Music
The annual World Of Music Arts And Dance has long been the favourite of middle-class dads but its lineups are increasingly eclectic, not just for range of styles but the balance of contemporary and heritage acts. This year you can see John Grant and Portuguese guitarist Lula Pena, or the Congotronic Konono No 1 and Afro-futurists Auntie Flo, all alongside French disco don François K and Guide synthpop faves the Invisible.
Now in its eighth year, this Sheffield festival has always been strong on fostering new talent but a little more shaky at the top end of the bill – Reverend And The Makers have headlined not once, but twice. Yet this year’s lineup is an impressive one: Dizzee Rascal, Kelis and, like ’em or not, the inescapable Catfish And The Bottlemen lead the line, while further down you can find Young Fathers, George Clinton (pictured, right) and Parliament Funkadelic and Novelist.
Film
The BFG
Adapting Dahl can be a tricky task, given how peculiar and lived-in the author’s worlds seem. Sensibly, Steven Spielberg has made his BFG as much about the relationship between girl and giant as it is about CGI whizz-bangery. Lead Mark Rylance finds charm and pathos behind the motion capture.
True gourmet fare for cinephiles, this new Bristol-based event allows film-goers to take in rarities and old favourites. That means a premiere for the restoration of historical drama (and influence on TV drama Empire) The Lion In Winter, a rare screening of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, a lost drama from African-American director Kathleen Collins, Losing Ground (pictured), as well as an Andrei Tarkovsky season.
Theatre
Doctor Who fans, rejoice: your fave toffish Doc Matt Smith and ex-Who companion Billie Piper are both in the West End this summer for vastly different ways of exercising the thesp muscle. Smith is at the Royal Court in Unreachable, an improv comedy about misfits making a film, while Piper stars in Yerma, a play about a childless woman with the sort of twist that’s expected from young-gun director Simon Stone.
Exhibitions
It’s the final full week for the scarlet-bobbed artist’s latest exhibition (Victoria Miro, N1, & Victoria Miro Mayfair, W1, to 30 Jul) and what must be the most Instagrammed pumpkins ever. It’s free to get in, too, which is why the London queues have been eye-popping, but at least you can spend that time choosing the perfect filter.
Artist Rooms: Louise Bourgeois
Her association with the Tate goes back to its beginnings – Louise Bourgeois’ Maman, a 30ft-high bronze spider, loomed above the Turbine Hall crowds at the gallery’s opening. 16 years later, Tate Modern has a new extension and a year-long home for some of the French sculptor’s works, as part of its Artist Rooms series.
Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones awarded the Natural History Museum five stars for this “mind-expanding peepshow of nature”. The vivid new exhibition, which opened last Friday, is dedicated to showcasing the kaleidoscope of colour that makes up the outside world and explaining it; from how pigments are used as warning signs to how shades have influenced centuries of art and design. It also features more than 350 rarely seen species – from birds and butterflies to lizards – and lets you see through the eyes of a snail.
Television
Arena: 1966 – 50 Years Ago Today
A sprawling and highly evocative work, Jon Savage’s recent book 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded felt as if it could do with some sort of visual accompaniment. Here, belatedly, is one, as Savage narrates a companion episode of Arena. His argument – that political and even existential uncertainty over Vietnam and an apocalyptic arms race provided the perfect backdrop for a cultural flowering – is augmented with a fever dream-like assortment of archive clips. Everything from LSD use and pandemonium over the Beatles to the BBC’s horrifying depiction of nuclear destruction in The War Game is touched upon, making for both nostalgic and unsettling viewing.
Comedy
The standups on Stuart Goldsmith’s podcast tend to bare all – most interviews end up resembling gag-heavy therapy sessions. Trawl the archives for their musings on life and death (the real and comedy kind).
