The first race-day of the year gets under starter’s orders at Newbury Racecourse a week today with a six-race card over the fences. Gates open on Wednesday, 16 January, at 11am, with the first race off at 1.10pm. An exciting card features the Betfred Mobile Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase won last year by subsequent Grade…
Serving more than 400 cask ales, ciders, perries, bottled world beers, craft keg beers and meads, Derby Winter Ale Festival 2019 is an ale enthusiasts heaven. Organised by Derby CAMRA, the event takes place from 20-23 February at the stunning Roundhouse at Derby College, near Pride Park. Celebrating its 15th year, there will be a…
The Salisbury branch of CAMRA is holding its 22nd annual Winterfest on 25-26 January 2019, featuring 24 real ales and three ciders. The event takes place at the Royal British Legion Club in Endless Street, with tickets priced at £6, including a glass and souvenir programme. Card-carrying CAMRA members get a free half pint. There’s…
If you’re the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ you’re bound to have inspired a few people with your music, but to shape-shifting British rock icon David Bowie, Elvis Presley meant a whole lot more. The pair were both Capricorns, born 12 years apart on 8 January. If they were still with us Bowie would be…
It’s a far cry from Graceland but the 84th anniversary of his birth is as good a time as any to get the first mention of the year in about the Porthcawl Elvis Festival, which descends on the South Wales seaside resort every September for a weekend of tributes to the “King of Rock and…
When it started back in Glastonbury in 1995, people thought it wouldn’t run for 25 weeks let alone 25 years, but a quarter of a century later the Circus of Horrors is still running amok around the globe. An amazing amalgamation of bizarre and breathtaking circus acts, the “shocky horror” show pulls together a series…
This year the only National Hunt racecourse built in the UK in the last 90 years celebrates its 10th anniversary, with an evening meeting on 20 June that promises to be a memorable occasion for the West Wales venue. But the first meeting of 2019 at Ffos Las Racecourse takes place next week when a…
BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas will be at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena later this month to discuss his historic win in the classic French cycling event with broadcaster Ned Boulting. The first and only Welshman to win the Tour, Thomas returns to Cardiff on Saturday, 26 January, to…
After a a six-year break from touring, Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert is back on the road in 2019 with a new show, The Book of John. The tour kicks off on Saturday, 2 February, at the William Aston Hall in Wrexham and spans 52 venues over six months, with two nights at both London’s Eventim…
For someone on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean, it’s hard to fathom how next month’s Super Bowl is the 53rd, when the National Football League (NFL) was officially formed in 1920. The reason for this anomaly dates back to 1960 when a group of businessmen who wanted to own football franchises, but had…
