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→ Time flies when you're having fun! And this Festival week has been hectic, but packed full of great entertainment, fun and top-quality arts and culture. We're fast approaching our grand finale (Sunday night), when in true Prescot Festival style you can get out your flags and join in fervently with a few rousing choruses of Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Hope and Glory. But we still have much more to come before that! Knowsley Youth Orchestra and Wirral Winds will be playing on Friday, and sensational glamour icon Honor Blackman will be in town on Saturday night. Tickets are still available from The Wool Shop, Eccleston Street, or on the door.

(Updated 22 June 2007)

→ What a weekend! We're already on the third day of this year's momentous Prescot Festival, and it's been a thrilling weekend so far. On Friday, Derek Broadbent (an old Prescotian who hit the charts in the 1977 conducting the Brighouse & Rastrick Band in The Floral Dance) took to the podium to conduct the Fairey Band, who were better than ever. Saturday saw over 80 choristers from all over the region assemble to sing the unforgettably moving Requiem by Fauré, under the direction of Liverpool Cathedral's Ian Wells. Those in the mood for something a little more experimental stuck around for COMA North West, who delivered their customary programme of highly innovative and ever-fascinating contemporary music. Artist-in-residence Diane Williams could be seen around sketching the weekend's events as they unfolded. Diane will be exhibiting her sketches next Friday and Sunday during concerts.

The Festival continues until next Sunday (24th June), and there are tonnes of events to catch this week, including dance, film, jazz, comedy, orchestral music and of course this year's star guest, Bond girl Honor Blackman. Click here for full Festival details.

(Updated 17 June 2007)

→ It all starts on Friday night, 7.30pm, at Prescot Parish Church. For the opening night of this year's Prescot Festival, the internationally esteemed Fairey Band will be presenting classics from stage and screen, in their inimitable brash brass style. Tickets are £7 (£6 concessions), available on the door. We are proud to be bringing a stupendously packed programme of arts and cultural events this year - for full listings, click here.

(Updated 13 June 2007)

→ The Third Annual Prescot Festival is almost upon us! The Friends of the Festival are busier than ever in preparation for this year's 10-day event. To get a taster of what's to come, we are presenting a special Festival Preview event this Saturday 9th June, from 2 to 5pm at Prescot Methodist Centre on Atherton Street. Our old friends the Northern All Stars Dance Orchestra are returning with the big band sound for a Tea Dance - tickets just £5, including refreshments.

The Festival itself gets underway on Friday 15th June with the Fairey Band, the North West's top brass. Tickets are £7 (£6 concessions), and the concert starts at 7.30pm in Prescot Parish Church.

(Updated 6 June 2007)

→ Don't forget Harmony Unlimited this Friday (see Diary). And this just announced: At 7.30pm on Tuesday 29th May, the Jaspernian Theatre Company will present their drama Charles Wesley 1707 at Prescot Methodist Centre. Tickets are £5, including refreshments. Don't miss this opportunity to see the life story of one of the great English religious pioneers (pictured).

→ Local entertainment duo Harmony Unlimited (soprano and tenor) will be star guests at a Prescot Festival Preview Event next week. The FREE concert will be held at the Zion Independent Methodist Church on Kemble Street, Prescot, at 7.30pm on Friday, 11th May. Come along for an evening of songs, monologues and light entertainment.

→ The Mayor of Knowsley's Charity Concert last weekend raised an impressive £500 for life-saving baby equipment at Whiston Hospital. Many thanks to the audience that night, and a hearty Bravo! to the talented Pantonic All Stars Steel Orchestra (pictured).

(Updated 1 May 2007)

→ Friends of Shakespeare North has elected a committee in its aim to lend public support to Shakespeare North's bid to build an arts complex and Elizabethan theatre in Prescot. If you are interested in supporting the project, you can pick up a leaflet about the Friends at your local library. Read more about the project here.

→ Do not miss the Pantonic All Stars Steel Pan Orchestra on Saturday 28 April at 7.30pm at Prescot Parish Church. Tickets (£7 & £6 concessions) are available at Prescot Museum, Prescot Library or The Wool Shop, Eccleston Street.

Most of the Prescot Festival 2007 is pay-on-the-door (low prices) or free. However, the opening night's Fairey Band concert will be £7 (£6 concessions), and Honor Blackman's sensational one-woman show will be £10. To ensure seats, you can book for either event in advance from 1 May onwards. Phone 0151 493 9392 or buy at The Wool Shop, Eccleston Street, Prescot. Honor Blackman's show is limited to 200 only, so book early to avoid disappointment!

For the full Festival programme, click here.

(Updated 17 April 2007)

→ Tickets are now on sale for the Pantonic All Stars Steel Pan Orchestra, who will be making an exclusive Prescot appearance on Saturday 28 April at 7.30pm at Prescot Parish Church. Tickets are only £7 (£6 concessions), and all proceeds will go towards the Mayor of Knowsley's Charity, buying life-saving baby equipment at Whiston Hospital. You can grab your ticket early at Prescot Museum, Prescot Library or The Wool Shop, Eccleston Street.

(Updated 2 April 2007)

→ Knowsley will be hosting A Musical Feast on Tuesday 27, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 March. Youth orchestras, choirs and other musical groups will be visiting from all over the country to take part in this prestigious national event, organised by the Federation of Music Services. Concerts will start at 7pm each night at the Kirkby Civic Suite on Cherryfield Drive, in Kirkby, and tickets cost £5 (£3 children). Tuesday night will feature local choirs, and Wednesday night will feature local stars Knowsley Youth Orchestra, premiering a newly commissioned piece by Prescot Festival Director Dr Robert Howard (pictured right). Thursday night rounds off events with a samba band. Phone 0151 443 5615 to book tickets or find out more.

→ Exciting plans for this year's Prescot Festival are well underway, with guest stars to include film star Honor Blackman, Fairey Band, Merseyside Police Band and Knowsley Youth Orchestra, among many others.

February saw some top-quality events in the town, including a recital by organist Colin Porter and a hilarious performance of Alan Ayckbourn's Snake in the Grass at the Rainhill Garrick. A packed diary between now and the Festival will include Liverpool Male Voice Choir (6 March), Jailbreak, a biblical musical by Roger Jones (24 March), and much more - see our events guide for full info.

(Updated 1 March 2007)

→ Widnes-based big band Northern All Stars Dance Orchestra paid a return visit to Prescot last Saturday night. Upwards of 40 people brought along their dancing shoes to the Methodist Hall and had a swinging time to the sounds of such classics as Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses and Tea for Two. Rumour has it the 16-piece band will be making a third appearance in the not-too-distant future.

Those who haven't had enough dancing yet can make their way to St Paul's Church on Bryer Road, Prescot, at 7.30pm on Friday (2 February) for a Festival Fundraiser Barn Dance and Supper. Tickets are £5.

(Updated 1 February 2007)

→ The Knowsley Youth Orchestra will be joined by special guests and community groups for a New Year Concert at the Huyton Civic Suite at 7.30pm on Thursday 18 January. Tickets are a snip at £4 and £3.

Meanwhile, yesterday's consultation on the Prescot Playhouse was a great success, with scores of visitors making it to the Methodist Hall to make their views known on plans to commemorate the Elizabethan playhouse. The Spike Theatre Company also provided some amusing and informative diversions! There is still a chance to have your say. Prescot Methodist Hall will be open from 2 to 4pm on Saturday 20 January for the consultation. Come along and find out what it's all about.

(Updated 16 January 2007)

→ It is a little-known fact that the town of Prescot was once home to one of the few freestanding Elizabethan theatres outside London. From 1593 into the early years of the 17th century, the plays of Shakespeare were performed in the Prescot Playhouse - in fact, the Bard himself is believed to have been a regular visitor to the town and a friend of the wealthy, aristocratic Derby family.

Now a project is underway to commemorate this fascinating piece of local history with a purpose-built community arts centre. Knowsley Council and the Northern Shakespeare Trust are submitting a bid for £20 million from the Big Lottery’s Living Landmarks Fund in order to make the dream a reality. They want your views.

Public consultations will take place at Prescot Methodist Church, Atherton Street at the following times:

Monday, 15 January, 2007: 2-4pm; 6-8pm
Saturday, 20 January, 2007: 2-4pm

→ Happy New Year! Lots to look forward to in 2007. Get your year started with a few laughs at the Rainhill Garrick panto. Dick Whittington is on at Rainhill Village Hall from Thursday 11 to Sunday 14 January. See the Diary for full details. You may also want to get the dust off your dancing shoes and join the All Stars Northern Dance Orchestra for a New Year's Dance on Saturday 27 January at the Methodist Hall. If you're still not tired out, come along the following Friday (2 February) to St Paul's Church for a Festival Fundraising Barn Dance.

→ The 2007 Prescot Festival programme is shaping up nicely, with all the usual variety and hopefully a few surprise guests. Watch this space!

(Updated 4 January 2007)

→ Our utmost thanks to everyone who made this year's packed Christmas programme a stunning success. We began on December 2nd at the Zion Chapel, with a light-hearted evening of songs from the shows with the Village Singers. The following week, Prescot Methodist Church were pleased to host the Knowsley Youth Orchestra with special guest stars Aughton Male Voice Choir. And to cap it off, last Saturday saw the return to Prescot Parish Church of the North West's top brass - the award-winning Fairey Band, who attracted a crowd of well over 200, and raised hundreds for the Mayor of Prescot's charity.

(Updated 18 December 2006)

→ OOPS! If you read in the paper or heard on the radio that the Aughton Male Voice Choir would be performing on December 14, you read one of our uncorrected press releases. The Aughton Male Voice Choir and Knowsley Youth Orchestra will in fact be performing on Friday 8 December at Prescot Methodist Centre on Atherton Street, Prescot. Concert starts at 7.30pm, and tickets are £5. Come along and get into the festive spirit.

Tickets are also selling fast for the Fairey Band concert on Saturday 16 December at 7.30pm in the Parish Church. Tickets are £7 and £6, available in advance from Prescot Museum, Prescot Library and The Wool Shop, Eccleston Street.

(Updated 1 December 2006)

→ It was Sister Act all over again in the Parish Church earlier this month, with Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir providing just the top-quality toe-tapping entertainment we expected.

Now Christmas is rapidly approaching, and there's a packed line-up in Prescot, beginning on Saturday 2 December at the Zion Independent Methodist Church (Kemble Street) at 7.30pm with The Village Singers. They'll be singing some songs from the shows as well as a few festive favourites, and best of all, admission is totally free. Later in the month we'll have the Knowsley Orchestra, Aughton Male Voice Choir and the Fairey Band - see the Diary for all details.

(Updated 20 November 2006)

→ Prescot is buzzing in anticipation of the return visit of the esteemed Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir this Thursday, 9 November at 7.30pm in Prescot Parish Church. Tickets are £6.50 and £4.50.

→ Yet another bravo to Tim Hall for his third annual organ recital at the Parish Church. He was joined this year by Peter Moss on the trumpet and the Keats String Quartet. Programme included organ favourites by Duruflé, Bach and Widor, trumpet tunes by Haydn and Charpentier, and some string classics by Vivaldi, among others.

This Friday, 3 November, the Methodist Quiz Spectacular is not to be missed. It starts at 7.30pm at the Methodist Centre on Atherton Street, Prescot, and tickets are £5, including food.

(Updated 30 October 2006)

→ Rainhill Garrick's Don't Dress for Dinner last week was a hoot a minute, as expected. Bravo to a great cast performing in their usual excellent style.

The next big event is the Organ, Trumpet and String Quartet Recital at Prescot Parish Church on Thursday 26 October. The incredibly talented Tim Hall will be joined by the newly formed Keats String Quartet and trumpeter Peter Moss, making a return visit to the venue. With admission absolutely free, it really isn't an evening to miss.

(Updated 19 October 2006)

→ The Rainhill Garrick Society presents Don't Dress for Dinner, the classic comedy, at Rainhill Village Hall from Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 October, starting at 7.30pm each night. Come along for some saucy antics and belly-laughs a-plenty.

(Updated 11 October 2006)

→ The Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir have confirmed that they will be performing on Thursday 9 November at Prescot Parish Church. O Happy Day! will feature loads of foot-stomping gospel classics as well as appearances from local community groups. Tickets are just £6.50 and £4.50 concessions.

Before that, don't miss the Organ, Trumpet & String Quartet Recital at the Parish Church on Thursday 26 October, starting at 7.30pm. Organist Tim Hall will be joined by trumpeter Peter Moss and the Keats String Quartet. Admission is free!

(Updated 2 October 2006)

→ Oops! Whiston Town Hall (on Dragon Lane) will be open next Saturday for Heritage Open Days. That's Saturday 16 September. Prescot Parish Church welcomed dozens of visitors this past weekend to its historic building.

Mark Friday 22 to Sunday 24 September in your diary for St Paul's Flower Festival. See the Diary for full details.

(Updated 11 September 2006)

→ Welcome back! Here's hoping you had a good summer, despite the thoroughly miserable weather in August. It's all go again here in Prescot, beginning this weekend with Heritage Open Days. Heritage Open Days is a national event when historic buildings across the country open up to the public, offering a rare glimpse into local history and culture. Prescot Parish Church will be open all weekend, and Whiston Town Hall and St Paul's Church, Bryer Road will be open on Saturday. See the diary for full details.

(Updated 4 September 2006)

→ Prescot Library is hosting a summer-long Festival Retrospective. Pop in any time to see photos from this year's Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts. Opening hours can be found here. Check out the Diary regularly for details of events coming up in September. Prescot Parish will be open for Heritage Open Days, and St Paul's will be having a 3-day flower festival. The summer goes by quick, so keep up-to-date!

(Updated 17 July 2006)

→ The Knowsley Youth Orchestra and newly re-formed Knowsley Contemporary Music Ensemble will be playing on Thursday 29 June (this week) at 7.30pm at Prescot Parish Church. Admission is free, and the programme will include such classics as Sibelius's Karelia Suite, Weill's Threepenny Opera and the Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Tchaikovsky (left).

→ Congratulations to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Knowsley Council and several Kirkby schoolchildren for a fantastic evening of musical entertainment at Kirkby Sports Centre last night. Much fun was had by all, and the occasion was a credit to everyone involved. Bravo!

(Updated 27 June 2006)

→ Another year, another festival... It's Monday morning, and the end of a breathtaking weekend of arts and music in Prescot. This year's Prescot Festival saw 20 different events, and a brilliantly diverse programme with everything from jazz, classic film and comedy to orchestral, choral and Big Band music. Visitors saw art from Stuart Sutcliffe and the Prescotia Watercolours, danced to the sounds of Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington, and split their sides laughing to sketches by the Two Ronnies and Alan Bennett. Average audiences of 150 turned up night after night to hear performers including the Valley Brass Band, Phoenix Orchestra and the Haydock Male Voice Choir. From closer to home, the Prescot Methodist Choir and Prescot Parish Church Choir pulled in crowds, and St Paul's Church hosted a vintage film show and exhibition to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. And it was all brought to a close in tremendously spirited fashion with Sunday night's Grand Finale ,starring Professor Ian Tracey on the organ and Wirral Winds.

All in all, a tremendously successful year for the Festival, evidenced by legions of festival-goers truly festivaled out.

Many thanks to all who helped (too numerous to mention). We had dozens of faithful volunteers over the course of the weekend, and of course dozens of very talented artistes who loaned their talents for outrageously generous fees.

An open meeting will be held on Tuesday 4 July at 8.00pm in the Parish Meeting Room. The organisers will be reporting back on this year's event, and there will be a chance for you to give feedback and have a say in future events.

(Updated 26 June 2006)

→ Friday Festival update. Last night's opening night was a great success. Valley Brass Band really wowed the 100-strong audience with their professional standard. Highlights included the theme from Where Eagles Dare and a toe-tapping rendition of George Gershwin's I Got Rhythm. At the Film Fringe, Hitchcock's witty 1935 thriller The 39 Steps went down a treat.

We expect audiences to grow as the weekend goes on, so come along early tonight to avoid disappointment. Tonight's concert is at Our Lady and St Joseph's Catholic Church (behind the Parish Church). At 7pm the Phoenix Wind Quintet will be providing some pre-programme entertainment, and the main concert with the Phoenix Orchestra starts at 7.30pm. Entrance is £2. At 9.30pm in the Parish Meeting Room is the Comedy Fringe, with a comedy quiz and sketches hosted by Dave Kernick, Roy Taylor and Rob Howard.

(Updated 23 June 2006)

→ It's Thursday 22nd, and the Festival is here! Don't forget to join us tonight at 7pm at the Prescot Parish Church for the Valley Brass Band, followed at 9.15pm by Hitchcock's classic thriller, The 39 Steps. Please check out the festival page for more information.

(Updated 22 June 2006)

→ It's the beginning of a very exciting but hectic week for Arts in Prescot. Thursday 22 June sees the launch of the 2nd Annual Prescot Festival. We are extremely excited about the jam-packed programme coming up this year. The 24-page souvenir brochure and full programme is being printed as we speak. It was a job cramming everything in, but we managed it! The official start of the Festival is on Thursday night, 7pm, at Prescot Parish Church, when we'll be entertained by the Valley Brass Band from Haydock. Admission is absolutely free, as are most of our events.

Director Rob Howard managed to get onto Pete Price's Radio City show for a quick interview on Sunday night, and I (Dave) will be trying to get through to the Roger Phillips show on Radio Merseyside this week to give the event a plug.

(Updated 19 June 2006)

→ Prescot Parish Church welcomed back Fairey Band last Friday night. The band sounded better than ever. You can read the review here.

(Updated 5 June 2006)

→ Over a hundred people came along to last night's BBC broadcast of United in Song at Prescot Parish Church. The service will be broadcast at 8.30am on Pentecost Sunday, 4 June, on BBC Radio Merseyside (95.8 FM).

Don't forget to come to hear one of the nation's most renowned brass bands, the Fairey Band, on Friday 2 June. They will be playing at Prescot Parish Church at 7.30pm. Tickets are £7.50 and £6, available from the Parish Church, Prescot Museum and Library, and The Wool Shop, Eccleston Street.

(Updated 24 May 2006)

→ Two great exhibitions are being held this month. At Prescot Library you can view the works of local painters in the Prescotia Watercolours Exhibition. And Prescot Museum has worked in association with Arts in Prescot to stage an exhibition about ex-Prescot Grammar boy Stuart Sutcliffe AKA the "fifth Beatle", along with a nostalgic trip back into the sixties. See the Library and Museum websites for opening hours.

Many thanks to Celia Finney who hosted a quiz night at The Grapes last night, and managed to raise almost £200 for the Prescot Festival. That should cover the costs of the festival banners, which you should see in and around Prescot sometime in the next few weeks.

(Updated 16 May 2006)

→ Thanks to members of Zion Independent Methodist Church for their hard work and warm hospitality at last Saturday's concert. The Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir and Knowsley Ladies Community Choir delivered a breathtaking programme of choral music, ending with a very rousing rendition of the great hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, which the audience joined in with great gusto. Bravo to all involved.

Neville's Island, a comedy by Tim Firth, is on at the Rainhill Village Hall from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 May, at 7.30pm each night.

All are invited to St Paul's Church, Bryer Road, Prescot on Sunday 13 May for a special Songs of Praise to celebrate the church's 50th Anniversary.

(Updated 11 May 2006)

→ May is a busy month for Arts in Prescot. On Saturday 6 May, the Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir and Knowsley Ladies Choir will be singing in a free concert at Zion Independent Methodist Church (Kemble Street, Prescot). It starts at 7.30pm.

The following week, the Rainhill Garrick Society presents Neville's Island (left), a comedy by Tim Firth, the writer behind saucy hit Calendar Girls. It runs from Thursday 11 to Saturday 13 May at Rainhill Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm each night. Tickets are £4 and £3.50. Read a bit more about the production at Knowsley Online.

Other exciting events coming up include a 'Songs of Praise' at St Paul's Church (Bryer Road, Prescot), on the occasion of their 50th anniversary year. It takes place at 6.30pm on Sunday 14 May. And BBC Radio Merseyside will be returning to Prescot on Tuesday 23 May when Prescot Parish Church will be hosting a special broadcast of United in Song, beginning at 7.30pm.

(Updated 4 May 2006)

→ The Prescot Festival 'Preview' is only two weeks away. The Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir will be joined by the Knowsley Ladies Choir for an evening of choral entertainment on Saturday 6 May, beginning at 7.30pm at the Zion Independent Methodist Church on Kemble Street. Alec Wallace is conducting at this free event.

→ Prescot Library is hosting a small exhibition about early-20th-century Prescot-born MP James Seddon. It has been put up by the Arts in Prescot team, with kind thanks to the St Helens Historic Society, and is available to view at any time during regular library opening hours. From 12 May it will be replaced by an art exhibition by Prescotia Watercolours, which runs until 7 July.

(Updated 25 April 2006)

→ Many thanks to Ray and Barbara Mercer, who raised over £350 for the Prescot Festival with their fundraising cabaret last Friday. The entertainment was wonderful, and everyone got their fill of cheese and wine.

We are delighted to be welcoming back the Fairey (FP Music) Brass Band (pictured) for a special Festival "launch" event on Friday 2 June at Prescot Parish Church. The world-famous band attracted crowds of over 300 at last year's festival, and we hope to draw in even more this year.

There is tonnes coming up on the arts scene soon in Prescot! Check out the diary for details of Rainhill Amateur Operatic Society's all-day charity Festival of Music on Saturday April 8 at Rainhill Village Hall and several events throughout May, including a concert by the Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir and Knowsley Ladies Choir, and a comedy by the Rainhill Garrick Society.

(Updated 4 April 2006)

→ The full programme for this year's Prescot Festival is now online. Dates are Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 June. Click here for an at-a-glance preview of events. At this stage, the programme is subject to minor modifications, but is more or less settled. We have a great line-up this year, including brass, jazz, classic film, comedy, orchestral music and tonnes more. We're using even more venues this year, and have updated the Venues and Directions page to make navigating the town simpler for you.

Ray and Barbara Mercer will be holding a Prescot Festival fundraiser on Friday 31 March. Tickets are only £5, and the evening includes cabaret-style entertainment, fun and games. The event starts at 7.30pm in the Prescot Parish Meeting Room.

→ Last weekend's organ recital with Alan Thornecroft was a great success. Next Tuesday night, 14 March, Prescot Methodist Guild present An Evening of Brass with Parr Band. It begins at 7.30pm in the Prescot Methodist Centre on Atherton Street. Tickets are £4.

→ The region is buzzing with entertainment events this weekend. The Rainhill Garrick's A Party to Murder opens tonight at Rainhill Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm, and also runs Friday and Saturday nights. Friday night at 7.30pm at the Huyton Suite (Civic Way, Huyton) is the Birkenhead Operatic Society singing Songs from the Shows. All proceeds go to the Mayor's Charity (Breathe Easy Campaign). On Saturday night, take your pick from a free organ recital with Alan Thornecroft at Prescot Parish Church, starting at 7.30pm, or the St Helens Sinfonietta at St Helens United Reformed Church, also at 7.30pm (tickets £8).

→ Saturday 25 February sees organist Alan Thornecroft in a free recital at Prescot Parish Church, starting at 7.30pm. The programme also includes bassoonist Robert Howard. Refreshments are included.

The Rainhill Garrick Society's latest production - A Party to Murder - is also on this week, from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 February, 7.30pm each night, at Rainhill Village Hall.

→ A great time was had by all at last week's panto, Hansel and Gretel, at Prescot Methodist Church. The Prescot and Whiston Methodist are now in their twentieth year, and saw record crowds this time round. You can read the review online at KnowsleyOnline.com, or in our archives here. Well done to director June Jagger and musical director Robert Howard for a stupendous success.

We have added a new page for details of the upcoming 2nd Annual Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts. Programme details will be added there as the final events come together. Don't forget to keep checking the Diary for news of future events. The next couple of months sees an organ recital by Alan Thornecroft, and a mystery thriller at the Rainhill Garrick. All events can be found here.

→ The classic panto Hansel and Gretel opens tomorrow (Tuesday 22 January) and runs until Saturday 26 at the Prescot Methodist Church Centre on Atherton Street, Prescot. Come along and join in all the usual fun of 'It's behind you', 'Oh no you're not' etc. Tickets are only £3.50 on opening night, and £4.50 and £4 for the rest of the week. Show starts at 7:30 each night, plus a Saturday matinee at 2:15pm. Click on the thumbnail for poster and full details.

→ Happy New Year! Plans for this year's Prescot Festival are well underway. Dates are confirmed as Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 June 2006. Opening night will be the Valley Brass Band from Haydock. Highlights throughout the weekend include organist and festival patron Professor Ian Tracey, a Stuart Sutcliffe (left) exhibition and a new late-night 'fringe' programme featuring films, cabaret and jazz from the Hot Club of Knotty Ash. Mark it in your diary ASAP!

→ Don't forget about the great line-up of Christmas concerts in Knowsley this month. Check out the diary for details. And as we move into 2006, Prescot and Whiston Methodist Players' production of the classic panto Hansel and Gretel looks set to be a real treat. Click here to find out more.

→ Prescot has a great programme coming up for the festive season, with concerts featuring local choirs and orchestras. Click on the diary to see what's happening in and around the area this December. For the first time the Knowsley Orchestra will be playing at Our Lady and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. Check out the venues page to see the revised map -- we'd hate anyone to get lost!

→ The Knowsley Orchestra is playing at St Barnabas's Church on Penny Lane this Saturday (Nov 12). The concert starts at 7:30pm, and tickets are only £3.50. The programme will include (appropriate to the venue) a few Beatles classics. Come along and support your local orchestra!

→ Rainhill Garrick Society will be providing a revue-style evening of entertainment at Prescot Methodist Centre, Atherton Street, on Tuesday 8 November, starting at 7:30pm. Entry is by donation.

→ Comedian Bobby Ball of the famous duo 'Cannon and Ball' will be performing at Prescot Community Church on Kemble Street on Saturday 5 November, starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are just £2.50 and £1.40 (under 14). Don't miss the chance to see an eighties comedy legend!

If a bit of ale is more your thing, the following week will be the Rainhill Rotary Bierfest. Sample more than 60 quality real ales at the Pirelli Club on Scotchbarn Lane, Prescot, from Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 November. Times are 7 to 11:30pm each night, plus 2 to 5pm on the Saturday. Tickets are £5, and that includes your first pint. All proceeds go to charity.

→ Prior to their concert at Prescot Parish Church on Friday October 21st, Tyndale Thomas and the Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir will be hosting a Gospel Music Workshop. Everyone is welcome to come and join in on Thursday October 20th from 6-9pm at Prescot Parish Church. If you or your group is interested, phone Knowsley Arts Service on (0151) 443-5619 to confirm attendance.

On Thursday October 13th at 7:30pm, the Wirral Mandoliers will be presenting a grand evening of voices and mandolin music at Knowsley Parish Church, Knowsley Village. The concert will also feature the Lyndale Singers and mezzo-soprano Lesley Heatherington. Tickets are only £5 (all proceeds to church roof fund), and are available from Don Fraser on (0151) 292-5393. (26/09/05)

→ Organist Tim Hall has announced the programme for his November 16 recital at Prescot Parish Church. He will be playing toccatas by Bach and Widor among others. He will be joined by soprano Laura Hudson and trumpeter Peter Moss. The recital starts at 7:30pm and admission is free.

→ Last week's Heritage Open Weekend at the Parish Church was a great success. We saw between 100 and 150 visitors to the church over the weekend from all over the northwest. The local press has written about the event here. One of the highlights was an exhibition of historic photographs and postcards of Prescot (sample pictured), from the collection of local historian Alec Wallace. The exhibition is now on show at Prescot Library, along with an intriguing history of St Mary's Parish Church we unearthed last week. See the library's website for opening times. The exhibition will run until November.

A Cheese and Wine evening will be held (back by popular demand after a successful event earlier this summer) at the Parish Meeting Rooms (across the courtyard from St Mary's) on Friday October 14 at 7:30pm. Fun and entertainment provided! Tickets are £5, all proceeds to the Children's Society. Tickets available from Ray & Barbara Mercer (tel (0151) 426-2036, from Rebecca Oakes at Margaret Rose on Eccleston Street, or from The Wool Shop, also on Eccleston Street. (19/09/05)

→ AboutKnowsley.com is online. Check in daily for all the latest local news and views! (12/09/05)

→ The St Helens Sinfonietta will be presenting the children's classic Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev on Saturday 17 September at De la Salle School, Mill Brow, Eccleston, starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are £8, and children accompanied by adults are free. The programme will also include Ibert, Grieg and Bizet. Tickets are available on the door or by phoning 01744-600846. (05/09/05)

→ Many thanks to Celia Finney, for her donation towards next year's Prescot Festival. She held a quiz evening (with musical entertainment provided by festival organizers Rob Howard and Dave Kernick) last week and raised a total of £146.50 towards the Festival. (22/08/05)

→ Forthcoming events: The Choir of Prescot Methodist Church will be joining with Knowsley Ladies' Choir on Saturday October 8th for a hotpot supper and entertainment evening. The event takes place in the Methodist Church hall on Atherton Street.

The Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir will be back in town on Friday October 21st at 7:30pm in Prescot Parish Church. Tickets are only £6.50 and are available from Prescot Museum or on the door. Gospel singer Tyndale Thomas will be in town the same week getting local choirs and schools into the rhythm with a series of workshops.

On Wednesday November 16th at 7:30pm in the Parish Church, organist Tim Hall will be performing 'Toccatas and Trumpet Tunes' with a guest soloist. His last recital was an unprecedented success. Admission will be free.

Musicians from Knowsley Orchestra will be playing popular and traditional Christmas tunes, with singalong carols, at Whiston Methodist Church on Friday December 16th(TBC). (09/08/05)

→ Don't forget to keep checking our Events Diary. We've recently added events for September. Meanwhile, our restrospective on the First Annual Prescot Festival will be coming down on Friday July 29th, so stop by Prescot Library this week if you haven't had to see photos and news from this year's wildly successful festival. (23/07/05)

→ Festival Director Rob Howard and I have been keeping an ear out for talent in the region. Earlier this month we travelled out to Burscough to listen to the Hot Club of Knotty Ash, a jazz guitar trio inspired by legendary performer Django Reinhardt (right). You can hear them along with other jazz musicians at the Beaufort Hotel on the first Monday of every month. It's a great atmosphere and it's free! We also stopped by the 5a Gallery on Bickerstaffe Street in St Helens. Owner Ken Hughes specializes in modern art and reproductions. A very exciting place that includes an exhibition devoted to one-time Prescot Grammar School-boy Stuart Sutcliffe, the "fifth Beatle" nowadays hailed as an artistic genius in his own right. (15/07/05)

→ Local councillor Dave Smithson has some lovely words of praise for the Knowsley Summer Concert at the Huyton Suite. The Knowsley Orchestra were joined by the Knowsley Concert Band as well as students from schools St Margaret Mary, St Thomas Beckett, St Joseph's Primary and Sylvester Primary. Did I miss anyone out? (12/07/05)

→ On Friday July 8  at 7:30pm Barbara and Ray Mercer of St Paul's in Prescot will be hosting an entertainment evening at the Parish Meeting Rooms (across the courtyard from St Mary's Parish Church) to raise funds for parishioner Cliff Naylor. Tickets available on the door. (04/07/05)

→ The Gordon Wilkinson (Lancashire Life) exhibition at Prescot Library ends today (Mon Jul 4). However, it will be replaced by a retrospective on this year's Festival, so come along to Prescot Library any time in the next two weeks (see link for opening times). There'll be photos and reports as well as vintage documents from the Prescot Museum archives. (04/07/05)

→ An open meeting about the Prescot Festival will be held next Tuesday (July 5) at 8 to 9pm in the Parish Meeting Rooms, across the courtyard from St Mary's Parish Church in Prescot. Director Robert Howard will be reporting on the success of this year's event, and there will also be an opportunity to hear more about plans for next year's Festival. All are welcome to attend. (02/07/05)

→ Two reviews of the weekend's Festival have been published on AboutPrescotandRainhill.com. Check out Prescot Crowds Away with the Faireys for a review of the opening night and From Russiafest to Beatlesfest at Prescotfest for a review of Thursday's concert with the Knowsley Orchestra and Prescot Parish Church Choir. Look out for a full feature on this year's event soon. (28/06/05)

→ Knowsley Councillor Dave Smithson,  has offered a few kind words about the Festival on his weblog. He writes: "I attended a performance by Knowsley Orchestra and Prescot Parish Church Choir at Prescot Parish Church this evening, one of a series of events in the 1st Annual Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts, and as usual the performance was excellent, truly uplifting music and wonderful to see so many young people proudly showing us their music skills. Congratulations to the event organisers and especially Dr Robert Howard for the hard work in planning this festival which I am sure will run for many many more years to come."

Cheers, Dave! (27/06/05)