📣📣 August issue incoming! 📣📣 Up this month... 🥳 Great giveaways! 🍽 Tasty new openings & pop-ups 🎭 Theatre highlights 🙌 Top gigs & festivals 👰 Weddings special 💐Gardening tips from Anna's Flower Farm 📚 Cambridge Edition Book Club Plus loads more! Pick up a copy around Cambridge or have a read online!
YOU R MON T H L Y F I X OF LOCA L L I F E
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GET THE LOW-DOWN ON THIS SUMMER‘S UNMISSABLE EVENTS ARTS & CULTURE
INSPIRATION TO HELP YOU PLAN THE PERFECT BIG DAY IN CAMBRIDGE WEDDINGS SPECIAL
FOOD & DRINK
DISCOVER THE TASTIEST NEW OPENINGS, POP-UPS & MORE
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EDITORIAL Editor in chief Nicola Foley 01223 499459
nicolafoley@bright-publishing.com Chief sub editor Beth Fletcher Senior sub editor Siobhan Godwood Sub editor Felicity Evans Junior sub editor Elisha Young ADVERTISING Group ad manager Sam Scott-Smith 01223 499457 samscott-smith@bright-publishing.com Senior sales executive Harriet Abbs 01223 499464 harrietabbs@bright-publishing.com Key accounts Chris Jacobs 01223499463 chrisjacobs@bright-publishing.com CONTRIBUTORS Alex Rushmer, Angelina Villa-Clarke, Cyrus Pundole, Charlotte Griffiths, Siobhan Godwood, Sue Bailey, Daisy Dickinson, Jordan Worland, Ruthie Collins, Anna Taylor, Charlotte Phillips DESIGN & PRODUCTION Designer Lucy Woolcomb lucywoolcomb@bright-publishing.com Ad production Man-Wai Wong manwaiwong@bright-publishing.com MANAGING DIRECTORS Andy Brogden & Matt Pluck CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
ive or take the swarms of tourists, August might just be the most relaxed month of the year in Cambridge. With the students gone until autumn and plenty of long, balmy evenings for relaxing by the river, now’s the time to kick back and enjoy the city in summer holiday mode. Make the most of these peaceful days by curling up in a favourite spot with a great book: we’ve got a cracker for you in this month’s Edition Book Club. A rare non-fiction pick for us, this month we’re shining a spotlight on local author Bee Wilson and
her fascinating book The Way We Eat Now . A look at global food trends, obsessions and oddities which covers a staggering amount of ground, we get the low-down from Bee herself over on page 25. More of the city’s food writers (we do seem to have an unusually large volume here in Cambridge) chat to Dr Sue Bailey in Cambridge on a Plate over on page 64. As delightfully freewheeling as ever, this month’s column sees Sue talk Trinity burnt cream – or should that be crème brûlée? – via Victorian desserts, Edwardian virility potions and the joys of being a food historian. Also in the food section, we pay homage to one of Cambridge’s oldest and finest independents: The Gog. A century’s worth of history has seen this family business evolve from a roadside honesty box to a thriving farm shop, cafe and deli, which every foodie in the city raves about. Read its story on page 54. Our arts columnist Ruthie has been on the trail of Yoko Ono this month, in honour of the city-wide celebration of her work which continues through August. You’d be forgiven for knowing her best for her marriage to John Lennon, but Yoko Ono: Looking For... is a fantastic chance to learn more about this esteemed conceptual artist’s considerable influence on the art world, as well as her special connection to Cambridge. Find out more on page 22. There are a few treats to look out for on the local festival circuit, too, as detailed in our After Hours section (page 33). I’m especially looking forward to We Out Here, which makes its debut at the old Secret Garden Party site this month. As a diehard SGP fan, I can’t wait to return to this beautiful spot and see what the organisers have dreamed up. It’s a tough act to follow, but I’m confident we’re in the safest of hands with curator Gilles Peterson.
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CAMBRIDGE EDITIONMAGAZINE Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridgeshire CB22 3HJ, 01223 499450, cambsedition.co.uk • All rights reserved. Material contained in this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior permission of the publishers. • Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Cambridge Edition or Bright Publishing Ltd, which do not accept any liability for loss or damage. • Every effort has been made to ensure all information is correct. • Cambridge Edition is a free publication that is distributed in Cambridge and the surrounding area.
This month’s cover illustration was created by Laura Bryant, senior designer at Bright Publishing
As always, we’ve also got news on the most exciting new foodie openings, the best gigs and theatre and plenty more – enjoy the issue and see you next month!
Nicola Foley EDITOR IN CHIEF
Author illustrations by Louisa Taylor louisataylorillustration.blogspot.co.uk
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8 ● STARTERS Top things to do and see in the city, plus our favourite social media pics 13 ● ARTS & CULTURE Exhibitions, concerts and theatre highlights to enjoy in August 21 ● ART INSIDER Ruthie Collins, founder of Cambridge Art Salon, shares her arty picks of the month 22 ● YOKO ONO We find out more about Yoko Ono: Looking For… , a city-wide, summer-long exhibition 25 ● BOOK CLUB We chat to local author Bee Wilson about her writing on our collective eating habits 28 ● DRAGON BOAT FEST
Cambridge’s craziest river race is back and we’ve got the low-down 31 ● AQUA PARK COMP Win a fun-packed day out for you and five pals at Southlake Aqua Park! 33 ● AFTER HOURS Comedy, gigs, festivals and more nightlife fun this month 37 ● LISTINGS Our at-a-glance guide to the top events and goings-on this August
40 ● COMMUNITY HUB Community events, charity news and more, from your local hub WIN A PUNT TOUR We’ve teamed up with Let’s Go Punting to give away a chauffeured punt trip 47 ● FOOD NEWS All the latest news and gossip from the Cambridge food and drink scene 54 ● A GOG’S LIFE We head down to The Gog Farm Shop for a chat with the Bradford family 61 ● CHEF’S TABLE Chef Alex Rushmer on what’s cooking in his kitchen this month 62 ● RECIPE A quick and easy summer roll recipe that’s perfect for a no-fuss feast 64 ● CAMBS ON A PLATE Dr Sue Bailey dives into local food history books, making some intriguing discoveries 43 ●
68 ● INDIE OF THE MONTH In the spotlight this month, Bassingbourn’s charming Homemade at the Barn 71 ● WEDDINGS Your guide to throwing the ultimate Cambridge wedding 82 ● FASHION Summer holiday style picks you won’t be able to pass up 85 ● BEAUTY Daisy Dickinson rounds up the beauty products on her radar this month 87 ● BUSINESS With the city becoming a hotspot for conferences, we look at top venues 97 ● GARDENS Flower farm owner Anna shares what’s happening in the garden during August 99 ● INTERIORS Create a haven for your little treasures with our guide to decorating kids’ rooms
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STARTERS
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WYSING POLYPHONIC
Wysing Polyphonic returns for its tenth year of boundary-pushing music with a new collaboration for the arts centre with guest curators Somerset House Studios. The studio, a former Inland Revenue building in London, can host up to 100 artists in residence at any time, so the artists are in an ideal position to put their stamp on Wysing’s latest big event, which is on 7 September (1pm to 1am). Music and performance is across four covered stages, plus a film and talks programme. Johannesburg queer art collective FAKA will be in residence in the weeks before the festival to develop a new work for the event, as will Cairo producer and multi-instrumentalist, Zuli. Returning Wysing festival performers include Jennifer Walshe, Valentina Magaletti and Beatrice Dillon. The latter will perform a back-to-back set with Somerset House Studios’ curator-in-residence Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura. Working with local singers, Wysing studio artist Emma Smith presents 5Hz, a project that imagines an evolution of voice for social bonding, based on research into vocal rhythm. wysingartscentre.org
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STARTERS
MUSIC ON THE RIVER
Music on the River, a glorious combination of live music, punting and drinks, comes to the Cam on select Friday nights. Let’s Go Punting and the Traditional Punting Company have joined forces to offer four events featuring five hugely talented musicians on board your punt. On 9 August, Cambridge-based Max Bianco, the singer-guitarist fromMax Bianco and The Bluehearts, will perform, while on the 23rd, singer-beatboxer Ukulele Simon takes to the river. Americana/folk duo Roswell round things off on 30 August. The punting firms have teamed up with The Punt and Pole, a floating bar that will never be far from your punt, with 20% off for Music on the River customers. Punts depart at 7.30pm from La Mimosa landing stage and showcase seven colleges along the river while you take in the melodies. A shared music tour ticket costs £17.50. letsgopunting.co.uk
OUTDOOR CINEMA
Enchanted Cinema returns with more alfresco cinema classics – old and nearly new – at The Gonville Hotel, while Movies on the Meadows returns for the bank holiday weekend at Grantchester. There’s always at least one street food van present, and sometimes live music precedes the film at Enchanted events. Cult noughties film Mean Girls is first up at The Gonville on 2 August, with Call Me By Your Name and The Intouchables on the 3rd and 4th respectively. The hits keep coming, with When Harry Met Sally , Grease , The Great Gatsby and Pulp Fiction from 15 to 18 August. Amélie is on the 22nd, followed by Dirty Dancing , Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born over the next three days. Movies on the Meadows, curated by Cambridge Film Festival, screens 12 films across four nights (23-26 August), with films ranging from Avengers: Endgame to Dr Strangelove . Elsewhere, The Star and Mouse Picture Show screens Hacksaw Ridge at the Cambridge American Cemetery on 10 August, while Open Air Cinema presents Bohemian Rhapsody at Madingley Hall on 16 August.
SUNDAY PAPERS LIVE
Tickets for Sunday Papers Live have gone live, ready for return of the ever-popular event that brings the broadsheets to life. Taking place on 27 October at the Cambridge Union, you can expect the usual mix of talks, debate and good food, with Bread & Meat already confirmed for roast dinner rolls. Walks, entertainment and chilling with a Bloody Mary will feature! mylittlefestival.uk
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THEATRE • ART EXHI B I T IONS • CONCERTS • BOOK CLUB
TOMDALE COMPANY will perform as part of Cambridge Junction’s new season. Find out more on page 13.
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ARTS & CULTURE
Designed to be “positively and creatively disruptive and to linger in your hearts and minds”, Cambridge Junction’s new- season programme yields a dazzling array of arty treats. There’s music, in the form of Japanese psychedelia with Qujaku, slam poetry with Hammer & Tongue and mesmerising contemporary dance in Step Sonic . Another to look out for is Burgerz : a powerful, unsettling performance which asks, what does the trans body do in order to survive? And how can one become a protector, rather than a bystander? Views from the ’Bridge , the Junction’s showcase of works in progress by members of the venue’s artist development network, also returns, while Lifelab brings together budding comedians from the world of science and technology, as they take a humorous look at their life in the lab. For the full programme, visit the Cambridge Junction website. junction.co.uk JUNCTION NEW SEASON
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SALMAN RUSHDIE
International bestselling author Salman Rushdie comes to Cambridge on 28 August to discuss his life in writing, on the day before his new novel is released. Quichotte , inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote , follows an ageing travelling salesman who falls in love with a TV star. He sets off to drive across America on a quest to prove his worth. Rushdie’s tragicomic tale is set in a deranged time and covers father-son relationships, sibling quarrels, racism, drugs and, wait for it… the end of the world. The Man Booker prize winner has written 14 novels and is best known for Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses . He will be in conversation with acclaimed award-winning author Elif Shafak at Cambridge Union from 6.30pm. The event is one of Cambridge Literary Festival’s occasional stand-alone events, separate from their three-day winter and spring festivals. Tickets are £12. cambridgeliteraryfestival.com
A fun, fast-paced, faithful adaptation of Sense and Sensibility comes to Wimpole Hall on 11 August. The production is by the critically-acclaimed Pantaloons Theatre Company, who offer vibrant, slightly anarchic takes on classic plays. “We are known for being somewhat silly,” says writer and director Mark Hayward. “But with Sense and Sensibility we stay respectful to the things that people love about the book in the first place. This production provides a great introduction to those who are new to the story and also interweaves the elements that make a show intrinsically Pantaloony.” It takes place in the garden at the Old Rectory Restaurant and features live music and audience interaction, with guests invited to bring along a picnic. Tickets are £16 and £10 for children. eventbrite.co.uk SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
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There’s plenty for inquisitive minds to learn and discover during Summer at the Museums, running until 3 September. Organised by University of Cambridge Museums, it features more than 140 family-friendly activities in total, ranging from trails to storytelling and performances, plus interactive workshops. Explore the world of dinosaurs at Ely Museum, learn more about climate change at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, or pop along to the Centre for Computing History, with its treasure trove of retro tech, which is hosting various fun coding workshops. Visit the website for the full programme. museums.cam.ac.uk SUMMER AT THE MUSEUMS
CAMBRIDGE EARLY MUSIC
Cambridge Early Music’s series of Baroque and Renaissance concerts continues this month with The Courtiers of Grace performing different shows on 4 and 7 August. First up on the 4th is Jouyssance vous Donneray , at Girton College Chapel, for some tuneful and poetic French music from the 16th century. Then, at Emmanuel United Reformed Church on the 7th, City Voices, Courtly Airs sees the group perform more French works from a similar period by Josquin, Le Jeune, Sermisy, Sandrin and others. Cambridge Early Music also runs summer schools in Baroque and Renaissance music, and you can catch chamber and large-scale pieces learnt by the students on the baroque course on 3 August at Girton College Great Hall. On the 10th, at the same venue, it’s the turn of the Renaissance summer school students to perform. cambridgeearlymusic.org
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Movies on the Meadows returns with hit after hit movie screened in the fab Grantchester riverside setting. Catch recent cinema gems Bohemian Rhapsody , Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , Avengers: Endgame , and Mary Poppins Returns . There’s silver screen classics too, such as Dr Strangelove , Monty Python and the Holy Grail and American Graffiti . In total, there’s 16 films across four days, from 23 to 26 August. cambridgefilmfestival.org MOVIES ON THE MEADOWS
Travelling round comic and TV conventions for 20 years has inspired a group of enthusiasts to set up the very first Cambridge Comic Con. By seeing things from a fan’s point of view first, they hope to create something a little different at Cambridge Junction on 24 and 25 August. Stars from the small screen and the silver screen will be on-hand for panel discussions, photo ops and autographs, plus there will be traders and entertainment, in a fun, family-friendly setting. Tickets from £10. junction.co.uk CAMBRIDGE COMIC CON
This month at Saffron Hall there’s a musical treat performed by teenagers from across the country, and something for younger children. The National Youth Girls’ Choir of Great Britain performs on 24 August, showcasing the breadth of music written for women’s voices. Featuring songs spanning the centuries and encompassing a variety of different cultures, the performance is one not to miss. On 16 August, join Peppa Pig and pals for Peppa Pig: My First Concert , which brings all the usual, colourful fun in an interactive show. Peppa and George learn about the sounds that instruments make together, with some of the music played by an orchestra. It’s suitable for ages 18 months and up. saffronhall.com AUGUST AT SAFFRON HALL
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SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL TAKE TWO
Cambridge Shakespeare Festival starts the month with its second set of plays underway across Cambridge University’s college gardens, serving up an unmissable outdoor theatre treat. If you caught Henry IV Part 1 last month at Robinson College, Part 2 comes to the same venue to complete the tale. The Bard in a more playful mood can be seen in performances of Much Ado About
Nothing and As You Like It , in the grounds of St John’s and King’s colleges respectively. Shakespeare’s final masterpiece, The Tempest , with themes of adventure, redemption and forgiveness, is at Trinity College gardens until 17 August. Much Ado About Nothing also closes on the 17th, but the other two plays run until 24 August. cambridgeshakespeare.com
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Let the latest pottery creations catch your eye at a two-week celebration of the art, featuring more than 60 local potters. Anglian Potters – one of the largest groups for ceramic enthusiasts in the country – holds its summer exhibition from 10 to 25 August at All Saints’ Church, Jesus Lane. Exhibitor and organiser Ian Vance said there would be something for every taste and budget, from traditional domestic ware to the avant-garde and cutting-edge ceramic arts. “With inspiration drawn from so may sources, the variety of work on show is hugely diverse. There’s everything from hand-thrown studio pottery to wall- mounted pieces, jewellery and sculpture. The exhibition is a riot of colour, texture and shape.” Entry is free and the exhibition runs from 10am to 6pm, 5pm on Sundays. anglianpotters.org.uk ANGLIAN POTTERS SUMMER EXHIBITION
Home to some of the most innovative genomics and biodata companies in the world, Wellcome Genome Campus is opening its doors for a special series of after- hours events over the coming months. Taking place on 2 August and 6 September, Genome Lates are your chance to explore the campus, drink in hand, hearing about the latest discoveries in genomics and chatting to scientists about their work. There’s also an exhibition to see, plus a puzzle-solving challenge to get stuck into. Entry is free but booking is required. wellcomegenomecampus.org GENOME LATES
LEPER CHAPEL OPEN DAY
A unique building in Cambridge – which happens to be the oldest complete building in the city – opens its doors to the public on 10 August. The Leper Chapel dates from 1125, when it was built as a place of worship for lepers at an adjacent hospital. In the 900 years since, it has been used as a bar, warehouse, dwelling and for animals. It’s Grade 1 listed and features architectural styles from several periods. Open from 12pm-3pm, it’s free to enter (donations appreciated). Two other properties run by Cambridge Past, Present and Future also have open days this month. Hinxton Watermill is open on 4 August, 2.30pm to 5.30pm, and take a look inside Bourn Windmill on 18 August, 2pm to 4pm. cambridgeppf.org
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RUTHIE COLLINS, FOUNDER OF CAMBRIDGE ART SALON, GIVES HER ARTY PICKS OF THE MONTH
explore these artefacts – this way, you can enrich yourself with ancient art, without even leaving the house! Fans of Mill Road – and affordable housing – will be pleased to celebrate the creation of 500 affordable new homes from Cambridge City Council at Mill Road Depot, and across the city, with public art programme, Ironworks. There’s a chance to come along and meet the artists and engage with the programme at an event at Mill Road Bridge on 20 August; from seed bombing, to a blue plaque-inspired scheme that researches the history of local homes. Artist in residence Hilary Cox Condron and community historian Helen Weinstein are working with the community and four artists who will be producing works for the new public spaces created across the location. Watch out for artists Jo Chapman, Tom Pearman, Rodney Harris and Valda Jackson. The community engagement and public art programme designed for Ironworks will launch with a series of events, ranging from school workshops mapping the ironworks industry in Cambridge, to a pop-up in collaboration with Calverley’s on Hooper Street. Finally, visitors to this year’s Cambridge Folk Festival, the longest running folk festival in the world, should look out for art activity delivered by the fantastic Oblique Arts, including large- scale interactive photo boards. This year’s guest festival curator is Nick Mulvey. He was born in Cambridge and appeared at the Folk Festival in The Den, the festival’s talent development platform for artists
This summer sees a new activity pack for four to seven year olds – with The Great Belzoni one of the featured explorers. Babies, toddlers and older children up to 15 are all catered for with these Fitz Packs, too – so, plenty to keep the family entertained if you want to escape the heat and cool down with some of Cambridge’s most loved museum collections. Riddle of the White Sphinx , the first in a new Hidden Tales series, will have children dragging their parents round museums this holiday to solve a Cambridge treasure hunt with a real artefact to find – somewhere in the city. This innovative idea from Sorrel May and Mark Wells gets children engaging with reading, as well as museums and their collections, and is supported by Arts Council England. Hidden Tales is hosting events all summer – pop over to Heffers for weekly craft activities, or head to the Scott Polar Institute on Sunday 4 August. You can also enjoy an illustration masterclass at the Fitzwilliam Museum – plenty to keep everyone entertained. Artefacts are key to most museum collections, but Kettle’s Yard asks: what happens when we don’t know who created a particular object? Artist: Unknown takes this question as its focus, bringing together for the first time an extraordinary selection of anonymous art and artefacts from the University of Cambridge’s renowned museums and collections. Check the Kettle’s Yard website for a series of fascinating talks as podcasts that
believe that magic is art, and that art, whether that be music, writing, sculpture, or any other form, is literally magic. Art is,
like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images, to achieve changes in consciousness,” said writer Alan Moore (author of multiple comic classics, from Watchmen to From Hell ). It’s holiday time! Time to dust off the sand and get your cultural fix. So why not go in search of magic this August? Head over to Wysing Arts Centre for All His Ghosts Must Do My Bidding , an exhibition that considers ‘art as magic, artists as magicians, and the studio as a magical site’. With The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as a starting point, expect a retelling of this magical classic that transforms it into a tale of liberation and experimentation. There’s a diverse array of artists at this show, which runs until 25 August and is part of Wysing’s 30th anniversary celebrations. Roll up, roll up for some circus fun at the Fitzwilliam Museum to kick-start your month. Family Art Week, which sees families taking over the museum, returns from 30 July until 2 August. From 11am until 3pm each morning there are circus- themed free art activities inspired by The Great Belzoni, whose posthumous portrait by Jan Adam Kruseman is in the museum. On 1 and 2 August, see performances by aerialist and hula hooper Daisy Black, plus contortionist Bendini who you may recognise from Disney’s Dumbo film.
under 30, in 2012, so it promises to be a special one. You can see Nick Mulvey perform on Saturday 3 August. Whatever you do, have a fantastic summer!
“It’s holiday time! Time to dust off the sand and get your cultural fix”
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YOKO ONO
Looking for
AS THE WORK OF YOKO ONO CONTINUES ITS TAKEOVER OF CAMBRIDGE, RUTHIE COLLINS FINDS OUT MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST’S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY
series of instructions, first published in 1964 in key conceptual art book, Grapefruit . When first exhibited in New York and then Tokyo in the early 1960s, the instructions were arguably the world’s first ever conceptual art exhibition – participatory text-based works that invite your own thoughts and actions to become art. Try some of them out to connect with the natural beauty of summer: and the sky. ‘Sit under a blue sky/Keep your head open and empty/Let ideas come into you/Cherish them.’ ( Sky Piece VIII ). One of Yoko Ono’s most famous works, ongoing installation Wish Tree, is also on show. Reading the wishes of visitors, hung onto the trees in the courtyard next to the gallery, is a hopeful and sometimes poignant experience – whether a wish to make the ‘grieving of families easier’ or for ‘joy’, or to ‘sit calmly with my own thoughts’. Creating your own is a joyous act of optimism – a reminder of Ono’s belief that ‘you change the world by being yourself.’ There’s also the chance to buy your own Yoko Ono ‘piece’, Air Dispenser (1971/20190 – air in a capsule, again a whimsical nod to humanity’s continued commodification of our natural resources. Or why not play monochrome chess, with Play It By Trust aka White Chess Set (1966 )? A hit with surprise visitor Ai Wei Wei, who came to the exhibition’s opening event in
June, this minimalist-inspired work is also influenced by Zen Buddhism. Competition is subverted into an act of play and collaboration. “The problem is not how to become different or unique, but how to share an experience, how to be the same,” as Yoko Ono said. This exhibition at the Heong Gallery is just one part of Yoko Ono: Looking For… , a city-wide takeover of Cambridge that brings 90 works by Yoko Ono to the city. Opening on 2 March of this year, with an unveiling of a plaque to ‘Yoko Ono and John Lennon’ at Lady Mitchell Hall, the concept was inspired by curator G. The
ll my life, I have been in love with the sky,’ (Yoko Ono). A symbol for peace, freedom, the eternal and unknowable, the sky has long been a recurring motif in the work of pioneering conceptual artist Yoko Ono. Yoko Ono: Sky Pieces , at Heong Gallery, Downing College, which runs until October this year, sees her bringing the sky into the gallery – with Sky TV (1966/2019) , an installation livestreaming the sky through 25 screens – amplifying, with powerful impact, the shifting sky, the movements of birds, bees and clouds. Somehow eerie too, perhaps symptomatic of humanity’s mechanised, sometimes disconnected way of experiencing the natural world. Watch out also for Ono’s
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YOKO ONO
IMAGES Yoko Ono: Sky Pieces is running at the Heong Gallery until October 2019
“The problem is not how to become different or unique, but how to share an experience”
With a symposium in October at the Heong Gallery, a walking tour of the works, screenings of Fly (1970) and Apotheosis (1970) , both co-directed with John Lennon, text posters throughout the city, plus a performance of Cut Piece (1969) at the Ruskin Gallery and another exhibition at the Alison Richard Building – there are happenings and installations for everyone, with the audience at the heart throughout. “All the works in the exhibition are participatory and invite you to contemplate
the shadow of John Lennon,” explains curator Gabriella Daris. “It was Ono who was invited to perform at the concert of experimental music in Cambridge in 1969, and Lennon joined in at the last minute. It was her gig, really.” Yoko Ono’s raw, powerful voice, with Lennon’s guitar, showed the influence of Fluxus, of which she was a major pioneer – an art movement that valued creative process as much as final product. The track Cambridge 1969 was part of the couple’s first album together, This is Unfinished Music . “It is just us expressing ourselves like a child does, you know... What we’re saying is make your own music,’ John Lennon explained about their work.
plaque, gifted by G, commemorates the couple’s first live performance together, at a jazz concert on 2 March in 1969. Yoko Ono had originally been invited to perform, with Lennon appearing as ‘her band’ – who played throughout, with his back to what he described as the ‘weird, artsy fartsy’ audience – whom he also rated as ‘totally solid’. An audio recording of the avant garde performance is installed at Lady Mitchell Hall until December 2019. “I wanted to contribute to the social history of the city of Cambridge by shedding light on something previously buried, but to also highlight the important role that music has played in Yoko Ono’s career as an artist, usually overlooked under
an incomprehensible scope of time. You may not find solid answers but previously unconsidered questions might be revealed in the form of mental somersaults,” Daris adds.
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BOOK CLUB
CAMBRIDGE EDI T ION
BRINGING YOU TOP NEW FICTION PICKS, AUTHOR INTERVIEWS, DISCOUNTS AND LOTS MORE BOOK CHAT, THE EDITION BOOK CLUB IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH CAMBRIDGE LITERARY FESTIVAL AND HEFFERS
INTERVIEW BY CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
THIS MONTH, A FASCINATING LOOK AT HOW AND WHAT HUMANS EAT IN 2019 – AND HOW THIS IS AFFECTED BY WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE LIVE AND EVEN HOW MUCH WE EARN THE WAY WE EAT NOW
Bee explains more when we meet in person. “I thought it was going to be a lighter book. When I wrote the proposal there was this whole long section, of which only about a paragraph made it in, that contained a huge chapter on the rise and fall and rise again of the egg, and how people stopped eating eggs because of cholesterol and salmonella, and then they started eating them again because of Instagram – but it felt less... alarming.” Bee says. “When I started the book, the phrase I had in my head was ‘kitchen census’ – shopping lists, those things left behind, showing what people really eat behind closed doors. But then I found out about
consume. The book originally began life as an examination of how we eat in different countries and cultures, but swiftly evolved into a study of the cross-continental similarities that Bee encountered while researching her book. “I kept being struck that the things [people] told me about modern eating were, to a weird extent, the same,” she writes. “People told me they felt they had lived through huge changes in the way they ate, compared to their parents and certainly compared to their grandparents… they spoke of eating in front of screens, of weight-loss diets, of feeling pressed for time to cook the things they wished they could cook.”
e never snacked like this, and we never binged like this. We never had so many
superfoods, or so many chips. We were never quite so confused about food, and what it actually is...” The Way We Eat Now is the latest book by award-winning food writer and Cambridge resident Bee Wilson: it’s an extraordinary piece of work, meticulously researched, that explores what modern humans eat, why we eat it, and how we can move towards a less disordered and more rewarding – both in terms of nutrients and satisfaction – approach to the food we
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BOOK CLUB
LOOK OUT FOR THE CAMBRIDGE EDITION BOOK CLUB STICKERS IN HEFFERS AND GET MONEY OFF OUR MONTHLY PICK
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because they’re relevant. But they don’t have very good cadences – or associations. It was a balancing act.” Prior to becoming a full-time author, Bee spent many years as an academic, and her rigorous approach to constructing an argument and finding the evidence to back it up is plain to see on every page. When Bee wrote her first book, The Hive , the research came before the writing. “I just locked myself in the University Library for about six months – I read every book on honey; ate every jar of honey I could find, and then wrote – and there’s a lot to be said for that – but you’ve got to still stay open to ideas. Especially with food, where trends are changing all the time.” The book’s parade of research is garnished with testimonies by individuals of all backgrounds: from world-leading scientists to 18-year-old Deliveroo riders. These conversations are presented as beautifully-drawn vignettes with a strong sense of place, where Bee is often sharing a meal or cup of coffee with an individual, and help to give a human face to the theory or science being presented. A good example comes alongside the mention of Huel, Soylent and other meal-replacement shakes. We meet writer and editor Dan Wang, who – in conversation with Bee – raises the totally valid argument of using these drinks not as replacements for food in general, but when desirable food cannot be acquired: as replacements for not eating. Why waste time, money or calories on unrewarding and un-nutritious meals? “Dan was riled, he told me, that so many critiques of Soylent came from people who had ‘excellent access to food’.” Bee writes. “He resented the implication that everyone should be eating ‘Alice Waters-
the ‘nutrition transition’ [the shifts in diet described by Bee as what happens when “a country becomes richer and more open to global markets: its population inexorably begins to eat differently, consuming more oil and meat and sugar and snack foods, and fewer wholegrains and pulses”] and this was all news to me – but it’s such a great concept, and explains so much.” Once Bee had discovered the nutrition transition and the work of Barry Popkin, an American food science researcher who developed the concept, the book’s potential horizons opened up, requiring some judicious redrafting. “During the editing process the bits that we were losing were the lighter bits – there are still lighter bits in there – but it felt like the more I read about things like the rise of diet-related ill health in Brazil or Mexico, even though you don’t want to be heavy on the subject of food, even though you don’t want to be fearmongering, because food is still a pleasure and it’s wonderful and I think people moralise too much – it is genuinely horrifying how junk food is being pushed on poor families door- to-door in the remotest parts of the Amazonian basin. That’s bad – we can say that’s bad!”
The book continued to evolve as Bee carried out her research. “I had the title from the beginning: we went through phases where both editors thought it should have a different title, but then we came back to that title. Books always evolve with research: if you knew before you did the research what the interesting thing was going to be, then you wouldn’t bother doing the research, would you?” “I remember when I was writing Consider The Fork , and a section of the book on fire, which ends with the microwave – I was cycling along, and suddenly I just pictured children around a microwave like hunter gatherers around a flame. I really liked that concept, and I thought ‘that’s going to be my final sentence’ – that was a wonderful, rare writing moment that wasn’t a horrible moment of self doubt,” Bee laughs. “I feel occasionally – as with music – when you know what the final cadence is, you’re OK. And I do think a lot of writing is cadences and rhythms: and that’s almost the hardest thing about non-fiction: a lot of the rhythms of the book were frustrating because in an ideal world I wouldn’t even be using words like ‘obesity’ or ‘type two diabetes’, but you have to have them there,
“Food is still a pleasure and it’s wonderful and I think people moralise too much”
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BOOK CLUB
“Food trends are changing all the time”
“Cambridge food is amazing now, isn’t it? I do a lot of my writing in Hot Numbers and Espresso Library, I love both of them: I think it’s incredible how much good coffee you can get in Cambridge now.” BEE’S CAMBRIDGE “I love all of the Mill Road shops – I particularly love Bread on a Bike bread: I just think she’s the most incredible baker.” “We’ve had a Cambridge Organic Food Company vegetable box delivered for well over ten years: I’m a big, big supporter of their work.” Bee is Chair of TastEd, an educational charity which offers a system of fun sensory food lessons based on the Sapere method – where children learn to respond to many different foods with all of their senses, not just taste. The charity’s work has been trialled at primary and secondary schools in Cambridge: if you’d like to knowmore about this innovative approach to food education, visit the website or find them on Twitter. twitter.com/tastedfeed tasteeducation.com
an academic you know you don’t know everything: you know you just know the tiny amount of information in your PhD, and you don’t even know that. I feel like being a generalist, being able to join things and put things together, is a joy.” The final section includes Bee’s thoughts on how to navigate this “world of choice” (Bee’s previous small publication This Is Not A Diet Book contains more of these calm tips for navigating one’s relationship with food) which leaves the reader hopeful for change, and empowered to make small alterations to their own eating for the better. The Way We Eat Now is a veritable tasting menu of a read, bringing together carefully considered evidence from across the globe that leaves you dazzled by the author’s breadth of knowledge but grateful at having her guide you through the research. It will make you hungry, but probably not for the same snacks you’d been hankering for beforehand.
style organic vegetables at every meal.’ It’s a depressing comment on our bewildering food supply that not-food can now be seen as a better option than food, to thoughtful people like Dan Wang.” Bee’s abilities as a generalist are clearly on show throughout the book – looping together concepts, bringing back earlier discussions and making connections between previously disparate disciplines – and she highlights these conversations as having been hugely satisfying work. “There is no specialist who can oversee what food means in the world: there is no single scientist who could do that,” Bee says. “Even the super-brainy people I interviewed – they don’t know everything: they don’t know what the consumer market researcher or the food trends researchers know – so I felt like the conversations were really important. Having once been an academic, I know that academics are slightly in awe of specialists. When you’re
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DRAGON BOAT F EST I VAL
E nte r t h e drago n NOW’S THE TIME TO GET YOUR TEAM TOGETHER AND ENTER THIS YEAR’S CAMBRIDGE DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL. HERE’S A TASTER OF WHAT’S IN STORE
WORDS BY CYRUS PUNDOLE
Up to 40 teams will battle it out, cheered on by hundreds of spectators. Businesses, groups and friends across the region can test their skills against new and returning crews who have already booked their places, all while raising money for a good cause. Last year’s Dragon Boat Challenge was won by Row-Bots from CMR Surgical, with Puff, representing Team Consulting, taking the mixed prize. Cambridge Commodities was crowned charity champion, with last year’s festival raising an incredible £30,000 for ACT, which is the only charity dedicated to making a difference for patients at both Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals. The 30-foot long dragon boats, qualified helms (who ensure each boat is steered straight) and racing equipment are all provided by the organisers, Gable Events, while each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races over the 200 metres course. Most importantly, no previous experience is required to
urrounded by a blaze of colour and cacophony of sound, let your competitive spirit take hold at the annual fundraising Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival. There are many great ways to get fit, such as
Couch to 5K and Parkrun, but the festival offers something a bit different – and a fab team option full of camaraderie that is a grand day out for all the family. Held on a stretch of the Cam every September, each boat has an on-board drummer pounding out a rhythm (that may or may not be perfect to row along to!) as crews jockey for position on the river at Fen Ditton. This year’s big day takes place on 7 September, and there’s still time to book a place for teams .The Dragon Boat Festival raises money for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) and is one of the biggest fundraising events in the county.
WHAT: Colourful river race where teams battle it out in traditional Chinese-style dragon boats, featuring bankside entertainment WHEN: Saturday 7 September WHERE: Ditton Meadows, Fen Ditton HOW MUCH? Entrance to the event is free to spectators and parking is available at the nearby Fen Ditton Recreation Ground. Standard entry for a team is £650 + VAT
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DRAGON BOAT F EST I VAL
Dragon boat racing has its origins in ancient China, where the sport began more than 2,000 years ago. Traditionally, these paddled long boats were raced by contending villagers, and it remains a popular Chinese pastime to this day, celebrated each year with a huge festival in June. The sport is becoming increasingly popular in the UK – in fact, it’s Britain’s fastest-growing corporate team-building activity. It requires no previous experience and doesn’t rely on brute strength – it’s something everyone can take part in. The key to success is teamwork, timing and listening to your helm’s instructions – failure to do so could result in an early bath! WHAT IS DRAGON BOAT RACING?
“We can provide funds so our local hospitals can offer the very best care”
so our local hospitals can offer the very best care, day after day, year after year.” Whether its treatment for an emergency, an acute condition, pregnancy or a long-term illness, the charity believes every patient deserves the highest quality of care available. ACT will put funds towards cutting-edge technology, additional specialist services, vital research and extra comforts for patients. Gold and silver sponsorship options are available, plus standard team entries. For further information, and to book your place, visit dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/
voted the number one fun thing to do in the city on TripAdvisor. And the day is not all about the action on the water. Those taking part and spectators can enjoy Chinese-themed entertainment, including dancing, plus children’s rides, fun with inflatables and a selection of food and drink to satisfy all tastes. Emily Willdigg, ACT’s mass events leader, is looking forward to building on the success of last year’s festival. “We hope businesses will support our much-loved hospitals by getting a team together,” she says, explaining the importance of the money raised. “With the help of many generous supporters, we can provide funds
take part, just oodles of team spirit and enthusiasm to have a go. Up to ten people can be in a crew, plus a drummer (though squads for a team can be larger) and trophies are awarded to the top three, the best-placed mixed crew (with a minimum of five women), the team that raises the most money, plus those perhaps who generate the most fun by being the best-dressed crew. This year there’s a special, entertaining incentive to finish top of the pile when it comes to fundraising. The team raising the most money for Addenbrooke’s will be rewarded with a group experience at Cambridge Escape Rooms. Getting lost there is clearly a popular activity, as the rooms have been
cambridge, or call 01780 470718. For more details about ACT, visit act4addenbrookes.org.uk
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COMPET I T ION
WIN A TRIP TO SOUTHLAKE AQUA PARK!
wetsuit hire and a session for six people. Afterwards, why not enjoy lunch at the recently opened Southlake Grill? Once you’ve worked up an appetite, you and your gang can feast on tasty burgers, hotdogs, fries, ‘tornado potatoes’, ice creams and more: perfect for refuelling! To be in with a chance of winning this fun-packed prize, visit cambsedition.co.uk and hit the Competition tab. Southlake Aqua Park, near Paxton Pits Nature reserve, Little Paxton, St Neots, Cambridgeshire PE19 6BN. Open from 10am to 8pm daily, tel: 07527007568, southlakeaquapark.com
ancy winning a fantastic day out for you and your friends or family at one of Cambridgeshire’s top attractions? Good news: we’ve
teamed up with Southlake Aqua Park to give away an awesome experience for six people! Located near Paxton Pits Nature Reserve, the park offers a huge, Total Wipeout -style course on open water. Kids and grown-ups alike can have hours of fun tackling the giant inflatables, sliding, climbing and splashing about to their hearts’ content. Worth £120, this prize includes
T&Cs: Competition closes on 23 August 2019. Booking subject to availability. Prizemust be claimed by the last day of the season, 29 September 2019. No cash alternative available.
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NIGHT L I F E
THE NIGHTLIFE EVENTS NOT TO MISS THIS MONTH
Cambridge Folk Festival will bring its merry melting pot of folky sounds to Cherry Hinton Hall once again from 1 to 4 August. Attracting around 14,000 folk fans each year, the event has been running since the 1960s, and has flourished into one of the best-known and best-loved events of its kind in the world. Alongside headliners like GrahamNash, José González and Lucinda Williams, this year’s event will include a guest curator in the shape of acclaimed singer- songwriter Nick Mulvey, who has compiled a selection of artists that showcase his passion for world music. This year’s event will also feature The Sisters of Elva Hill, an original ballet commissioned especially for the festival, which blends dance with a score woven from traditional British songs. Tickets start at £29.50 for one day and £179 for the whole weekend. cambridgelive.org.uk CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL
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NIGHT L I F E
NOW BOOKING
NEON MOON 26 OCT, JUNCTION, FROM £20 The city’s hottest Halloween party is back for a night of cocktails and fancy-dressed fun.
To the sprawling meadows in Abbots Ripton which used to host Secret Garden Party comes We Out Here: a brand-new, weekend-long festival. Curated by 6 Music DJ Gilles Peterson, the line-up joins the musical dots between soul, hip hop, house, afro, electronica, jazz and beyond, serving up both live acts and DJ sets. FromMr Scruff to Sons of Kemet, Josey Rebelle and Zara McFarlane, it’s a brilliantly eclectic line-up, with the promise of a big, welcoming party celebrating the best of UK club culture. There are standard camping and luxury or family options, and plenty to get stuck into around the site, including open-air cinema screenings, an indie record fair, yoga and well-being sessions, arts and crafts activities and even a high-speed running club (Run Dem Crew). And forget limp burgers and greasy chips; the food offering at We Out Here includes a pop-up restaurant and wine bar from esteemed East London eaterie Brawn, Indian Fusion dishes from En Root and freshly rolled vegan sushi from Happy Maki. Tickets are £167 for the long weekend, which is 15 to 18 August. weouttherefestival.com WE OUT HERE FESTIVAL
CAMBRIDGE SOUL FESTIVAL 8 NOV, JUNCTION, £19.50 Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Joe Staxx and more perform at the Cambridge Soul Festival.
BRIGHTER DAYS 30 NOV JUNCTION, £17 Snap up your ticket now for the Brighter Days end of year party: a glittery extravaganza.
Bands, DJs, craft beer, street food and Pimm’s combine for the day-long Junkyard Festival at Cambridge Junction on 3 August. Organised by the Junction’s apprentices, the event brings together acts including Gengahr, who’ve previously visited Cambridge Junction in support slots for Jungle and Dry the River, and Chappaqua Wrestling, aka Charlie Woods and Jake Mac, who make “sweet-Americana music with an electronic swooning twist”. There’s also fuzzy shoegaze with Lemondaze, mellow acoustic jams from Butterfly and indie fun with Staycations. Tickets are £13 and the event runs from 4pm until late. junction.co.uk JUNKYARD FESTIVAL
CARAVAN PALACE 25 JAN, CORN EX, £28 Caravan Palace bring their electro-swing sounds to Cambridge – expect a high-energy, raucous show.
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Star of Spandau Ballet, EastEnders and The Krays , Martin Kemp turns DJ on 30 August, when he spins his favourite 80s classics at The Junction. His Back to the 80s Party is a chance to dust off your dancing shoes, turn back the clock and move to the floor-fillers. junction.co.uk MARTIN KEMP’S 80S PARTY
JORDAN WORLAND FROM LOCAL MUSIC WEBSITE SLATE THE DISCO GIVES HIS TOP LIVE MUSIC PICKS FOR THE MONTH AHEAD Gig Guide
ith her record, Beware of the Dogs , hailed as one of the best debut releases of the year, Stella Donnelly has forged her way to the forefront of the new guard of songwriters
emerging from Australia. Donnelly’s offbeat guitar-pop burrows down into some hefty subjects, from female empowerment to abuse. You’ll catch traces of Billy Bragg, Japanese Breakfast and Angel Olsen but Donnelly’s warm brand of feminist folk is very much her own. Defiant, funny and unsettling, her show at the Portland Arms on the 21st is our must see gig this month. August at The Portland starts with a headline show from Norwich-based indie/emo quintet Marigolds. With one foot planted firmly in the indie world of layered guitars and complex, intertwined melodies, the band marries an edge of emo and shoegaze influences into their hazy sound led by Lydia White’s gorgeous vocals. Marigolds are complemented by Bury St Edmunds-based teenage psychedelic-groove four-piece KYANOS and Cambridge indie starlets Deep City. The brilliant gloomy, abrasive shoegaze sounds of Slow Crush can also be heard at The Portland this month (29th). The annual Junkyard event returns this month and is again produced solely by the apprentices at the Cambridge Junction. This year’s event (scheduled for the 3rd) features a mixture of great emerging local talent with eclectic acts from beyond the city’s boundaries. This year’s headliners are Gengahr, a four-piece who produce shimmering pop with swirling lo-fi production. The night also features Chappaqua Wrestling, a duo who create swoony electronica crossed with sweet Americana, coloured with influences like Steely Dan, The Beach Boys and Teenage Fanclub. Mallory Knox will take over the Cambridge Junction on the (16th) for a special album release show. The band’s new self-titled album, their fourth
Belgian shoegaze band Slow Crush are being hailed as the best thing since My Bloody Valentine in the early 90s. They play the genre in its heaviest, most bone-shaking form. Catch them at the Portland Arms on 29 August. theportlandarms.co.uk SLOW CRUSH
in total, is released on the same day so the show gives a first live look at the record in real detail. The new album comes after a tumultuous time for the band; this will be the rockers’ first album release since the departure of original vocalist, Mikey Chapman.
The Undertones – Northern Ireland’s finest when it comes to punk, post-punk and even early 80s indie-pop – racked up memorable hits, including My Perfect Cousin , Jimmy Jimmy and Teenage Kicks . Catch them at The Junction on 31 August. Tickets are £25. junction.co.uk THE UNDERTONES
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