life of the Celtic poet and activist William Butler Yeats, moving through dreams and heartbreaks towards ultimate spiritual triumph. Tickets coast £10 and are available from Bridport Tourist Information Centre.

  • The fun carries on at The Ropemakers with The Mighty Small at 9.15pm. A one-man band that takes you on an emotional journey of soulful melodies and classic rock whilst hailing the distant tones of Van Morrison, Jeff Buckley and a slight hint of Dylan.
  • Enjoy music from Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis from 8pm, with the bar opening at 7pm. Tickets cost £14.50 in advance from www.marinetheatre.com or £17 on the door.

The Dartmoor-based husband and wife have twice won the ‘best duo’ award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. They mix traditional song arrangements with their self-penned material.

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

  • Bridport’s Best Breakfast comes to St Mary’s Church Hall from 9am, hosted by Bridport Local Food Group, the team behind Bridport’s food festival.

The event will showcase some of the best local producers and suppliers in the area and raise money for this year’s food festival in June. On offer will be a full English breakfast, with vegan and vegetarian options, as well as a special Irish alternative for St Patrick’s Day. From 10am, an Indian breakfast prepared and donated by Helen Choudhury of the Taj Mahal restaurant will be available.

Tickets cost £6/£3 in advance from Bridport Tourist Information centre or £7/£4 on the door.

A resplendent fairy-tale ballet performed by the Bolshoi, Sleeping Beauty features scores of magical characters, including fairies, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots and a beautiful, young Princess Aurora.

  • Wind down the weekend with Mutter Slater and Clive Ashley performing at The Ropemakers from 4pm.  

Mutter Slater was the front man and flute player for the 70s cult band Stackridge (produced by George Martin, signed by Elton John): a group that established itself as a firm favourite on countless stages throughout the land and appeared regularly on BBC TV’s The Old Grey Whistle Test and John Peel’s radio programmes. 

After Stackridge, Mutter returned to a life of quiet domesticity in the South West of England. The song-writing and performing bug eventually got the better of him, leading to the formation of his band and a return to the recording studios – ‘Love & Hate’ 2006; ‘Riding A Hurricane’ 2008 (produced by Billy Bragg) and 2014s ‘Absobloodylutely’. 

His songs reflect his primary interest in 60’s American blues, soul and R’n’B as well as his persistent addiction to a ‘half decent tune’.