Entertainment
The performing arts scene is at its best during term time, with numerous student drama productions, classical concerts and gigs culminating in the traditional orgy of excess following the exam season, though the more firmly town-based venues, such as the Corn Exchange, do put on events throughout the year. Apart from the places highlighted below, each college and several churches contribute to the performing arts scene too, with the King's College choir being, of course, the most famous attraction, though the choral scholars who perform at the chapels of St John's and Trinity are also exceptionally good. For all upcoming events, check the listings section of Adhoc's What's On ? ( ), a free weekly magazine that is widely available in downtown bookshops and newsagents as well as from the tourist office. For advance tickets for most events, pop into the Corn Exchange. June and July are the busiest times in Cambridge's calendar of events . The fortnight of post-exam celebrations, which take place in the first two weeks of June - and are confusingly known as May Week - herald the ball and garden-party season, and include boat races, known as the "May Bumps", on the Cam by Midsummer Common. The vaguely hippified Midsummer Fair , descendant of the town's famous medieval Stourbridge Fair, discontinued in 1934, takes place in mid-June on Midsummer Common, with bands, theatre and much more besides - all for free. By contrast, you'll have to pay out around GBP50 for a tent pitch and entry into the three-day Cambridge Folk Festival , held annually at the end of July at Cherry Hinton, and attracting a wide variety of loosely folk-based acts. Arts Picture House 38-39 St Andrew's St tel 01223/504444. Art house cinema with an excellent, wide-ranging programme. Boat Race 170 East Rd tel 01223/508533. Lively pub venue for all kinds of music, with gigs every night. Cambridge Arts Theatre 6 St Edward's Passage, off King's Parade tel 01223/503333. The city's main repertory theatre, founded by John Maynard Keynes, and launching pad of a thousand-and-one famous careers, from Derek Jacobi to Stephen Fry, offers a top-notch range of cutting-edge and classic productions. Cambridge Corn Exchange Wheeler St tel 01223/357851. Revamped nineteenth-century trading hall, now the main city-centre venue for opera, ballet, musicals and comedy as well as regular rock and folk gigs. Cambridge Modern Jazz Club at Sophbeck Sessions, 14 Tredgold Lane, Napier St tel 01223/722811. Attracts top-ranking artists from around the world. East of the city centre, near the Grafton Centre shopping mall, off Newmarket Road. Junction Clifton Rd tel 01223/511511. Rock, Indie, jazz, reggae or soul gigs, plus occasional comedy acts and dance groups at this popular arts and entertainments venue.
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