What’s on in Stroud this week: 27 April – 4 May
It’s a bank holiday weekend, and Stroud’s event organisers have not failed to notice, with a range of events popping up around the five valleys to suit all tastes.
Highlights include the return of Hawkwood’s May Day festival, a beer and music festival at the Prince Albert, May Day dancing on Painswick Beacon, and a one-day acoustic music event at the Bowbridge Arms. Plus, Amberley’s annual Cow Hunt returns, as does the steampunk takeover of Woodchester Mansion.
Find out more in our regular look at things coming up in Stroud and the wider district. To suggest an event for inclusion, use this form.
Regular and one off events
- Attend the Prince Albert beer festival – Thu 30 Apr – Mon 4 May
Lotte and Miles reprise their annual May beer, cider and music festival at the Prince Albert, with twenty five beers, sea shanty singing and a range of music and literary events over the weekend. Highlights include Boss Morris’ May dancing and singing in the early morning of Fri 1 May and Johnny Lynch aka Pictish Trail playing a show on bank holiday Monday.
- Dance in the dawn on Painswick Beacon – Fri 1 May, from 5.15am
Painswick Beacon is as good a place as any to be just after 5am on a Friday morning as Stroud Morris Dancers and friends dance to welcome the May dawn. Stroud Morris Dancers perform in the Cotswold tradition, and will be joined by their friends Gloucestershire Morris who do the same, whilst Cheltenham Morris side, The Tattered Court, will be on hand to display their Border Morris talents.
- Hunt cows in Amberley – Sat 2 – Sun 3 May, 1 – 5pm
Amberley Parochial School’s celebrated cow hunt sees a trail of decorated wooden cows pop up around the village, challenging visitors to find them all. The hunt includes an always-impressive cake tent popping up beside the school on Pinfarthings, raising funds for school needs and local charities.
- Enjoy acoustic music at the Bowbridge Arms – Sat 2 May, From 3pm
To mark the bank holiday weekend, the Bowbridge Arms team have put together a special one-day music festival, dubbed Acoustic on Tap. The event features former Noah and the Whale bassist Matt Owens, performing with his new band Radioking, as well as acclaimed singer-songwriter Sean Taylor, who is joined by double bassist Mike Seal.
- Join the steampunks at Woodchester Mansion – Sun 3 – Mon 4 May, 11am – 5pm
Gloucestershire’s steampunks take over Woodchester Mansion again this year for a special family-focussed May Day celebration for all the family. The two-day extravaganza will include maypole dancing, tea pot racing, hobby horse show jumping, and a mini cheese rolling, alongside a steampunk market, with jewellery, ornaments, handmade crafts and pictures available to purchase.
- Tour Eastcombe and Bussage gardens – Sun 3 – Mon 4 May, 1 – 5.30pm
The finest gardens of Eastcombe and Bussage open their gates this Sunday and bank holiday Monday, raising funds for Longfield Community Hospice and Allsorts. Alongside having an officially-sanctioned nose around other people’s gardens, visitors can also enjoy tea and cake at Eastcombe Village Hall and Helen & Gerwin Westendorp will be selling ice creams at Hawkley Cottage on Fidges Lane.
- Celebrate May at Hawkwood – Mon 4 May, 10am – 5pm
Hawkwood’s May Day bank holiday event returns after a year off, promising local food, live music, talks, stalls, workshops and family activities. The day also includes yoga, gong baths, macramé, wild medicine, song writing and children’s circus skills.
Further afield
- See the Bristol Jack-in-the-Green – Sat 2 May, 10.30am – 4pm
For around 200 years, the people of Bristol and communities around England have celebrated the coming of summer by creating and processing a Jack-in-the-Green on or around May Day. Bristol’s current event may be a modern revival of the old custom, but it still follows a traditional formula, with the procession beginning in the morning at the harbourside and making its way up to Horfield Common, where poor Jack is slain, to release the spirit of summer.
For a full month of art, music, theatre, literature, film and comedy events, pick up a copy of Stroud’s popular listings magazine, Good on Paper.
