PEAK FESTIVAL 2008 - Programme of Events It's almost time for the Country Bookshop Autumn Peak Festival. Programme and ticket prices below. We start this year with laughter, music and poetry from Louis de Bernieres (Captain Corelli's Mandolin) and The Antonius Players and as laughter is good for our health we finish with our long term Festival supporter, Gervase Phinn, who is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Our first event is at 7.00pm Thursday 23rd October, with actress Carol Drinkwater, best known for her role as Helen Herriot in the BBC series 'All Creatures Great and Small' who has also achieved bestselling status with her much-loved memoirs of life on an olive farm in Provence - she will be talking about her personal journey through Mediterranean olive groves. Friday 24th October at 7pm - Louis de Bernieres and The Antonius Players return after their very successful event with us last year - if last year's event is anything to go by we guarantee that you will enjoy this one. Mandolin, of course, plus guitars, flutes and all manner of percussion instruments - that the audience is invited to help with. Then there is Louis' poetry and the friendly argumentative banter between Ilone and Louis. If you are a Friend of the Festival (see details below if you are not) then the ticket is only £10.00 and well worth it. On Saturday at 12 noon Louis de Bernieres will return to talk about his new book 'A Partisan's Daughter'. We have a full day of events on Saturday so why not come prepared for the whole day. Our Book and Gift shop will be open for Christmas shopping - we have a large selection of Christmas cards, games, jigsaws, stationery, etc. as well as the latest full price and bargain books and Country Bookshop cafe will be open from 10.00am right through to 6.30pm for refreshments, morning coffee, light lunches and afternoon tea. 3.00pm Saturday 25th October - we have theatre and television actor Ben Crystal (son of David for English language fans) who will be dishing up‘Shakespeare on Toast'. 7.00pm Saturday 25th October, Hardeep Singh will be talking about his book ‘Indian Takeaway’ - the hilarious story of BAFTA-winning broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli's attempts to cook his way round India, dishing up very British meals for the people he meets. 7.00pm Tuesday 28th October, Rachel Elnaugh (Ex 'Dragons Den' judge), will uncover the moments when she and other business personalities hit crisis point. Rachel will cover truthful account of the much-publicised crash of Red Letter Days and darkest times in business of Jeffery Archer, Donald Trump, Stelios, Karan Billamoria, etc.. Country Bookshop is presenting this event jointly with Sheffield Hallam University and it will be held at the University - refreshments included in the ticket price. 7.00pm Friday 31st October, A 'PORTUGUESE EVENING' this year. We've had the Spanish evening with Driving Over Lemon's author, Chris Stewart and Peter Kerr (From Paella to Porridge) and Indian food demonstration with Pat Chapman so this year taking us through the wine and food of Portugal will be Charles Metcalfe, a popular wine critic, and a well-known face on British television, having been part of the ITV ‘This Morning’ team for 12 years with Kathryn McWhirter from Bakewell who was drinks correspondent for the Independent on Sunday for nine years. There will be refreshments as well as wine. 3.00pm Saturday, 1st November for our serious 'Birders' and nature lovers alike we have Tim Birkhead who takes his audience on a journey that tells them about the extraordinary lives of birds - from conception and egg, through territory and song, to migration and fully fledged breeder. 6.30pm Sunday 9th November Gervase Phinn, the Festival's regular and most popular raconteur will be here to entertain you again. 6.30pm Tuesday 20th November - Paul Rose, explorer, expedition leader and Royal Geographical Society 2007 Ness Award winner 'For the popularisation of Geography and the wider understanding of our world' will be talking about his new BBC programme 'Oceans' that will start showing on TV in November. Sounds really interesting. We are still awaiting a confirmation date in November for Laurence Rees, the presenter of the forthcoming BBC programme 'World War ll: Behind Closed Doors'. If you are interested please ask for a date nearer the time. FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL This year we want to reward our bookshop and festival regulars so we would like to offer you the opportunity to become a 'Friend of the Festival' which would, as well as supporting the festival, provide you with a significant reduction in ticket prices, bookshop vouchers and invitations to special events and advance notification of events. Individual membership is just £15 which includes a £5 Countrybookshop voucher and Joint membership is £25 which includes £10 of Countrybookshop vouchers. Below is a full list of all the events confirmed for this Autumn. Please contact us if you have any questions or wish to book tickets by email or on the phone line below. You can, of course, find more information and book your tickets on-line at http://www.countrybookshop.co.uk/peakfestival/ Best wishes Geraldine Rose (Festival Director) Email: events@countrybookshop.co.uk Thurs 23rd Oct 7pm - CAROL DRINKWATER - £8/4* Fri 24th 7pm - LOUIS DE BERNIERES and the ANTONIUS PLAYERS - £12/10* Sat 25th 12 noon - LOUIS DE BERNIERES - £6/3* Sat 25th 3pm - BEN CRYSTAL - £6/4* Sat 25th 7pm - HARDEEP SINGH - £7/4* Tues 28th 7pm - RACHEL ELNAUGH - £8/4* Fri 31st 7pm - PORTUGUESE EVENING with CHARLES METCALFE and KATHRYN McWHIRTER - £9/6* Sat 1st Nov 3pm - TIM BIRKHEAD - £6/4* Sun 9th 6.30pm - GERVASE PHINN - £7/4* Tues 20th 6.30pm - PAUL ROSE - £8/4* * Friends of the Festival Price - for details see below or request further information: http://www.countrybookshop.co.uk/peakfestival/friends.phtml