Midsummer Music on Saturday

Eddisbury MP Stephen O'Brien, will be opening Audlem's Midsummer Music On the Park as one of the VIP guests helping Audlem celebrate the 10th anniversary of the vibrant village's famous picnic in the park this summer.

Stephen is a vocal spokesman in support of rural communities and was particularly active in helping Audlem village in the successful conclusion to the 40-year campaign to de-prime the A525 through the village last year.

Mr O'Brien said: "I'm delighted to be able to join Audlem and the Audlem Special Events Team (ASET) to celebrate this tremendous milestone. I never cease to be impressed with the amount of energy and enthusiasm of the organisers and the villagers of Audlem – there's just so much going on in that small village at the crossroads of the three counties of Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire."

ASETASET began in 1999 with the purpose of putting on a bonfire night to replace the show previously held in Hankelow. The success of this night gave the team the idea of organising additional events in and for the village – supplementing all that was being done by the existing organizations in the village.

Leaning on Paddy Kenshole's experiences with The Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit, the team attempted to get the Albert Hall Proms concert relayed on a giant screen here in Audlem. Because of contracting complexities, the BBC was not able to support the idea and so the Audlem Proms was born in 2000.

At that time ASET were six in number: Paddy Kenshole, Andrew Smith, Ken Jones, Ralph Warburton, Len Ford and Mike Hill. The first event starred the Cheshire Youth Orchestra with the Brookes Farm Recorder Group from Hankelow and the Vale Royal singers.

Building on this base of performers, the team brought to bear all the skills they had from their diverse business worlds to organize the concert. The run up to the event was a nervous few months since, as a voluntary group, if the ticket sales had failed to meet the costs, then the team would have to bear the loss personally. It was not until two weeks before the actual concert that the volunteers were able to tear up their blank cheques.

A lot of lessons were learnt that year, but the success of the day – and the night – was reward enough for the team and it spurred them on to organise future events.

Outdoor music on the parkAfter eight successful Proms events, the ASET team decided to offer a different type of music and, last year, The WestEnders brought their fantastic reportoir of West End musical classics to the stage in Audlem.

Ever since its beginnings in 2000, the outdoor music event and picnic in the park has been the showpiece of the village's varied events calendar, much anticipated by all and this year's line-up is sure to have the audience on their feet.

Now, 10 years on, the ASET team has expanded to 9 and the various events now number 4 – The Festival of Transport; Bonfire & Fireworks night as well as Midsummer Music (replacing the Proms in 2009) and helping Santa collect for charity at Christmas.

Two of the original team remain: Andrew Smith, and Ken Jones but without the hard work and dedication of all team members past and present, these many events would not take place and Audlem perhaps would not be the vibrant village that it is today.

StarsThis year ASET has arranged an extra special line-up of stars with music to suit the whole family and all tastes. This year, the village of Audlem will play host to stars from London's West End and the UK's greatest swing and jazz band.

King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys will get the audience swinging. The band have been on the road for two decades playing every European country as well as the USA and Russia and recording ten CDs.

Dazzling musicianship, riveting stage performances, more than 50 TV appearances and 75 radio broadcasts have established them as the Kings of Swing. Atomic Magazine from New York wrote "To those who say that swing is a musical form best left to Americans, prepare to be proven wrong. This British combo is bullet-proof!"

Direct from London, The WestEnders – led by Musical Director, Jae Alexander, six highly acclaimed performers, bring the best of London's West End to Audlem. With songs from everyone's favourite shows, including: Evita,West Side Story, Les Miserables, Lion King, Mama Mia, Beauty & The Beast, Miss Saigon and many more, the WestEnders are sure to entertain.

FireworksThe evening will round off with a spectacular fireworks display from Blitz Fireworks of Crewe.

EPG Fire and Security is the main event sponsor for the 4th consecutive year. Fletcher Strickland, Managing Director of EPG said "the event is the highlight of the Audlem calendar. As a local business it's important that we support these events and Midsummer Music is a fantastic family evening's entertainment. We are delighted to support ASET and the event once again".

The concert begins at 6pm on 17th July on Audlem village playing fields.

TicketsTickets can be purchased on-line at www.audlem-aset.org or from Audlem Post Office, in Nantwich at the Tourist Information Office, Inglenook Fine Arts, Hallmark or at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Green End Pharmacy, Whitchurch the Tourist Information Centre, Market Drayton, Fryers Newsagents of Alsager, Newcastle-U-Lyme Tourist Information Office, Classic Stone, Dagfields or by calling the ticket hotline on 01270 811211.

More information is also available on the ASET web site at www.audlem-aset.org – click on the link below the photo.

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