Cheese & Chilli Festival

Karen Neville

family

If you want to spice up your Sunday then try out the hottest ticket in town – or in Guildford at least – and get along to the Cheese & Chilli Festival in Guildford.

This will be the festival’s fourth year with a whole host of activities for all ages including free cooking demos, a taste tent, beer festival, street theatre, live music, crazy golf, human-sized table football as well as lots of cheese and chilli.

Taking place in Shalford Park today (21st), you’ll be able to enjoy the man v food challenge and a Ready Steady Cook interactive cooking session as well as the chilli eating competition when things will really be hotting up!

And what could be better after you’ve eaten some good hot chillis than taking part in a game of human-sized table football – strap yourself in and attach yourself to a metal bar and swing.

If you prefer something more sedate there are a variety of stalls, a magic show, Punch & Judy show, balloon modelling and treasure hunts to entertain the kids.

As an extra special treat at the Guildford event, there’s the chance to be a VIP with two special price tickets (£50 and £100) offering you the chance to enjoy cocktails, beers, Mexican or Thai lunch, access to the hot tubs and a bottle of hot sauce and limited edition poster.

Get your tickets

For more information and to buy tickets which cost £8 adults, seniors £6 and under 16s free, visit the Cheese & Chilli Festival website below

Tickets can also be bought at the door or in advance at Guildford’s Tourist Information Centre.

Wisley garden

Karen Neville

family

Make the most of the longer evenings thanks to some highlights this month at RHS Garden Wisley in Woking

Various events “after hours” at RHS Wisley should have you enjoying summer to its fullest. Quad Cinema will screen three films from 11th – 13th July including Mamma Mia, Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman.

On Wednesday, 17th July, join Surrey Bat Group for an evening walk, and on 24th July pet owners can bring their dogs for walkies. On 26th visitors can enjoy and evening stroll and some live music in the garden until 9pm. There will also be an open-air theatre performance of The Wind in the Willows on Sunday, 28th, at 5.30pm.

Fuchsias are the focus of the Glasshouse display at RHS Garden Wisley from 6th July to 18th August, with a colourful display from Wisley’s fuchsia collection. The Glasshouse Gallery hosts the Carnivorous Plant Society for its show between 20th and 21st July with talks, advice, sales and a special presentation each day at 11an and 3pm entitled The Natural History of Carnivorous Plants.

Jazz in the Garden will take place each Saturday afternoon, 1-4pm at RHS Garden Wisley, when Chi Jazz entertain Wisley visitors from the Butterfly Pavillion. RHS Garden Wisley invites you to help celebrate 50 years of The Very Hungry Caterpillar with some fun family adventures in the Garden. They will also explore lifecycles and help children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.

Info

RHS Wisley, GU23 6QB; call 01483224234, email [email protected] or visit their website

Abingdon events

Round & About

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Cycling, MG cars, rowing and WWII commemoration all part of an unmissable day in Abingdon

Abingdon is the place to be this Sunday – there’s so much going on you’ll be spoilt for choice!

Start the day on your bike with the Abingdon Cycle Festival which runs from 9am to 4pm with free rides and cycling activities for all ages and abilities.

The event, which offers more than 20 rides for road and mountain bikes and anything else with two wheels, aims to encourage as many as possible to get on their bikes, with rides starting from the Market Square from 9am.

Live music, food and bike displays add to the atmosphere and make for a great family day.

For more on this visit the Freewheeling site

 

If four wheels are more your thing then Abingdon MG car club is holding a rally leaving from Miele at 10am. The classic cars are always a great attraction for watching crowds.

For more details on this see the MG Car Club Abingdon site.

 

From the roads to the river with the Abingdon Spring Head of the River Rowing Festival – more than 360 boats from across the country will race on the Thames watched by spectators at Rye Farm Meadow and along the course past the Marina and along to Culham weir.

There’s a BBQ, local beer, tea and cakes, Morris dancing and much more to enjoy too.

The racing starts around 10am, for more on this visit Abingdon Rowing Centre

 

And if you’re still hungry for more then step back in time with The Thames at War, 1940s Day at Abingdon lock commemorating the water-borne Home Guard during the Second World War, the Upper Thames Patrol.

The day (10am to 4pm) will be full of fun with Home Guard displays, exhibitions, talks, re-enactors, military vehicles and vintage boats, including Dunkirk little ships.

Find out more at the Thames at War website

Treehouse run

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On your marks, get set for the sixth Treehouse 10k in Cholsey on Sunday – there’s a run for everyone and how about making it a real family affair as it’s Mother’s Day? 

In addition to the 10k, there’s a 5k run and the Family Bunny Run. Both the 10k and 5k cover a course that includes a mix of quiet roads, farm tracks and footpaths around the village. 

All finishers will receive an event T-shirt and hand-made wooden medal with trophies given to each category winner. 

The Family Bunny Run is open to families/children under 16 and is just half a kilometre around the recreation ground – participants can decide how many loops they want to compete. As it’s so near to Easter why not add bunny ears or a tail to your outfit? 

Last year runners were challenged to run with a Stormtrooper, this year you’ll be turning to the “dark side” and taking on Darth Vader. 

And as it’s Mother’s Day, Round & About columnist Christine Wallace from the Great British Bake Off will be starting the 5k and 10k races before holding a cake decorating demonstration in the pavilion and answering your baking questions. Her cake will then be raffled off for a mum to enjoy. 

Online registration at a reduced rate ends at midday tomorrow (Wednesday, 27th March) but you can register on the day between 8am and 9am. 

To register and for more information for the run go to www.treehouse10k.org.uk 

Cycle Safely

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More and more of us are cycling, but are you wearing a helmet? A Reading-based charity is encouraging everyone to Cycle-Smart.

Cycling is a great way to get fit, not to mention the benefits to the environment and the number of children and adults getting on their bikes has increased.

But are you getting on your bike and wearing a helmet? Often considered uncool, they are quite simply lifesavers and one charity is out to promote the importance and benefits of wearing one as you cycle.

The Cycle-Smart Foundation in Reading is committed to saving lives through the promotion of safer cycling, and helmets in particular. The award-winning charity was founded in 1998 by paediatric nurse Angela Lee who through her work saw the devastation head injury can cause, not just to the child but to the whole family.

Helmets have been proven to be effective in reducing potential brain injury and the charity works with parents, teachers, police, road safety officers and healthcare professionals to get this message across. Children’s skulls are thinner than an adult’s and their heads are bigger in proportion to their body, making them top heavy so if they do fall they are more likely to fall head first.

There are a few ‘rules’ to follow when fitting a child’s helmet:

• It should sit snugly and be comfortable to wear
• The helmet should remain secure when the child shakes or nods their head
• The rim should sit on the forehead, just above the eyebrows
• The helmet should not be tilted backwards leaving the forehead exposed and should not be worn too far forward as to cover the eyes
• Straps should not be twisted and there should be no slack in them
• Ensure the helmet does not affect the child’s ability to hear
• Cycle helmets have a use by date on them – a little known fact

Angie says: “Cycle-Smart educates children to understand the importance of their brain and that it is the body’s computer/games console, meaning it’s responsible for speech, feeling/touch, sight, hearing and more. Surprisingly, head injury can follow a low speed accident and not just high speed or impact as you may presume. The use of a helmet may dramatically reduce the injury sustained. We often get sent photos of damaged helmets from people who have been in a cycling accident and they say the helmet saved their life.”

Cycle-Smart go into schools to teach in peer groups, finding this the most valuable method to change attitudes towards helmet wearing, with pre-teens and teens the hardest to reach group as much of their decision making is swayed by image, peer pressure and the need to blend in.

“Through our programme we help to empower them to make an informed choice about their physical safety. We survey the children and young people who have attended our programme and many have reported back to us how they now wear a helmet and also encourage the rest of their family to as well,” says Angie.

Cycle-Smart has been chosen to benefit from the Co-op Community Fund this year. Go online to www.coop.co.uk/membership and search for Cycle-Smart Foundation.

For more information visit cycle-smartfoundation.org

Spectacular science

Round & About

family

Science and art come alive this March at Innovate Guildford 2019

Our science and arts festival, Innovate Guildford is back for its fourth year and this year’s event promises to be the biggest and best yet!

Innovate Guildford celebrates the best in innovation in Guildford and beyond. Building on the success of previous events, there are exhibitors from across the local area – Innovate Guildford will inspire and delight people of all ages. There’s plenty for the kids to do and best of all the event is completely free!

Already confirmed this year are McLaren Cars, The Pirbright Institute, a pop-up Planetarium and the Academy of Contemporary Music. They will also be interactive exhibits and workshops for lots of hands-on fun.

Proving there really is something for everyone at this year’s Innovate Guildford, visitors will be able to take part in a wide range of activities including slime design, coding, Minecraft, robotics and even step inside a planetarium.

Plus we’ve got a special treat for computer gamers – Guildford’s megastar game company Media Molecule will be at the show with brand new entertainment!

The event which showcases technology, innovation and creativity in the region, will run from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 23rd March at G Live, so save the date for a day out with a difference.

To find out more about the day, exhibitors and workshops visit innovateguildford.co.uk

Family Runners

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Pictured, from left: Lizzie, Mark and Emel

Relatives join forces to help boost Harrison’s Fund at Surrey Half Marathon

Four members of the same family are all donning their trainers to run this year’s Surrey Half Marathon in aid of Harrison’s Fund. 

Husband and wife, Mark and Lizzie Holifeld and Emel Holifield, all from Oxford, are running on Sunday, 10th March, with Mark’s cousin Maxine Foster from Horsham whose son, Austin, was diagnosed with Duchenne in 2015. 

Harrison’s Fund was set up in 2012 and funds research into Duchenne – a rare genetic condition which causes the muscles in the body to waste away. 

Harrison’s Fund’s goal is to get as much money as possible into the hands of the world’s best researchers, who are working to find a cure for Duchenne. The charity is currently funding 16 research projects in the US and the UK. 

Lizzie, 30, said: “We are all looking forward to the challenge and being there together to raise money for this fantastic cause. The team spirit is really what gets you through as well, of course, hearing all the cheerers and seeing our gorgeous Austin and his sister, Ava too. 

“We started our training at the end of December when we were on holiday in California, and although it’s a slightly different weather, we’ve are committed to keeping it up in the UK. 

“We know that Harrison’s Fund are working so hard to raise as much money as possible for researchers to put an end to this horrible disease and we want to help! It truly is a fantastic charity and we feel honored to be part of the team taking on the Surrey Half.” 

This isn’t the first time the husband and wife team have fundraised for the charity. They have raised £2,864 so far running the Oxford Town and Gown 10k, the Brighton Marathon and the Blenheim palace 7k in the past. 

Emel, 46, who is married to Maxine’s cousin, added: “Austin’s diagnosis was a shock to all of us. I have a daughter only one year older than him and I could not imagine how they feel. But Maxine and her husband, Steve, have shown incredible courage and strength to fight with it to give their son and the other children hope. 

“I am looking forward to running in a large group with my family and it’s always fun to see other fellow runners, I just hope I can go the distance and the weather stays mild and dry!” 

The Surrey Half Marathon takes in 13.1miles of Guildford and Woking countryside. 

Laura Morgan, events fundraiser at Harrison’s Fund said: “It’s great to have families run together as we are a real family-orientated charity and Max and her family have been such huge supporters of ours over the years it’s a testament to her commitment that they are back once more putting themselves through the paces for us.” 

  To support the family visit give.everydayhero.com and if you live in the Guildford or Woking area why not go out and cheer them and the other runners on! 

Music & more marvels

Round & About

family

Family-friendly Marvellous festival at Dinton Pastures Country Park over the weekend of 21st & 22nd July promises tribute acts galore and lots more!

Our respect for the talent of tribute acts has risen to such a point that whole festivals are dedicated to them. This certainly makes economic sense: in this time of austerity how else can you enjoy Tina Turner, Coldplay, Pink and Led Zeppelin in concert?

One of the longest running and best tribute festivals is the suitably named Marvellous which returns to Dinton Pastures Country Park near Hurst over the weekend of 21st and 22nd July.

Marvellous features 15 top tribute performers who perform their pitch-perfect imitations all over the world. On the Saturday you can have a fiesta with Oye Santana, listen to when Sting was great with Police Force and enjoy the sounds of Ed Sheeran (minus 100,000 screaming teenagers) in Jack Shepherd’s tribute.

Marvellous is well known for serving up an eclectic mix of musical genres and eras, and this year you will be right royally entertained by tributes to all your favourite artists and more as well as a second stage marquee featuring a plethora of unsigned local talent. Kids of all ages will find plenty to do with fabulous fairground rides as well as loads of free activities in the Big Kids’ Village – including balloon modelling, arts and crafts, games, and face painting.

New for 2018 is the Silent Disco tent where revellers wear headphones and can switch between two channels of music transmitted wirelessly to them by the DJ – great fun to do and to watch! The festival offers both day tickets and weekend tickets, camping and glamping packages.

Then there’s Sir Tom (Jones), P!nk, and Definitely Might Be (Oasis). That’s another great thing about tribute acts – you can watch unexpected reunions such as the Gallagher brothers or even reunions from beyond the grave in the case of T Rextasy who support Saturday headliners Ultimate Eagles.

On the Sunday the fun continues with Bruno (not Frank; Mars), Sounds of Simon (& Garfunkel), Boot Led Zeppelin, Typically Tina, The Fillers (The Killers tribute), Legend (Bob Marley tribute), and the headliner Coldplace.

Tickets for Saturday or Sunday cost £43 (£70 for the weekend) for adults, and £20 (£35) for children. If you plan to camp – or glamp! – then there’s an additional charge. For more details and to book visit: www.marvellousfestivals.com