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If you fancy getting off the Isle of Wight for a summer festival, why not consider Camp Bestival. Less hedonistic than Bestival, it’s a great festival to take the kids to. Bestival HQ have the latest update. In their own words. Ed

Following an absolutely fantastic Easter, filled with egg hunts, colouring in competitions and a truly epic chocolate binge, we are back and ready to rock!

As the summer hoves into view and with our entertainment line-up guaranteeing you a fun-packed festi-holiday weekend, all at Camp Bestival HQ have turned our attention to celebrating the world’s foremost sports competition; the Olympic Games!

Silly Sportsday frolics
So, we’ll be flying the flag and carrying the torch at Lulworth Castle from opening ceremony and on across the weekend, so you can keep up to speed with all the athletic exertions. (more…)

The New Carnival Company had their official launch party on Friday.

The sun shone down on Brading Roman Villa where the event was being hosted, but even if it had been grey and miserable outside, the colourful atmosphere inside would have more than made up for it.

The team presented their forthcoming projects, explaining how each of them will work.

“Not just putting on a silly hat
and dancing down the street”
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Isle of Arts Festival is not just about sitting back and enjoying the talent in front of you, it also provides a chance to take part. Gilly tells us more about how you can get involved. Ed

Immerse yourself in the passion of the Argentine tango with Isle of Arts on Sunday 22 April.

Milonga is a form of tango, a dance like no other. Itʼs hot, itʼs Latin and itʼs here.

This will be a chance to immerse yourself first hand in this great dance form with top-flight instructors. We guarantee that by the end of this session you will be hotter and youʼll have some of the basic footwork of the Argentine tango under your belt.

Try out your new moves
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With Sandi Toksvig, Supertramp sax-man John Helliwell with his band Crème Anglaise, as well as Aled Jones and two male voice choirs, Tipitina and The Nearly Naked Chef Hardeep Singh Kohli already announced, it’s great to hear more acts have been confirmed for this year’s Isle of Arts Festival.

Taking place in Ventnor over the weekend of 20th-22nd April, the Festival, now in its second year, promises something for everyone.

Viva! Opera’s best bits
Hang on to your hats for an evening of great music, scheming aristocrats, wily gypsies and champagne-fuelled parties when the singers from Hatstand Opera come to town on Saturday 21 April.

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18 year old Islander, Jordan Mullineaux, had a fantastic Christmas present last year.

The singer, is who studying Performing Arts at the Isle of Wight College, won a competition with the prize being a signing to record label and development agency, Downtown Artists.

He tells us that he auditioned with thousands of others for the contract and was one of three chosen to be represented by the agency.

Jordan is a busy lad, he attends various dance schools, choreographs and directs and is now considering a small tour around the Island before the release of his first track, which he hopes will be out by June.

Image: © Jordan Mullineaux

We love a good fundraising event here on the Isle of Wight.

Next month sees a traditional Tea Dance in aid of Diabetes Research IOW take place at the stunning Northwood House in Cowes.

Now That’s Jive Dance Troupe will be heading across the Solent to take part in the fun providing the music and displays along with some instruction to those who are rusty or with 2 left feet.

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It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about the forthcoming festivals. Jack’s been in touch with info about this year’s Ventnor Fringe Festival. In his own words. Ed

Following a hugely successful second year, which saw artists applications triple, the Ventnor Fringe has now opened applications to perform at the Festival this summer, when it returns from the 15th – 18th of August 2012, to coincide the 123rd annual Carnival celebrations.

Founded in 2010 by a team of teenagers, the Ventnor Fringe is fast growing to become one of the most exciting and up and coming events on the Island.

Open artistic policy
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If you’re a fan of Transglobal Underground then you’re in for a massive treat next month. If you’ve never heard of them or seen them place live, now’s your chance.

Four members of the legendary band will be coming to Quay Arts on 3rd February for an exclusive live performance.

Fronting the world collective on vocals and percussion will be Tuup, Hamid Manttu will be on Drums, the amazing Sheema Mukherjee on the Sitar and Tim Whelan on Keyboards.

Pioneers of dance fusion
Transglobal Underground are award-winning pioneers of the dance fusion scene and regarded as one of the UK’s best live acts across festivals worldwide; their mix of eclectic sounds, percussion and flamboyant performance fuse Western dance music with Arabic, Asian and African music and reveal influences from DJ culture, Indian classical, reggae and hip-hop.

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Thanks to Jack for sharing details of ways that readers can get involved with the Ventnor Fringe Festival. In his own words. Ed

We can’t quite believe its been nearly three whole months since the Fringe took place, and we’re all missing it already, so we’ve decided to launch a new membership scheme for those who love the Fringe, and would like access to a range of special, intimate performances and events throughout the year!

Variety of special one-off events
Just like the Festival, the series of smaller events we’re arranging will take place in various locations around Ventnor during 2012, and will vary from film screenings to music performances and theatre.

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We love to hear about and share with you details of fundraising and charitable events.

Later this week, Cowes Rotary Club will be presenting a cheque for £300 to T+J’s Dance Factory (East Cowes) at Wootton Community Centre.

The money has been given to them by this club as they have an opportunity to participate in the West of England Freestyle Dance Championships.

Best of luck to everyone who takes part. We’ll be thinking of you.

Dates for next year’s Fringe Festival have been announced and they’re definitely going in our diary.

If you were fortunate enough to come down to Ventnor to experience one of the many events taking place during the Ventnor Fringe Festival, you’ll agree what an excellent festival it was.

The dates for 2012 will be Wednesday 15 – Saturday 18th August 2012 in various venues across Ventnor, once again coinciding with the Ventnor Carnival Celebrations.

The Ventnor Fringe Festival was founded in 2010 by a team of teenagers and has gone from strength to strength over the past two years, putting it firmly on the cultural events calender for the Isle of Wight.

Over 200 artists have taken part
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Thanks to Andy for sending through this report from the recent Dance on the Duver event. In his own words. Ed

Saturday 20th August saw the 7th annual Dance on the Duver event which raises money for the Isle of Wight Hospice and the RNLI Bembridge Lifeboat Station.

Over 450 people attended the event which saw Island-based function band, UnderCover, provide an evening of party music from the last 50 years. Playing tracks from Stevie Wonder through to Jessie J, culminating in a fireworks display set against the backdrop of Bembridge Harbour, on one of the warmest evenings in August.

Supported by the Squibbs
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Glam Up and Party Inc are holding a Vintage Ball next weekend (17th September) in order to raise much-needed funds for Cowes Primary School.

The event is being held at Northwood House and runs from 7pm until 1am.

A glass of fizz and canapés welcome you on arrival, followed by a three course meal, live band, disco, raffle and auction.

Dress code for ladies is Vintage long or short and men should dress in black tie or Wartime uniform.

To order tickets, tickets £40 each, available in person from the reception of Cowes Primary School, or Deeva, 13a Shooters Hill, Cowes.

Alternatively you can email cowesvintageball@gmail.com

If you weren’t able to make it along to the Sandown Illuminated Carnival last night, thanks to Christian Beasley of Virtually Wight, you can see what you missed.

Christian has produced two videos, a short version of around three minutes and a longer one, for those keen to spot themselves in the parade, of almost seven minutes.

Carnivals have been great this year, but we’ve been particularly impressed with the Cowes Carnival Queen (see her at 2.09 into the first video below) who every time we’ve seen her, has been full of beans, smiling, singing and waving to the adoring crowds.

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The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray.

There’s plenty to see and do at the Ventnor Fringe festival today. Grab your favourite picnic blanket and stuff your basket full of goodies and head to Ventnor Park for the Patchwork Picnic between 12-5pm.

There’ll be live music on the Bandstand and strolling performers and magicians throughout the afternoon, as well as crafts and activities run by Ventnor Children’s Centre, facepainting and games for all the family.

Other events taking place today include ……
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Don’t let the damp weather put you off coming to Ventnor today. There are plenty of indoor events taking place around the town.

On now (between 2-3pm) you can pop into the marquee on Salisbury Gardens to see Rob Barrett perform his Spoken Word event – it won’t cost you a penny to get in.

From 2.30pm at St Catherine’s School is The Great Ventnor Tea Dance.

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Here’s another one for your diary over the weekend.

Bloodstone Border Morris team will be dancing to celebrate Lammas on Sunday 31st July 2011.

Join them at the Cabin, outside the Sands Hotel, Sandown, at 4.30pm to watch some traditional Border Morris dancing in their distinctive Isle of Wight style.

Always a great performance guaranteed.

With less than a month to go until the return of the Ventnor Fringe Festival, plans are hotting up.

Between 17th – 20th August, Ventnor will be buzzing with artists, musicians, actors and general merry-makers.

Organisers have had well over double the number of artists apply to take part this year, meaning it will be twice as good as last year!

Joining the list of those already confirmed, such as Marques Toliver, Olivia Chaney and Dizraeli & The Small Gods (see videos below), there’ll be a Untied Artists special Edinburgh preview of their show ‘Al Bowlly’s Croon Manifesto, award winning local theatre group, RedTIE Theatre, will perform ‘Immaculate’ and there’ll be a special double bill from Replica Dance Company.

100+ artists descend on Ventnor
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What a busy Isle of Wight we have. There is so much going on this weekend that it’ll be hard to choose what to do.

There are exhibitions, music events, school fayres, theatre performances, fitness events, a motor show…. the list goes on.

Light rain is forecast for Saturday and heavy rain on Sunday but don’t let that put you off going out.

Whatever you do, make sure you have a good one.

Here’s a sample of what’s on tomorrow.

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Well done to Islander, Linda Smith who last week picked up an award for her Dance with a Difference classes.

Linda picked up the prize for Best New Activity for Children, by what’s on website, whatson 4littleones.

Linda told VB, “I am over the moon for this recognition as it now will firmly put Dance with A Difference on the map.”

Find out more about Linda’s classes by visiting her Website, Dance With A Difference.

Congratulations to all the schools who took part in the Global Rock Challenge finals at the weekend, especially Sandown High, who were reigned champions. Many thanks to Jules Vale for the photos (1-5) and Kate Lines for the write-up and remainder of photos. Ed

A team of 96 dancers, 20 hair and make-up and 15 set crew from Sandown High all went over to Portsmouth Guildhall on the 4th June to compete for the Southern Premier Grand Final against 11 other schools to become the best school in the South in the Premier league.

The team was completely student led, with a committee of 12 students from year 11 to year 13, all the choreography, hair and make-up design, costume design and soundtrack were completely controlled by students and the dancers aged between 13-18.

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If you think you’ve got what it takes to impress a panel of talent competition judges, why not consider entering the Memorial Hall Youth Talent Contest 2011?

The event takes place on 10th July at Freshwater Memorial Hall

If you’re aged between five and 16 years old you can enter into one of the three categories (5-8 yrs, 9-12 yrs or 13-16yrs).

Great opportunity and fundraising too
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Vectis Radio DJ, Calder Jon (pictured) recently interviewed Mike Crowe, Membership Secretary for Friends of Shanklin Theatre.

The 40 minute interview, which you can listen to below, goes through the history of the purpose-built theatre, right back to its use during the war.

After the Isle of Wight council decided to dispose of the theatre, the community and Town Council pulled together to take control of it.

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If you haven’t had a chance to celebrate the Spring Equinox, hold on a few more days and you can do it in style.

The Bloodstone Border Morris will be dancing out at Culver Down on Saturday (26th) for a belated Spring Equinox celebration.

They’ll be starting at 6pm and heading into the pub pub for a well earned drink afterwards.

Full details on Events OnTheWight

If you think you’ve got what it takes, get in touch with Chris. Ed

Entertainer Chris Philpott & ‘The National Aids Trust’ are holding a Charity Show Case & Buffet to raise money and awareness of HIV Aids.

The show held in the beginning of March 2011 is looking for local Island Talent to be featured in the event.

Show your skills
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