The Bradley Stoke Journal

Bradley Stoke Town Councillors are to decide at a meeting on Wednesday whether a private company should be permitted to stage a beer festival at one of the Council’s three activity centres.

Brizzle Beer Festivals, a company based in Bradley Stoke that organises “community” beer festivals in the Bristol area, has asked to use one of the centres and is promising to donate a proportion of takings/profits to charity.

Council officers have referred the request to Councillors because “it does not fall within the normal type of hire”.

The Brook Way Activity Centre, recently refurbished after the Council withdrew funding for the resident youth club, is identified as the most appropriate venue for the event, due to its capacity and ability to accommodate the hog roast that seems to be a regular feature of the applicant’s festivals.

The venue would be available from 8am to 11pm, “due to the proximity of nearby households”.

The festival organisers have offered to stage the event in partnership with the Council, with no charge being made for the venue and 30% of profits going to a charity of the Council’s choosing. Alternatively, the firm says it will pay for the venue and donate 30% of proceeds, less the hire charge, to a charity of its own choosing.

More: Should firm be charged commercial or private hire rate? »

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Fine weather once again drew a big crowd to Bradley Stoke’s Jubilee Centre for the main day of the annual Community Festival.

The action got underway at 10:30am when the first matches in the Schools Football Tournament kicked off on the upper pitch. Youngsters from local schools battled it out in a competition where marks for fair play were the deciding factor rather than the number of goals scored.

Music and dance acts in the main arena started at 11:30am, with the action alternating between the main stage in the car park and a dance floor that had been set up in the arena.

Headline act the Counterfeit Bee Gees performed two sets, with four local bands – Doing Time, Trouble on The Green , Cassette and Tundra providing support.

Over on the Jubilee Green, Professor Panic’s Circus and traditional fairground rides entertained the younger children, while a mini-arena hosted demonstrations by local martial arts clubs.

Technical problems with the sound system saw the schedule slip throughout the afternoon, meaning that the final act (Egyptian Dancers) finished nearly an hour later than planned at 6:25pm.

Continue reading for details of Sunday’s Festival events »

The 2011 Bradley Stoke Community Festival gets underway at 9:30am today (Friday) with a coffee morning, stalls and children’s entertainment at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road.

The annual pre-school Picnic in the Park runs alongside the coffee morning – with entertainment from Professor Panic’s Circus and the Bubbleman.

Saturday (11th June) sees a packed programme of music and dance events at the Jubilee Centre playing fields, with the action starting at 11:30am and running through to 6pm.

The band line up is headed by the Counterfeit Bee Gees, with support from a number of local bands that include Cassette, winners of the 2010 Bradley Stoke Battle of the Bands competition.

Dance groups performing in between the bands this year include the South Gloucestershire Chinese Association demonstrating Tai Chi routines along with the Bollywood dancers, the popular Egyptian Nights and the superb Annette’s Academy Dancers.

A special children’s zone will be created on the Jubilee Green, with Professor Panic’s Big Top providing the centre piece along with fairground rides, inflatables and the Spiderman bungee trampoline.

Bristol Zoo is bringing along some interesting animals and insects for people to see and for the children to interact with in their Zoo to You facility.

Around 55 community, local business, information and food stalls will form the annual Community Fair in the Jubilee Centre Arena and on Jubilee Green, while a schools football tournament for Year 1 boys / Year 3-4 girls, will take place on the upper pitch from 10:30am.

Also taking place on Saturday is a free guided walk in the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve, starting from outside the Leisure Centre at 10am.

Sunday (12th June) kicks off with the Bradley Stoke 10k Run at 9:30am (from the Jubilee Centre), followed by a series of events at Baileys Court Activity Centre – starting with an open-air church service at 11am.

Continue reading for more details of Sunday’s events »

Fine weather once again drew a large crowd to Saturday’s Community Fair at Bradley Stoke’s Jubilee Centre.

Action on the upper football field began at 10:30 with a tournament for local school children, with the main music and dance programme following at 11:30am.

Tribute band ABBA Now were the headline act on the main stage, supported by Pantz, Smokestack Shakers, Uncle Buck and The Echoes.

Music performances were interspersed with dance and gymnastic displays in the main arena.

The Jubilee Green was packed with business and community stalls together with fairground rides and a second performance arena.

Football star Matt Le Tissier visited the fair between 12:30pm and 2:30pm, signing autographs and chatting with representatives of the Bradley Stoke teams.

A surprise visitor was Britain’s Got Talent finalist Paul Burling, who lives in Bradley Stoke. He was seen towards the end of the day signing autographs and posing for photographs with fans.

Tomorrow (Sunday 13th) sees another full day of events, which gets underway with the Bradley Stoke 10k Run at 10am from the Jubilee Centre. Organisers Sole Sisters Running Club told The Journal they had received 418 entries by Saturday evening and will accept further entries on race day, subject to a safety limit of 500. Take a look at our interactive map of the race route to see where you can cheer on the runners between 10am and approx 11:20am.

The Festival focus then switches to Baileys Court, where an outdoor church service (11am) will be followed by a family picnic and the annual six-a-side cricket tournament.

Youngsters not wishing to miss out on the sporting action can head over to the Leisure Centre, where a Skate Park competition starts at noon. A BBQ and music will be provided to accompany the action on the ramps.

Lots more photos from today on PicasaWeb: album; slideshow

The main day of Bradley Stoke’s 2010 Community Festival gets under way at the earlier than usual time of 11:30am today and offers a varied programme of music and dance acts along with the ever-popular community fair.

Headline act on the main stage is tribute band ABBA Now, who will be supported by the Pantz, Smokestack Shakers, Uncle Buck and The Echoes.

Groups performing in the dance arena include Bristol Ballet, Egyptian Nights and Fahrenheit.

Over on Jubilee Green, there will be performances and demonstrations from the Chinese Association Singers, Raise Your Voice, Bradley Stoke Community School Samba Band, Bowsland Green Gym Club and South Gloucestershire Asian Dance.

The event finishes at 6pm this year, to avoid a clash with the England football team’s first match in the 2010 World Cup.

More info:

• Timetable of Events for Festival Saturday
• Full weekend programme

The 2010 Bradley Stoke Community Festival gets underway at 9am today (Friday) with a coffee morning, table top sale and children’s entertainment at the Jubilee Centre in Savages Wood Road.

The annual pre-school Picnic in the Park runs from 11am to 2pm – with entertainment from Professor Panic’s Circus, bubble man Steve Price and a bouncy castle.

Saturday (12th June) sees a packed programme of music and dance events at the Jubilee Centre playing fields, with the action starting at 11:30am and running through to 6:30pm.

A special children’s zone will be created on the Jubilee Green, with Professor Panic’s Big Top providing the centre piece along with fairground rides, inflatables, mountain climbing wall, face painting and quad bikes.

Around 70 community, local business, information and food stalls will form the annual Community Fair in the Jubilee Centre Arena, while a schools football tournament for Year 1 boys / Year 3-4 girls, will take place on the upper pitch from 10:30am.

This year’s star guest at the football tournament will be former England and Southampton player Matt Le Tissier.

Robert Godwin of event management company Re-energize told The Journal:

“We have had a big increase in the number of stalls attending – including local vendors, crafts and community operations, schools, charities, PTAs etc.”

Sunday (13th June) kicks off with the Bradley Stoke 10k Run at 10am (from the Jubilee Centre), followed by a series of events at Baileys Court Activity Centre – starting with an open-air church service at 11am.

The church service will be followed at 12pm by a Teddy Bears’ Picnic, a Teddy Bear Dressing Up competition and entertainment for all the whole family.

Read on for more details of Sunday’s events including the cricket tournament and skate park competition