A showcase of Leamington’s finest musical talent is to appear at the town’s leading music pub, The Newbold Comyn Arms for a day-long festival of music.

The all-star non-stop ‘Musicfest’ takes place from 2pm to 11pm on Sunday 21 September, 2008 as part of a weekend dedicated to raise money for the Acorns Children’s Hospice Trust.

The line-up of 18 acts appearing in The Stables Bar, in Leamington's Newbold Comyn Park, covers all styles from rock to roots, blues to Latin jazz and even accordion singalong. Each artist will play a 25-minute slot which was allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Artists include popular local line-ups The Sands, The Loaded, Crackerman, Shadowfax and Pearl River featuring the songs and vocals of acclaimed singer Shanade Morrow, plus talented multi-instrumentalist Ben Clempson with double bass player John Parker.

The Acorns Trust offers a network of care for ‘life limited children’ – children who are unlikely to reach adulthood because of illness. With hospices in Birmingham, Walsall and Worcester, the charity has already helped over 1100 families.

Says Acorns trustee, David Butcher, ‘We were bowled over by The NCA’s fantastic offer to stage this event. Each of our hospices has ten beds and each of these costs £450 per night to provide the respite care and support that the children and their families need. So an event like this will have a real impact.’

The NCA has already staged three Musicfest events this year and this is proving a very popular format for a full day’s entertainment to support a great cause. Says licensee, Nick Wormald ‘The Acorns Trust had already booked an ticketed event with us for the Saturday night but interest has been so strong that we decided to stage something on the Sunday for everyone to get involved.

‘It’s heart-warming to see so much support from the Leamington music scene. This is going to be a great day of high-quality music and an opportunity to help a very worthwhile cause.'

CAMRA’s Community Pub of the Year, The Newbold Comyn Arms has become one of the most successful live music venues in the area with regular top name guest artists and a popular open mic session every Wednesday night from 8:30pm.

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A new beer with a woman’s touch is to be launched in Leamington on Thursday 14th August.

The event takes place in the town’s famous music pub and CAMRA Community Pub of the Year 2008, The Newbold Comyn Arms.

Brewed by the wives of The Slaughterhouse Brewery, Warwick’s only independent brewery, the concoction will provide a tasty reminder of the pub’s ongoing campaign for breast cancer research and will be launched under the name of ‘Girls Breast Bitter’.

June Ridgway and Kate Knell worked together on the full process of designing the beer, brewing it, bottling it, designing the labels and even sticking the labels on the bottles.

Says June, ‘From the start this was a joint idea. We wanted to make it a refreshing summer drink that would appeal to female taste buds.’

Says Kate, ‘This ties in nicely with the campaign to beat breast cancer – something we both support strongly. We both took part in the Race For Life last month at Warwick Racecourse.’

The beer will be launched at 7pm in The Stables Bar of The Newbold Comyn Arms, Newbold Comyn Park, Leamington. The Slaughterhouse Brewery will donate 10p per pint to Cancer Research UK and the licensee, Nick Wormald has pledged to donate another 20p per pint sold.

The launch night will include a feast of live entertainment with dancing from Sambassadors of Groove, Leamington’s renowned community samba band, and live music in The Stables Bar from some of the region’s most talented female artists including Linda Watkins (who releases her new CD, Emily’s Rainbow, in October), Shanade and Anatasha.

Authentic Indian curry will be available throughout the evening from Senior Kang’s Taste of Punjab restaurant. Manjit Kang's family hails from a Punjabi farming community and 'Mandy' has, as her passion, a love of superb Asian cuisine.

There will be collections during the evening to add to the growing pot of over £2000 that the pub has raised so far to support a party of six women who are heading for the Himalayas on September 6 for the charity.

The intrepid trekkers include Steeleye Span singer, Maddy Prior and NCA regular and Cancer Research UK funded scientist Dr. Ronni Nanton.

Says Ronni, ‘We’re very grateful for the wonderful support we’ve received from The Newbold Comyn Arms. They have already staged some fantastic music events which have not only helped to raise cash but also brought a lot of attention to the importance of breast cancer research.’

Further details are available from The NCA on 01926 338810.

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