It looks like being a record-breaking year at The Market Place Theatre in Armagh, as tickets for the annual pantomime spectacular, ‘Beauty And The Beast’, look set to sell-out for most performances.

The venue’s reputation for staging the most fun-filled and family-friendly festive productions will no doubt have led to the ‘House Full’ sign being a regular feature over the coming weeks. 

‘Beauty And The Beast’ is the greatest love story ever told, but told in a way you’ll never have seen the like of before! Audiences can expect an action-packed show bursting with magic, music and plenty of mayhem!

Dreaming of a happier life, the beautiful Belle finds herself transported to a spellbound castle and held captive by a hideous beast. Can she see beyond the monster and fall in love with her captor before the last petal falls from the enchanted rose? Or will the Beast’s selfishness cost him the world he once knew and the hand of the girl that has melted his heart?

Beauty And The Beast will be sure to make you laugh, cry and fall in love with a host of hilarious and hairy characters. Who – or what – is the creature that walks the long corridors of the enchanted home? And will he ever find love?

‘Beauty And The Beast’ promises an unforgettably festive experience coupled with The Market Place Theatre’s renowned reputation for high quality, professional pantomimes that are up there with the best.

Performances will run from Saturday 30 November, right up to Sunday 22 December, at a variety of times to suit all ages! Ticket prices range from £11 to £16. Hurry to secure your tickets – it would be beastly if you missed out!

Tickets are available from the Theatre Box Office on [028] 3752 1821, or online at www.visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre. To keep up-to-date with the latest news at the Market Place Theatre, you can follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/marketplacearmagh) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/mptarmagh) where you will find all the latest information, special offers and video previews.

The annual Creative Peninsula Christmas Fayre is taking place in Ards Arts Centre, Conway Square, Newtownards on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 November.

An array of local craft makers and artists will once again provide an opportunity to purchase a range of unique, local, handcrafted products.

The festive Fayre, now in its seventh year, is organised by Ards and North Down Borough Council and will feature 28 craft makers and artists in the galleries of the Arts Centre. Come along and enjoy complimentary refreshments and browse the stalls for that inspirational gift. Free gift wrapping will be available. Admission is free.

There will also be festive live music by pianists Lisa Dawson on Friday and Ruth McCavery on Saturday from 12-2pm on both days.

Speaking about the Fayre, Emily Crawford, Arts and Heritage Manager with Ards and North Down Borough Council said: “Ards Arts Centre is delighted to once again host the annual Creative Peninsula Art and Craft Fayre. The event brings together some of the finest artist and makers in our Borough, with beautifully curated stalls to meet all your festive shopping needs.

You’ll find quirky handmade prints, an array of beautiful ceramics, jewellery in silver and ceramic, fabulous and affordable fine art and intricate papercraft to name just a few. With complimentary refreshments, gift wrapping and festive music, don’t miss this atmospheric opportunity to support your local artists and makers with a handmade treat for you or a loved one!”

The Fayre runs from 10am – 5pm on Friday 29 and 10am – 4.30pm on Saturday 30 November.

Visitors to Saturday’s Fayre can also enjoy the Festive Market and Newtownards Christmas Lights Switch on taking place on High Street and Conway Square from 10am – 6pm.

For further information, please visit:

www.visitardsandnorthdown.com

Local Sure Start families had the chance to enjoy some festive cheer at the exclusive launch of Titanic Belfast’s A Magical Christmas Experience.

15 families were invited by East Belfast’s Sure Start to see Father Christmas arrive and launch A Magical Christmas Experience. They were the first to step through the Old Curiosity Shop to enter into the Elves’ Workshop, join Mrs Claus at her cosy kitchen, hear Christmas tales, enjoy festive games, badge making, look up their names on the naughty or nice list and meet Father Christmas himself.

Sure Start is a programme that works with families with children under the age of four in the 25% most disadvantaged areas in Northern Ireland.  It aims to improve health, social development and the ability to learn by promoting parents’ involvement.

Aware that Christmas can often be a difficult time, the event enabled these families to celebrate the joy of the festive season together, which the charity is passionate about. The charity is encouraging families to use Christmas as “anytime is chatting time” this year. By smiling, talking, laughing, singing and sharing stories parents can help their development.

Sure Start East Belfast coordinator, Tracey Wilson, said: “Christmas can be a difficult time and we are so grateful to Titanic Belfast for giving our Peer Support and Young Mums’ families a break from the stress of the festive season through this unique event. The festive season can be a wonderful time for families to be together and create some lovely memories, like this event did. It is also the perfect opportunity to talk to your child, sing songs and read stories, which will not only help them learn to talk and concentrate but also make friends, so this Christmas, we are encouraging everyone to make anytime chatting time.”

Titanic Belfast’s Chief Executive, Judith Owens, commented: “Christmas is a truly magical time of year and our Experience is all about embracing festive cheer and creating unique memories. We are really pleased to host local families from Sure Start together and hope we have added something special to the lives of these very deserving families!”


Titanic Belfast’s Magical Christmas Experience runs until 23 December, to book, visit www.titanicbelfast.com.

Get inspired to blog at Newry City Library

All will be revealed about the secrets of online writing at a free Blogging Inspiration session at Newry City Library on Thursday, 28 November from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.

The Libraries NI event is designed to encourage potential bloggers to get started and will provide hints, tips and tricks towards success as well as giving participants an inside glimpse of the enjoyment of being a blogger.

Speakers will include Kilkeel woman Maura Ward, famed for her blog, the Geriatric Traveller and online safety expert Wayne Denner.

Seventy year old Maura started her blog after being inspired by her son’s online travel diary which started to make him money.

She said: “I must confess that as he reported the income rising, the more interested I became.

“Eventually, in 2012, I decided to blog about the travelling I was doing, but I aim mine at an older demographic – and there begins the saga of Geriatric Traveller.

“Initially I was very gung-ho and devoted considerable time and effort to it. I made a small amount of money, but nothing that was going to change my life.

“Soon afterwards I started my Geriatric Traveller Facebook page as well, largely because I hoped it would be a conduit to my website.
“I am constantly amazed at the interest the page generates, and it gives me such a good feeling.

“Without any conscious effort on my part, I have amassed some 3300 page followers, and a recent post had over 6000 views, which was absolutely gobsmacking.”

Newry dad Wayne Denner, founder of podcast Zero Lives Left came to blogging from a different angle.

He said it started almost by accident through his background in online safety.

“I realised that many parents had questions when it came to keeping children and young People in their care safer online and that they needed useful and helpful information.

“I decided to create an Online Safety blog to provide helpful and practical online safety information for Parents, Carers and those who work with Children and Young People.

“It has now become one of the most trusted and respected eSafety blogs in the UK and Ireland.”

He said blogging has given him the opportunity to build and create his own personal brand and a place to communicate with a much larger audience.

This has led to video blogging and podcasting becoming a central part of his communication strategy and has led to him becoming a regular media commentator with BBC, ITV, RTE, Virgin Media Ireland & u105.

Wayne said: “Everyone has a story to tell & value to add and blogging provides people with an easy and simple way to express themselves and create content.

“For many people, me included, the hardest part was starting.

“I am not a natural writer in fact in the early days it was something I struggled with but like with anything over time my style and the writing improved.

“One of the most important and rewarding things for me personally is the content that I am creating is helping people that’s what makes the difference.

“It’s the feeling that you get when you receive an email from a reader who says ‘Thank You’ the piece of content that you created helped then when it comes to Online Safety.

‘I am delighted to be involved in the #GetBloggingNI session in Newry City Library, as a local content creator and blogger it’s great to be able to share my experience & learnings to help inspire others to start on their content creation journey.

Chartered Marketer Christine Watson of Training Matchmaker will facilitate the session, which is hosted by journalist and content creator, Tina Calder of the Content Club and Excalibur Press.

Christine said blogging is no longer the preserve of the few.

“In recent years there has been a surge in interest in blogging, vlogging and podcasting across Northern Ireland.

“It’s a fantastic way to connect with like-minded people, immerse yourself in your passions, keep your mind healthy and active and an excellent excuse to get out and about and use your local library.
“Attendees at the Blogging Inspiration event in Newry City Library will be sure to leave with the motivation, encouragement and practical knowhow they need to begin or amplify their blogging journey.”

Libraries NI Service Development Manager Julie Reid said: “Libraries NI is pleased to offer this free Blogging Inspiration event to introduce people to the art of blogging.

“Storytelling is forever evolving and blogging, vlogging and podcasting is quickly becoming the new platform for telling stories through text, images and video.

“Whether you’re blogging for business, documenting your family history or keeping a record of travelling expeditions, you’re using the power of words to tell a story.”

“We’re delighted to once again team up with Christine Watson to present this event at Newry City Library on Thursday 28 November and look forward to welcoming our speakers Maura Ward and Wayne Denner as well as host Tina Calder to the library.”

The event at Newry City Library is part of the ongoing Libraries NI #GetBloggingNI series which will run into 2020 across Northern Ireland.

Officially presented by TrainingMatchmaker.com in collaboration with Libraries NI, previous events in the #GetBloggingNI series included Blogging Inspiration sessions, a six-week Get Blogging Course and five Blogging for Wellness roadshows.

This event is free and booking is essential. Book your place at Newry City Library on 28 November at: trainingmatchmaker.eventbrite.com

Lyngo Theatre’s magical family show Heart of Winter is coming to the Queens Hall, Newtownards on Saturday 30 November at 2pm and 7pm.

Ards and North Down Borough Council welcomes this festive show which is sure to get everyone in the mood for Christmas! The musical production celebrates family, friendship and the good fortune of finding the winter we really need and want with the precious offering of fluffy snow.

Christmas is coming and Sally can’t sleep – it’s far too hot! The weather has gone topsy-turvy. No-one can remember the last time it snowed, or even rained, and her father can’t sell any of his umbrellas. To help her sleep Dad reads her a story about the last snowflake.

That night Sally has a dream that changes everything – a mysterious silver spark transforms her bedroom into a glistening, white field where she meets the glowing heart of Winter.

Speaking about the show, Community Arts Officer with Ards and North Down Borough Council, Amy McKelvey said: “We are very excited about bringing this beautiful Christmas show to Newtownards. Lyngo performances are always so magical and utterly unique, it is the perfect way to kick off the festivities for all the family.”

Tickets cost £5. The show is suitable for ages 3 +. Duration 1 hour.

For further information and booking, please visit www.ardsarts.com

Famed Northern Ireland theatre company Cahoots NI is celebrating coming of age as it marks its 18th birthday.

The company specialises in theatre for children and its distinctive style combines magic and illusion, physical theatre and original music.

Its work is acclaimed in Ireland, the UK, America and has been enjoyed in theatres, schools and all kinds of venues since it launched in 2001.

The company is currently touring China with its production of Shh! We Have a Plan and has ever-growing audiences at home and across the world.

Their production Penguins is about to run in Birmingham Repertory Theatre and will open at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in December. The company’s theatrical adaption of Marita Conlon-McKenna’s Under The Hawthorn Tree heads to The MAC and tours Ireland in the new year.

One of the founders and Artistic Director Paul Bosco Mc Eneaney says it’s amazing to have come so far.

“We’ve come of age. Isn’t that frightening?”

He revealed that the company came about almost by chance.

“It started by complete accident. When I was six or seven, I was obsessed with magic.

“Honestly, my mother and father couldn’t go past a shop that had anything linked to Paul Daniels or David Nixon. I had every magic set under the sun. I just loved it, and later I became one of the youngest members of The Magic Circle.

Along with that came a real love of circus, and fun fairs, and anything that, when I analyse it now, was built for joy or for fun or for amazement

“I knew that was my world.”

After touring the US as a musician Paul realised theatre was his first love.

“Absolutely, my first love.

“So, I came back and studied performing arts at BIFHE (Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, now Belfast Met). “Then I decided I was going to be an actor. That was it.

“I got into The Lyric Theatre at a good time, I did three or four shows back to back. A Midsummers Night’s Dream, The Playboy of the Western World and others.

“After that I became a jobbing actor. I was doing the odd little bit of film and nothing hugely significant, but I was making a living out of it.

“Then Anna Cutler, who ran the Belfast Children’s Festival at that time, asked me if I’d ever thought of writing anything for young audiences.

“I ended up writing a show called Puppet Magic, and I was in it. It got picked up by a few of the visiting international delegates who said, ‘We’d like that at our festival’.

“They were all happening the following year. So I was asking, how do we do this? How do we make this work? And the only way to make it work financially, was to form a company.

“This allowed me to access some funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, who would in turn support the international travel for this project.

“We renamed the show Buster, and it opened at the Edinburgh International Children’s Theatre Festival the following year. And then you do one show and you go, ‘Oh gosh, we should do another’.

“So, there was no plan. There was absolutely no plan.”

Paul said theatre for children was not seen as a priority back in the beginning of Cahoots NI.

“There was an inequality in the funding streams back then. I don’t believe children’s work was funded in the same way theatre for adults was.

“At the time, there was an education company, that was doing issue-based work and that was funded, but what we were hoping to do didn’t exist in Northern Ireland.”

Cahoots NI has gone on to challenge and change perceptions, with Paul adamant that children are just as deserving of top-quality theatre as adults.

He also says theatre can play a social role, instilling empathy in children and making them more socially aware.

“We are not changing the world, but we’re going to make the world a slightly better place with what we do.”

The company is now in big demand all over the world and has toured to Europe, Asia, all over the US and has even had requests to take their shows to Chile in South America.

Cahoots does not plan to rest on its laurels though.

Paul is already looking forward to future milestones.

“I’m looking towards 2021, which is our twentieth year – I feel I’m looking towards some sort of mini Cahoots NI festival, perhaps a celebration of our best work to date.

We are currently working on a new show called The Vanishing Elephant which will play in Belfast before opening on Broadway. Our future is exciting – I’m keen to create greater and longer partnerships with other organisations here and across the world.

The Cahoots show definitely looks set to go on.

Penguins, a Cahoots NI, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Prime Theatre co-production will run at The Lyric Theatre from December 18-22. Under The Hawthorn Tree will open at The MAC on January 30 through to February 9 before touring Ireland.

For more information about Cahoots NI or their shows log onto http://www.cahootsni.com

North Down Museum’s Christmas Craft Market is taking place this weekend, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 November.

A popular date on the local shopping calendar, the market will showcase a total of 22 artists and crafters providing an array of handmade goods, perfect for that unique Christmas gift.

Come along and browse the stalls which will be dotted around the historic museum building – start your Christmas shopping or even finish it!

Visitors can enjoy live music in the café from 1pm – 3pm on Saturday afternoon when local singer songwriter Riley Holland will perform.

Speaking about the Christmas Craft Market, North Down Museum Manager, Heather McGuicken said; ‘The Museum’s Christmas Market is a fun and festive way to purchase unique, local, hand crafted items for your loved ones.  Come and see something different while shopping this year’.

Coffee Cure, the museum café will be open throughout the event serving tea, coffee, lunch and snacks.

The market runs from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday 23 and 12pm to 4.30pm on Sunday 24 November. Parking and admission is free at North Down Museum.

For more information on the Christmas Craft Market and other events and exhibitions, visit www.northdownmuseum.com