The first place that events usually get listed is at wegottickets.com/ashburtonarts. Sometimes they get listed there before they appear below. You can also book tickets there (+10% booking fee) or email boxoffice@ashburtonarts.org.uk to reserve and pay on the door (cash or card). See Access, Tickets & Finding Us for more about why there are three ticket prices, plus other useful info about coming to events at Ashburton Arts Centre. To be kept up to date with everything going on at Ashburton Arts Centre, join our mailing list.
Mar 2025
Phil Beer in ConcertSaturday 29 March 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Phil Beer is the multi-instrumental half of the west country’s award-winning acoustic duo, Show of Hands.
“A Phil Beer gig is one spent in the company of a true craftsman, a master musician and consummate performer” Spiral Earth
Eternal Triangle (Trevor Watts, Veryan Weston, Jamie Harris)
Sunday 30 March 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
“Watts still displays his shock of crazed-scientist locks, playing with enormous vigour that would be startling from a stripling, not forgetting that the altoman (and sopranoman) is now 83 years old. His tunes often have a South African flavour, with a fiery free progression rising out of their groove, Weston fragmenting wildly, Harris freaking out on congas, with additional cymbal flashes, in a free-salsa fashion.” Jazzwise, 2022
Not Only But Also The Blues: James Dixon | Adam Sweet
Monday 31 March 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Another great line up of two of the best blues-inspired acts in the South West, curated here on the last Monday of every month by local bass player Mary Caffrey.
Apr 2025
John Langan / Dartsong ChorusWednesday 2 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
John Langan: Expect superb musicianship and a wonderful collection of songs, everything from Scottish, Irish and Romany to South American folk, delivered with superb musicianship and by one of the most unforgettable folk voices in Britain today. To start we’ll have a set from the chorus’s repertoire of intricate modern and traditional choral arrangements, brought to life in vibrant multi-part harmony. Later on the chorus will join John on stage to bring things to a rousing climax!
Harry Dowell Quartet presents the music of John Coltrane
Thursday 3 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Harry Dowell is an exceptional saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. Steeped in the jazz tradition, Harry is heavily influenced by post-bop and contemporary jazz, including artists such as John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Pat Metheny and Kurt Rosenwinkel. His improvisational style balances thoughtful melodic creativity with ambitious spontaneity. Harry has played across the country, recently coming off a successful tour with Lack of Afro.
Jonathan Prag Classical Guitar
Friday 4 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Jonathan balances baroque favourites like J S Bach with thrilling and evocative contemporary music like the songs of Mikis Theodorakis. He includes beguiling tunes by Cole Porter or George Gershwin and sometimes blues arrangements. A classic from West Side Story might be followed by a haunting Eastern European folk tune or a Russian lament. Spain and South America feature, bringing the warmth and energy of flamenco and tango to complement the drama of pieces by Villa lobos or Fernando Sor. He has an affinity with the folk roots of the classical guitar’s origins and in this show, classical masters like Schubert and Scarlatti rub shoulders with Turlough O’Carolan and his jaunty Irish airs.
Ostara Circus Ritual Cabaret: Roll Up, Roll Up – Celtic Circus Cabaret – Family-friendly Event
Saturday 5 April 2025 at 5:00 PM
More info and tickets
Fusing the ritualistic, the reverent and the ridiculous, Ostara Circus Cabaret is a journey into the turn of the seasons, into our conscious and unconscious, and a joyous celebration of spring’s blossoming. In cabaret style with a series of separate acts from fire breathing to aerial silks, bellydancing to clowning, expect to be wowed, shocked, amazed and entranced! Food will be served (book in advance please) – children welcome.
Spring Singing Workshop with Georgie Buchanan and Alana Middleton
Sunday 6 April 2025 at 3:00 PM
More info and tickets
All are welcome to come and sing traditional and original songs inspired by this beautiful turning point of the year with Georgie and Alana before their concert in the evening.
Georgie Buchanan & Alana Middleton
Sunday 6 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Inspired by voyages to the Outer Hebrides, tales of ancient Celtic Goddesses and great folk singers from Peggy Seeger to Joni Mitchell, Georgie Buchanan is a unique singer and harpist on the contemporary folk scene. She’s joined here by Alana Middleton, folk fiddle-player and singer – they combine wonderfully creating delicious harmonies with voices and instruments.
“This is beautiful, subtle and sophisticated folk music. Ethereal yet rooted. I can’t wait to hear more from Georgie Buchanan.” Miranda Sykes (Show of Hands)
“Exquisite” Hannah Peel, BBC Radio 3
“Gorgeous” Guy Garvey, BBC 6Music
Jazz Jam Session (first Monday of each month)
Monday 7 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
The first Monday of each month starting at 7.30pm. This month’s house band will be:
Jesse Molins on guitar and your host for the evening with: Kieron Garrett, piano and Ric Byer, drums
Charlie Dore and Julian Littman: Songs for the Curious
Thursday 10 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Perennial favourite known for Pilot of the Airwaves, and many more great songs, returns to the Arts Centre
It is I, Seagull — a space comedy
Friday 11 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Intertwining Lucy’s experiences as an award-winning opera singer with the stories of Valentina Tereshkova (the first woman in space) and Valentina Ponomaryova (almost the first woman in space), It is I, Seagull is a hilarious exploration of self-esteem, joy, failure, opera and space travel. Fusing opera and comedy, Lucy exposes current and historical everyday sexism to ask what it takes to achieve something extraordinary, and is it worth it?
Tryani Collective
Saturday 12 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Merging six vocalist-instrumentalists from an array of musical backgrounds, Bristol-based Tryani Collective performs original compositions featuring multi-part vocal arrangements interwoven with explosive percussion, synthesisers and drums. Equally at home blasted over a festival crowd or stripped down for an intimate acoustic performance, Tryani Collective’s infectious energy transports both performers and audience into an ecstatic trance.
Carmina with Diarmaid Moynihan (uilleann pipes)
Sunday 13 April 2025 at 3:00 PM
More info and tickets
Carmina began in Bristol in the 1990s; since then the band has toured internationally and recorded 6 albums, two of which were produced by the highly-respected Irish musician Donal Lunny. For this concert, Carmina (Pippa Marland, Rob King and Paul Bradley) will be joined by special Irish guest Diarmaid Moynihan on Irish uilleann pipes and whistles. Diarmaid is widely acknowledged as one of Ireland’s foremost uilleann pipers and composers. This is a rare appearance for him with Carmina in the UK.
indeceltic: Anna Tanvir and Maninder
Tuesday 15 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
indeceltic is folk duo Anna Tanvir on harp & Maninder on guitar. They both sing, creating rich vocal harmonies with their multilingual repertoire exploring themes of displacement, love, life, and loss. They’ve performed alongside Ralph McTell and Liam Ó Maonlaí, featured on Irish TV and RTÉ radio, and played at Indian classical festivals and Dublin TradFest.
Liza Pulman and Gareth Williams: Let’s Begin With Harold Arlen…
Friday 25 April 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
The acclaimed singer (and one third of the iconic Fascinating Aida) Liza Pulman explores the Great American Song Book, starting with the genius of Harold Arlen and moving on to Roger’s & Hart, Irving Berlin, Fats Waller, Cole Porter, De Silva, Henderson & Brown and as many of their wonderful songs as she can possibly cram into one, bijoux evening.
Rebeca Ortega Flamenco: Silencio (show plus dance & guitar workshops)
Sunday 27 April 2025 at 5:00 PM
More info and tickets
From the tradition and avant-garde of flamenco culture, this dance performance is theatrically woven together, accompanied by traditional flamenco musicians, and expressed through the depth of the seguiriya, the femininity of the guajira, the intensity of the farruca, and the rhythms of the jaleos and bulerías.
Plus Flamenco dance and guitar workshops.
The Mighty Goddess - performed by Sally Pomme Clayton
Sunday 27 April 2025 at 8:00 PM
More info and tickets
Electrifying, soulful storytelling – for adults only! Sly, subversive, spectacular storytelling by pioneer Sally Pomme Clayton evoking goddesses from across the globe. She mixes myths with memories, spells with songs, comedy with ceremony. These stories have not been tamed and are x-rated for adults only!
May 2025
GRICE & The Polarchoral BandFriday 2 May 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Art rock artist GRICE has built his reputation since 2012 with his debut album ‘Propeller’ (MPG Awards). His music has has been championed by Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6 Music and his albums have had great reviews: “Gorgeously epic” BBC 6 Music | Tom Robinson
“An album of exquisite beauty from an artist of rare refinement” PROG magazine
Angelheart Theatre: Sam O’Shanty
Friday 9 May 2025 at 3:00 PM
More info and tickets
Expect a bicycle, a giant mouth, old boots, audience up on stage, a bevvy of bananas, a mystery phone call, frantic clowning, beguiling stillness, all encased in hilarious, poignant, confusing and compelling drama, ie the usual stuff you might get with yours truly!
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service Concert Band
Sunday 18 May 2025 at 3:00 PM
More info and tickets
The Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service (DSFRS) Concert Band is in its 31st year with over 40 members, including former professional musicians and skilled amateurs from the broader local community. The programme will include a wide variety of music styles including classical, pop music and film music, plus some contemporary concert band pieces. The programme includes Prismatic Light by Alan Fernie, Morning, Noon & Night in Vienna, Jurassic Park highlights and Swing When You’re Winning – a medley of big band numbers from Robbie Williams’s 2001 album.
DARTMOOR – OPEN TO ALL? A conversation with Kate Ashbrook, Matthew Kelly, Guy Shrubsole and Lewis Winks
Saturday 24 May 2025 at 9:30 AM
More info and tickets
Who really holds the power on Dartmoor? As a National Park, Dartmoor is supposed to be accessible to all, and until recently was the only place in the country you could wild camp freely. But a recent court case has thrown all that into doubt. Can we feel confident about being able to access Southern England’s biggest wilderness in future? Part of Dartmoor Tors Festival
ROCK IDOLS – DARTMOOR’S EXTRAORDINARY TORS: Wyl Menmuir in conversation with Alex Murdin and Sophie Pierce
Saturday 24 May 2025 at 11:00 AM
More info and tickets
Fantastical yet natural, Dartmoor’s 280-million-year-old tors are among the most iconic landmarks in southern Britain. Victorian antiquarians described them as ‘rock idols’, believing them to be stone deities worshipped by the Druids. Thousands of years before that, they inspired our ancestors who built ceremonial stone rows and circles aligned on them…
Part of Dartmoor Tors Festival
THE SECRETS OF CUT HILL AND PILES HILL: Uncovering the lives of the ancestors – A talk by DNP archaeologists Lee Bray and Andy Crabb
Saturday 24 May 2025 at 12:30 PM
More info and tickets
In August 2024 a Bronze Age burial cist — described as exceptional — was excavated at Cut Hill, one of the moor’s highest and most remote sites. And the year before that, a possible surface made of quartz was found underneath a double stone row at Piles Hill. Archaeologists Dr Lee Bray and Dr Andy Crabb, from the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA), will reveal the latest findings from these extraordinary discoveries, taking us on a journey of archaeological inquiry. In a story which involves everything from battling the moor’s inclement weather, to re-erecting fallen stones, they will unveil the secrets of these ancient stone monuments.
Part of Dartmoor Tors Festival
BEYOND HUMAN: LANDSCAPE’S EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: Readings by and conversation with Sean Borodale and Fiona Williams
Saturday 24 May 2025 at 2:00 PM
More info and tickets
What role does place play in human stories? And how can our emotional response to wild landscapes deepen our lives and those of the other beings which share our planet? From caves and rivers, to moors and marshes, join writers whose work is deeply rooted in British locations for readings and a conversation about our relationship with the landscapes that surround us.
Part of Dartmoor Tors Festival
DARTMOOR IS THE ARTIST: A visual presentation and conversation with Land & Lore, Garry Fabian Miller, Matthew Shaw and Mark Jessett
Saturday 24 May 2025 at 3:30 PM
More info and tickets
Through visual presentation and conversation, find out how Dartmoor, and other places, have been leading the way for some of the most interesting human artists making art today: Lore & Land, Garry Fabian Miller, Matthew Shaw and Mark Jessett.
Part of Dartmoor Tors Festival
SOLD OUT: Seth Lakeman (with Benji Kirkpatrick and Alex Hart)
Saturday 24 May 2025 at 7:30 PM
More info and tickets
Dartmoor Folk legend with two of his regular collaborators. Tickets will go on sale from 12 noon on Saturday 22 February.
BELTANE BORDER: THE DARK SIDE OF FOLK: A conversation with, and performance by, Dartmoor’s wildest Morris side
Sunday 25 May 2025 at 6:00 PM
More info and tickets
Join us for rare conversation with Beltane Border, followed by a thrilling performance outside Ashburton Arts Centre.
What is behind the tradition — and subversion — of this legendary Dartmoor Morris side?
Where do the dances come from, and how do they relate to the landscape of Dartmoor?
And why the fierce faces and fishnets?
Part of Dartmoor Tors Festival
Event Calendar
Click on an event to see more information about each event, including prices and details of how to get tickets. Use the Monthly/Weekly/Daily option at the top right to change how you view the calendar.
What we’ve been up to so far…
