Prepare for a deluge of entertainment in 2016

Roots 66 features established artists like Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies, Chris While and Julie Matthews, Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys, The Mighty Doonans, Ewan McLennan, Pete Morton, Bram Taylor and The Hut People.

Add to this emerging talent, artist showcases, workshops, masterclasses and informal acoustic sets.

The festival runs from February 5-7 and is being put together by Theatre by the Lake and Cumbrian music label Fellside Recordings, with support from Ireby Festival.

Fellside will celebrate 40 years of recording the best of UK folk music with two afternoon showcases, while organisers of the Ireby Festival bring three stunning young musicians, Kelly Oliver, Lucy Ward and Weikie.

The Rockmantic Valentine Weekender , held at The Brickyard, Carlisle, is in its fourth year and boasts 16 of the best live bands on the club circuit over two days, February 12-13.

Headlined by Swedish rock band Confess, the line-up includes Heartbreak Remedy, SKAM#, Knock Out Kaine, Staring Out The Sun, New Generation Superstars, Thirteen Stars, The Senton Bombs and Black Nevada.

Askham Hall has revealed details of another new music festival, featuring renowned Israeli pianist Noam Greenberg and French chamber music ensemble The Ardeo Quartet. 

A series of classical music events will take place at Askham Church from February 26–28 as part of the debut Askham Hall Music Festival Weekend. Soloist, recitalist and chamber musician Noam Greenberg will be headlining. He has appeared on stages across Europe and studied with the late Mario Curcio, one of the most influential piano teachers of the 20th century.

Also taking to the stage will be the Ardeo Quartet, one of the most highly praised French chamber music ensembles, who have won numerous international prizes.

Ireby Festival itself runs this year from May 27-28, over the spring bank holiday weekend. Now in its 14th year, it will again boast a wealth of folk music, workshops and sessions happens at various venues including St James Church, The Globe Hall, The Lion Pub, and the 600-capacity heated marquee at Ellenside.

The first acts confirmed include Kate Rusby, Coco and the Butterfields, Luke Jackson Trio, The Jar Family, The Swing Commanders, The Changing Room, Talisk, The BeauBowBelles and Wes Finch.

Stepping Stones Festival (June 10-12 at Kirklinton Hall) sees Maddy Prior and co return to the ruins in the remote Borders with a line-up of Steeleye Span, Show Of Hands, Everything Everything, The Baghdaddies, Jig Doll, Moulettes, Maddy Prior herself, Hannah James and Giles Lewin, Red Ruff, Hefted and more.

Music On The Marr (July 21-24 in Castle Carrock) has already confirmed Fara, Ray Laidlaw & Billy Mitchell, Calan, Artisan, and Dan Walsh.

Kendal Calling The big one, Kendal Calling, at Lowther Deer Park, Hackthorpe, near Penrith, runs from July 28-31.

It's the 11th year for the award-winning independent festival, and though the line-up has not yet been announced, there is again likely to be 11 stages.

Maryport Blues Festival has not yet revealed its line-up but has confirmed it will return on July 29-31 with the Main Stage again on Marine Road, the Outdoor Stage by Elizabeth Dock, and The Trail taking in The Navy Club, Captain Nelson, The Sailors Return, The Golden Lion, The Labour Club, Butchers Arms, Netherhall Rugby Union Club, Her Citi and the Thomas Henry.

Solfest returns to Tarnside Farm, near Aspatria, from August 26-28. It returned last year after a break with a return to its roots of being a non-commercial music and arts festival with a warm atmosphere.

No news has been released yet on whether Northbound and Carlisle Music City will return this year.

Ben Miller Literary festival  Words by the Water takes place again at Theatre by the Lake, this year from March 4-13. For those 10 days writers and readers will get together to share the pleasure of books, words and ideas.

This year's impressive list of star names includes Joan Bakewell, Robin Ince, Melvyn Bragg, Isy Suttie, Princess Michael of Kent, Janet Ellis, A.A. Gill, Alice Roberts, Richard Dawkins, Ben Miller and James Naughtie.

Kay Dunbar, director of Words by the Water, says: "This year includes an informative, entertaining mix of talks about all manner of topics and from a range of exceptional speakers. What’s wonderful about these talks is that they are live – there’s no retakes or going back to fix things. You get to see how the speakers react in real life."

Keswick's 17th annual film festival starts on February 25, offering the chance to experience about 30 of the best UK independent and international films over four days.

Special events include a Film Hub event, a showcase of the very best films from all the festivals, a biopic on Nina Simone and a critically acclaimed Iranian thriller. 

MUSIC:  Carlisle Folk & Blues Club hope to be up and running again in the spring, their new home at Carlisle's Old Fire Station being a victim of the floods.

They've got West Australian acoustic blues, country and folk singer/songwriter Caddy Cooper booked for April 29, and among other dates on the horizon are Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies on May 13, Jordie Lane on June 10, Boo Hewerdine on September 2 and Kristina Olsen on November 11.

There's another Old Fire Station, of course - in Penrith where Eden Arts are based. On February 14 it will stage A Valentines Day Massacre Love In – music and spoken word and fun and games featuring performance artist and singer Lady Layton and Les Malheureux, two writers – Cumbrian David Gaffney and Sarah-Clare Conlon – who combine short-short story-telling with original music and visual presentations.

On March 5 the venue hosts Joan Shelley and Simon Sylvester , music all the way from the USA and spoken word all the way from Kendal.

The Brickyard in Carlisle has another programme of top tributes to look forward to, these bands so good that they've become pretty big in their own right.

Limehouse Lizzy keep the spirit of Philip Lynott and Thin Lizzy alive on January 16, followed by  The Smyths on their The Queen Is Dead Tour on February 20.

Tragedy: The All Metal Tribute To The Bee Gees And Beyond return on March 4, a day before Deep Purple tribute Perfect Strangers rock the joint. 

The Springsteen Sessions follow on April 1 with Genesish paying homage to supergroup Genesis on May 14.

The 'yard retains its love of rock and metal as well, putting on the UK Throwdown Tour on February 26, featuring Press To Meco, Max Raptor and Allusondrugs, then  Reign Of Fury, Die No More, Triverse Massacre and Damaj on April 16. not forgetting Rockmantic, of course.

At the Kirkgate, Cockermouth, on January 22, former metal and rock guitarist  Jamie Brewer will show off his intricate finger picking on self-written pieces, supported by local singer-songwriter Laura Bailey. On February 12 take a journey into the wacky world of Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry scores, 1930s cartoon jazz and kitsch Ren and Stimpy and Spongebob Squarepants music. 

Then on March 19, celebrating 25 years on the road, the first all-female folk band The Poozies are back with their cross of folk, pop, soul, country, Gaelic and whatever they fancy next. 

Jason Donovan Major names will always be found at The Sands Centre in Carlisle, and there are two that are being particuarly looked forward to.

Aussie heart-throb, singer, actor and reality TV star Jason Donovan plays The Sands on March 5, his first solo tour in six years. He is returning to his roots for a solo tour of his debut, five-times platinum 1989 album Ten Good Reasons, as well as all his greatest hits.

And on March 9, they're back again, but it seems Carlisle folk can't get enough of them - Britain's Got Talent champions Collabro , with the city's own Matthew Pagan, of course.

This Saturday at The Sands,  Lee Memphis King , Europe’s most successful Elvis Presley tribute artist, presents One Night of Elvis, accompanied by an orchestra, backing singers and large screen projection. 

The Bootleg Beatles return on March 20, always a favourite as they faithfully, down to the finest detail, recreate and relive the sights and sounds of the Sixties as the premier Beatles tribute band.

The first major musical of the year dances in from March 21-26 with Footloose , based on the 1980s screen sensation, and a star cast including Gareth Gates and Maureen Nolan.

But the biggest musical The Sands Centre has ever booked is coming in October. Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage has become a worldwide phenomenon, with productions staged from Australia to South Africa, Hong Kong to most of Europe, breaking box office records everywhere.

The UK tour comes to Carlisle from October 24-29 with Jessie Hart starring as Baby Houseman and Lewis Kirk taking on the Patrick Swayze role as Johnny Castle.

Opera arrives on February 27 with Puccini's Madam Butterfly and on April 1, Nathan Carter , one of the biggest names on the Irish music scene, visits The Sands Centre, followed the night after by Lulu , who still has plenty to shout about it seems, performing hits from her 50-year career.

Russell Watson arrives on May 7, the UK's best-selling classical crossover artist of all time returning with new show Songs From The Heart, the night before Jodie Prenger follows her acclaimed performance in Calamity Jane with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black's classic musical, Tell Me On A Sunday.

The Sands Centre's latest international orchestral concert series begins on February 19, with the Hallé replacing the Polish National Radio Symphony, who had to pull out due to the cancellation of their 2016 touring grant.

The BBC Philharmonic also returns to Carlisle, on March 19, with the distinguished French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier and the talented cellist Leonard Elschenbroich. The final concert of the series, on May 21, features the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra , conducted by Pavel Kogan and joined by the legendary British pianist John Lill.

COMEDY:  The big names continue to come to Cumbria, with some visiting for the umpteenth time and still packing out our venues.

Roy 'Chubby' Brown revisits on January 15 with his sometimes controversial brand of humour. He plays Workington's Carnegie Theatre again on August 12-13, after recording his Christmas DVD there last year.

Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness heads back to The Sands Centre, Carlisle on February 7 for the second of two performances there (the first was in November) with his new show Daddy McGuinness. He’ll be followed by the thinking man's comic, Mock the Week regular Ed Byrne on February 12.

Frankie Boyle Frankie Boyle , never one to skirt round an issue, once said he'd never do stand up again, but thankfully he's back on the circuit and visits The Sands Centre with his new show Hurt Like You’ve Never Been Loved, on March 10.

Live At The Apollo and Celebrity Juice regular Chris Ramsey has extended his All Growed Up tour and hopes to perform it at The Old Fire Station, Carlisle on March 26. There will be an announcement soon on whether the venue will be open by then.

He does play The Market Hall in Egremont, however, on April 15, as part of its Rosehill on the Road programme.

Ken Dodd is a living legend, of course, and at 88 years of age he'll be putting in his usual four-hours-plus at The Sands on April 23. 

Romesh Ranganathan Romesh Ranganathan , to the other extreme, is a hugely rising star, and plays the Old Fire Station, Carlisle on May 20, the day after he appears at The Carnegie in Workington.

Sarah Millican is back on August 26, venturing outside for her comedy material but staying indoors to make 'em chuckle at The Sands Centre.

Ross Noble also returns to the venue, on September 29, his latest show Brain Dump likely to be as random and hilarious as all his other sell-out tours.

Jimmy Carr has gathered a selection of his best jokes along with brand new material for a new show visiting The Sands on November 4. Carr, while a star of TV shows like 8 out of 10 Cats, has been on the stand-up scene for a decade and a half, playing nearly 2,000 shows to more than two million people.

THEATRE:  Theatre by the Lake in Keswick will stage nine plays in 2016, including the world première of a stage adaptation of The Shepherd’s Life, James Rebanks’ best-selling account of his life as a Cumbrian sheep farmer.

The year begins with overlapping new productions in the Main House and Studio. Theatre by the Lake regular Peter Macqueen takes to the Studio stage in The Professor of Adventure (March 19-April 5), his one-man play based on the life of Millican Dalton, who fled life in the City to pursue freedom in the Lake District and lived in a cave on Castle Crag in Borrowdale.

After its run in Keswick, The Professor of Adventure will tour to venues across Cumbria. The Shepherd’s Life opens on March 26 and runs until April 23. 

Iron by Rona Munro The Summer Season runs with a resident company of 14 actors from May 28 to November 5. The three Main House plays are Watch It, Sailor!, Dial M for Murder and The Rivals, and the three Studio plays are The Vertical Hour, Sophokles’ Elektra and Iron.

The Christmas 2016 production will be The Emperor and the Nightingale.

Cockermouth Amateur Dramatic Society present Dick Whittington at the Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth on January 30 and February 5-6, and Stanwix Theatre, Carlisle, has revealed details of its own amateur season.

The Canterbury Tales, The Revengers Tragedy and The Winter's Tale all run from February 11-13, while a new and original devised play by director Benjamin Samuels and the BA Hons Performing Arts students will run from February 25-27, alongside The Resistible Rise of Arturo Uia. 

The Artist runs from March 9-12, London Road from March 10-12, Shakespeare's Hamlet from May 5-7, alongside Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew.

Rent is teamed up with The Mystery of Edwin Drood from May 19-21 with musical Pippin closing the season from June 2-4.

At The Sands Centre, timeless story  The Wizard Of Oz is the Easter pantomime on April 10, while the traditional Christmas show runs from December 12-31, this year's choice being Jack & The Beanstalk.

CINEMA:  Forget for a minute the hundreds of films that will be released and shown at local cinemas this year, more and more the screens are being used for live performances of major productions we in Cumbria cannot often get to, be it for cost or distance reasons, or because the shows have sold out.

Rheged, near Penrith, boasts a huge screen which is ideal to show these productions, often from the West End, and there is another impressive programme lined up for the coming months.

The Taming of the Shrew, live From The Bolshoi Ballet shows on January 24, followed by Rhapsody/ Two Pigeons, live From The Royal Ballet (Jan 26), La Traviata, live From The Royal Opera House (Feb 4 and Feb 7), As You Like It, live from the National Theatre (Feb 25), The Magic Flute, live from the English National Opera (March 9) and Spartacus, live From The Bolshoi Ballet (March 13).

The comes Boris Godunov, live From The Royal Opera House (March 21), Giselle, live From The Royal Ballet (April 6), Don Quixote, live From The Bolshoi Ballet (April 10), Lucia Di Lammermoor, live From The Royal Opera House (April 25), Frankenstein, live From The Royal Ballet (May 18) and Werther, live From The Royal Opera House (June 27).

TALKS:  A fascinating night is in store when Gazza reveals all on March 12 at The Sands Centre in  An Evening With Paul Gascoigne . The former England footballer, who has never been out of the news as his personal life took over the headlines, will be talking about his career and eventful life. There will also be live entertainment with comedian and host Lester Crabtree plus a special guest appearance from Britain's Got Talent finalist Danny Posthill.

Suggs Madness frontman Suggs has played Carlisle, most recently at the city's racecourse, but on April 24 he brings to The Sands Centre  Suggs: My Life Story . 

The death of his cat on his 50th birthday triggers a personal quest to discover what happened to the father he never knew, in this talk / play with musical accompaniment from pianist Deano.

ART: 

C-Art, the largest visual arts programme in Cumbria, returns this year. There were 31,116 visitors to the studio trail in 2015 and studios will be open to the public again from September 10-25.

The second Cumbrian Artist of the Year Exhibition and Awards will take place at Rheged from September 9-November 13. 

LAKES FESTIVALS: 

Bowness Bay Blues returns for a fourth year from March 18-20 in venues surrounding Lake Windermere.

The festival line-up includes, on Friday - Trafficker, Tommy Allen & Emil Engstrom, Xander & the Peace Pirates; Saturday - Sean Webster & The Dead Lines, Blue Horizon, Christian Sharpe Trio, Dean Newton, Della Grants, Graham Straughton, Paul Rose Band, Redfish, Scarlett, Simon Honeyboy Hickling Band, South Quay. 

The Saturday Blues Cruise features Sean Webster and Jon Amor and on Sunday the line-up boasts Wille and the Bandits, Chris James & Martin Fletcher, Elderly Brothers, John Verity Band and Tin Pan Alley.

A new international outdoor arts festival will launch in Kendal and the Lake District as the successor to Mintfest, beginning in with a large-scale site commission at Brockhole, by international artist Geraldine Pilgrim. 

The new work will be created along with local residents to celebrate Cumbria’s contribution to aviation. 

A visual heritage trail will also link the site to Kendal where a new annual arts festival will continue on the wider theme of flight on August 26-28.