The spookiest of half terms is nearly upon us again; kids excited, parents not quite so much! But hey, as well as Halloween, here's what family fun and activities we've found locally to pass the time, save on Haribo and prevent wine 0'clock overloading..... There's a list of pumpkin patches at the end! What more do you want?! Have a fangtastic  fortnight, and oh, and come back to spook this list again soon, as I'm sure more will be added!

Dunno bout you, but I've still not gotten over the horror a majority in Marlborough blindly voted him in. Or even that he doesn't believe women have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies, but after Clactonising his Wiltshire constituency despite their unwillingness to join the Black Shirts, their reborn fascist MP Danny Kruger really has done gone blown his mental head gasket on a journey to Lala Land's Reform office this time.

I mean, Devizes own contemporary blues throwback, JP is getting bookings, and rightly so. He's off to Trowbridge’s Lamb next Saturday for a double-bill with Joe Burke. Likewise our favourite Goth duo Deadlight Dance too, Tim showing me some fetching snaps from Friday night's gig at Frome's Tree House. But sometimes it's nice to play an intimate home gig you DIY, so we're down The Bear Hotel's Cellar Bar, reviving a once beloved venue with alternative options to Devizes’ status quo…..

Yay! You read it right. After a two year break, CrownFest is back at the Crown in Bishop's Cannings. So put a big tick onto the 4th July 2026 in your diary, and maybe jot down 1st November this year down too, because that’s when the first set of fifty early-bird tickets will go on sale, a snip at just twenty quid….

All Pop Master T-shirt wearers would like to think it does, but will the music of an era stand the test of time? Make a record, seal the deal, surely? True, your songs will be immortalised, but will they be remembered, or will they sadly be sadly archived, to slowly fade through generation gaps.... unless Ed Sheeran covers one?!? Growing up in the eighties we ransacked our parent's records.

As the excitement continues to detonate to an exploding point for our very first Stone Circle Music Events Wiltshire Music Awards on 25th October,, we are thrilled to announce that Fantasy Radio, Devizes’ own beloved local broadcaster, will be joining us on the night in a special media partnership role….. Represented by Lesley Scholes and Mark Jones, Fantasy Radio will be interviewing winners and nominees throughout the evening, capturing the stories, emotions, and celebrations as they unfold.

When I put together the 4 Julia’s House compilation albums a few years ago I decided I shouldn’t pick favourites out of the eighty-one songs donated, but if I had to, it would’ve indisputably been Atlantic O by Will Lawton and Ludwig Mack. With the ambience of the gods, this track is such a soothing sentimental earworm it makes you go all tingly as it drifts like a lost ship on the sea.

Alright yeah, it’s a play on band names and there’s only really two reasons to rock on Friday 17th October at Market Lavington Community Hall; Six O'clock Circus and The Reason. See what they did there? Genius! But, they’re two of the heaviest heavyweight headline acts you should discover on our local cover circuit, so, as for the sum of the entertainment you’ll receive by attending, you could deservedly multiply them by at least three, and make six!

You might think it's a laryngologist's dream come true, this Lewis Capaldi-led decade's penchant for the blue-eyed soul singers’ melismatic strain to cause Mick Hucknall to issue a health and safety warning, but to Swindon's Brandon Clarke, aka Weather, it appears to be a natural and phenomenal gift….. This short and to the point new single from Weather, Bonnie, Be Mine,

Oh yeah, invite me to a place with a bar, throw some of the best blues this side of New Orleans at me and then hope I’ll articulate some words about it next morning, why don't you?! It's okay readers, it's become standard protocol for me, I've got this…with help from Ben and Vicky! ...Here goes my bit; it was the opening of the new season at Long Street Blues Club in Devizes last night.

Nothing cruel about our George Wilding; with his perfect match and another local legend of local music, Jolyon Dixon, they're knocking out great singles like it's child's play..... You're So Cruel is out today and is a prime example. It's an upbeat two minute blast of feelgood indie-pop, seemingly unfazed by the cruelty of the subject in the song, just you know, pointing it out, getting it off his chest!

None too convenient when you need a wee down the alley where Wilkos was, but handy in other ways; all-seeing eye Noel has spotted something on his CCTV which is worth its weight in gold to anyone who dares to drive through Devizes. Northgate Street is apparently now open to two-way traffic like months of closure never happened… Be aware, you've probably got used to hurtling across the Brewery roundabout like you're Immortan Joe on a promise, but now you've got a thing called “right of way” to consider.

There’s a new single from Bristol-based Nothing Rhymes With Orange out tomorrow (Friday 19th September) which takes the band to a whole new level, and it has got me thinking back to their Devizes roots…..  You know, I really cannot remember how this thing started, if they contacted me or if I found them. It was three years ago, at a time when local media seemed rampant with scare stories sensationalising teenage hooliganism.

We are creatures of habit here in old Devizes. We'll stand in the Market Place wearing a vacant expression, wondering where we can bag ourselves a good kebab in town now the Kebab House is sadly no longer. I urge you to think Sidmouth Street, think The Olive…. Yeah, I get you. Save the longstanding New Pacific Chinese, the previous takeaways in Sidmouth Street didn't receive great appraisal, causing the street to be considered a no-go zone for the peckish.

Oh Danny Boy, oh, Danny Boy, they loved your boyish Eton looks so, but when ye was voted in, an all democracy wasn’t quite dying, if it’s now dead, as dead it well may be, ye’ll come and find…

Oh Danny Boy, oh, Danny Boy, they loved your boyish Eton looks so, but when ye was voted in, an all democracy wasn’t quite dying, if it’s now dead, as dead it well may be, ye’ll come and find…

Oh Danny Boy, oh, Danny Boy, they loved your boyish Eton looks so, but when ye was voted in, an all democracy wasn’t quite dying, if it’s now dead, as dead it well may be, ye'll come and find the place where it was lying, and kneel and say an ave there for me a desertion, to save thy political skin from flailing, Herr Faragührer?

Milkman hours with grandkids visiting it was inevitable a five hour day shift was all I was physically able to put into this year's Swindon Shuffle. Apologies, but it was plenty to tell they knocked it out of the park again this year….. They don't even need a park. Just a selection of Old Town's finest watering holes, live music hunters, bucket collectors, sound technicians and only the damn finest collective of musicians we have around here.

The Wiltshire Music Awards are delighted to confirm a new headline partnership with Stone Circle Music Events, who will sponsor the Awards for 2025 and into 2026. As part of this agreement, the event will be rebranded as: Stone Circle Music Events – Wiltshire Music Awards. This collaboration reflects Stone Circle Music Events’ ongoing commitment to supporting music in Wiltshire, and across the wider UK and Ireland.

Following the excitement and success of the first meeting of ‘Your Party’ in Swindon, a second meeting has been arranged for 18th September 7.30 - 9.30pm at Broadgreen Community Centre..... Almost double the expected amount of people attended the first meeting. There was so much to discuss and the organisers ensured that everyone had an opportunity to share their thoughts. This resulted in the last session on the agenda being pushed over to the next meeting.

It's been six months since Devizes-based young blues crooner JP Oldfield released his poignant kazoo-blowing debut EP Bouffon. He's made numerous appearances across the circuit since and created an impressive following. Today sees him on the next leg of his musical journey, a brand new single aptly titled No Rest….. If the kazoo created a unique identity for Josh, quirking up otherwise darker themes than the novelty songs you'd except the instrument to be found in, this idiosyncratic move may have caused some criticism from traditionalists who simply didn't get it.

There's something to be said for the function duo route with universal appeal, you could be working somewhere hot! Powerhouse vocal harmony duo Reflections are back in the UK after ten successful years on the Costa Blanca…. Bringing the very best of the 60s, 70s & 80s, from Cher, Neil Diamond, Cliff Richard, The Carpenters, Shirley Bassey, Shakin’ Stevens, Queen and more, …

Is it too early for the C word?! Of course not, Grinch! With DOCA'S Winter Festival confirmed for Friday 28th November this year, there will be a number of creative workshops and makery sessions, not forgetting the creation of those wonderful handmade lanterns for the parade; here's some early sessions in which you can get creative… A number of lantern making workshops in the run-up to the Winter Festival Lantern Parade have been allocated.

If the eonian motivation of youths picking up guitars and forming bands has hit Gen Z enough that they're two to a penny, I'm in the right place to discover one new to us, The Tuppenny….  An adept drummer pinched from Bristol, with the remaining homegrown members formed a  youthful and hopeful Swindon indie-rock four-piece called Ursa Way, and they've ploughed two years into their debut album…

Photograph by Simon Folkard It's been a rocky road for Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (DOCA) these last few years, and I didn't mean the crushed biscuits and marshmallows sort! Cuts to Arts Funding has meant the unfortunate cancellation of a large part of their annual free event programme. Townsfolk and The Town Council have both been helpful in stepping up to assist.