Sunday 14 June 2026, 2.00 – 3.00pm
The Minories, 74 High Street, Colchester, CO1 1UE

Join in this hilarious interactive event with multi-award-winning author Kes Gray as he talks about the evolution of his Oi! picture book  series, from Oi Frog! to Oi Dinosaurs! Guaranteed to get everyone giggling.

Kes Gray was born and grew up in Chelmsford in the 1960s and ‘70s. He has published over 100 books, including the popular Oi Frog! and The Trouble with Daisy series. Well-loved by young families for their humour and creativity, his books are largely inspired by his memories of growing up in Chelmsford and feature regular references to places and people across the district.

For ages 3+. All those aged under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Tickets: £6
Box Office: eventbrite.co.uk

Part of Midsummer Madness Family Fun – A day of other worldly storytelling and creative mayhem in the enchanted setting of The Minories, Colchester’s oldest art gallery and garden. Our Midsummer Madness Family Day is the perfect place to get crafty and messy with our delectable range of free hands-on drop-in workshops, and much, much more.

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Sunday 14 June 2026
The Minories
74 High Street, Colchester, CO1 1UE

A day of other worldly storytelling and creative mayhem in the enchanted setting of The Minories, Colchester’s oldest art gallery and garden. Our Midsummer Madness Family Day is the perfect place to get crafty and messy with our delectable range of free hands-on drop-in workshops, and more.

Free, drop-in, no booking required – so come along and see us, all ages welcome!

Ticketed Events

11.00am – 12.00pm
The Enchanted Cinema presents Where the Wild Rumpus Is

An interactive, enchanted cinema experience for wild things of all ages.

The wild rumpus begins! Hands, voices, and instruments from around the world create a live soundtrack as forests rustle, monsters roar, and oceans swell. Featuring live narration of Sendak’s book and led by professional musician Kieron Chissik on electric viola and keyboard, this screen-free, immersive experience invites children and grown-ups to become the orchestra for a cinematic book. For ages 5+. All those aged under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Tickets: £6 per person
Box Office: eventbrite.co.uk

12.30pm – 1.30pm
❄️  Behind the Scenes of Snowy Joy & The Toysavers ❄️

2.00pm – 3.00pm
Kes Gray – From Oi Frog! to Oi Dinosaurs!

Photo of Kes Gray © Paul Starr

Join in this hilarious interactive event with multi-award-winning author Kes Gray as he talks about the evolution of his Oi! picture book  series, from Oi Frog! to Oi Dinosaurs! Guaranteed to get everyone giggling. For ages 3+. All those aged under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Tickets: £6
Box Office: eventbrite.co.uk

Drop-in Activities

12.00pm – 3.00pm
The Young Ones Eco-Workshops and Storytelling

Wise Ram workshop credit Lorna Powell

Get crafty and messy with our free, hands-on, drop-in workshops taking place in the enchanted garden at The Minories.

Use materials gathered from the Essex coast to create your very own Beached-Up Sea Monster.

Write a Letter to the Future which will become part of a county-wide children’s zine.

The Vanishing Lake with Wise Ram Theatre – Wise Ram Theatre will be running a free, family friendly drop-in activity at our Midsummer Madness day at The Minories. All are welcome for fun creative activities, from drawing characters, doing crafts and playing games. By taking part you will help create a new fantasy adventure show called ‘The Vanishing Lake’.

Wise Ram Theatre is a theatre company based in Harwich making theatre with humour, heart and nerve. In 2025 they delivered a Eco-Theatre workshop for Manifesto4Essex in Colchester and family workshops at Essex Green Weekend. Read more on their website wiseramtheatre.co.uk or follow on social media @wiseramtheatre.

Essex Libraries will be joining us for some super storytelling. Watch out for a strange creature in the garden with terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in terrible jaws; knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of a nose…

All ages welcome.

Tickets: Free, drop-in, no booking required
All taking place in The Minories Garden

12.00pm
Marvellous Music

Tickets: Free, drop-in, no booking required
Taking place in The Minories Garden

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30% discount code available below.

Friday 10 October 2025
7pm (doors at 6.30pm)
The Minors, 74 High Street, Colchester, CO1 1UE

Tickets: £15 general / £10 friends of the Minories
Book now: theminories.org/event/a-musical-iliad

Award-winning storyteller Clare Goodall and historical musician Lizzie Gutteridge combine forces to bring you an epic tale of love, tragedy and loss in an energetic and punchy adaptation, where the characters come to life even if that life then ends brutally in bloodshed.

This is the epic that everyone has heard of but few have read. Our adaptation brings it to life, showing why it’s been so well known for 3,000 years, and how it deals with issues that are still relevant today…

“A unique, powerful and compelling piece of time travel.”
“It was breathtaking and awesome!”

Use this special discount code for 30% off: ILIAD30

The post An epic tale of love, tragedy and loss – A Musical Iliad at The Minories appeared first on Essex Book Festival.

To inaugurate the series of art-themed talks, James Birch, the curator, gallerist and art impresario with many ties to East Anglia, will introduce his newest book, Gilbert & George and the Communists.

The book memorialises James’ experience of mounting major art exhibitions in Moscow and China for the irreverent and iconic art duo, Gilbert & George, after the great success of bringing Francis Bacon to Russia in 1988.

It’s a multi-faceted romp through the art world and politics of the late 80s and early 90s that James will bring to life when he joins us on stage at The Minories.

Find out more and book tickets at eafestival.com.

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24 February 2026, 7pm
The Minories, Colchester

If rags are the shreds of culture inhabited by the unfortunate, are ruins the shells of their oppressors’ power? Ancient prophets observed that all garments, whether imperial purple or hermit brown, are torn to shreds by the ages; every hut or castle becomes fluid as sand in time. What of we who are alive now, clinging to our holdfasts, menaced by waves of weaponised information?

— Damian Le Bas

In art and words, mother and son, artist and writer, Delaine Le Bas and Damian Le Bas (jr) come together to reflect on shared themes that run through their work across visual art, writing, and lived experience. Drawing on Romani history and culture, as well as broader questions of power, marginalisation, survival, and memory, they will discuss how materials, stories, and landscapes carry the traces of human conflict and endurance.

This event, which forms part of a series of art-themed events, a partnership between EA Festival, Essex Book Festival and The Minories, is a rare opportunity to hear two internationally acclaimed artists in dialogue, reflecting on inheritance, identity, and the role of art and language in navigating a world shaped by history, violence, and renewal. Expect a thought-provoking evening that moves between the personal and the universal, rooted in deep cultural knowledge.

About Delaine Le Bas

Delaine Le Bas is a British artist whose work spans textile, collage, assemblage, installation, and performance. Of Romani heritage, her practice explores Romani history, language, and lived experience, addressing themes of displacement, survival, memory, and cultural resilience. Using found fabrics, clothing, photographs, and hand-worked materials, her work is marked by layering and accretion, reflecting both nomadic traditions and the fragility of inherited histories. Her work has been shown widely in the UK and internationally, including participation in the Prague Biennale (2005 and 2007) and the first Roma Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007. She was shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize in 2024, with her installation shown at Tate Britain as part of the prize exhibition. Le Bas’ practice challenges stereotypical representations of Romani identity, asserting its complexity, modernity, and political urgency.

About Damian Le Bas

Damian Le Bas (jr) is a writer and artist. His first book, The Stopping Places, A Journey Through Gypsy Britain, won the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award in 2019 amongst other literary awards. His visual art has been shown internationally, and his poetry and essays are widely published. His second book, The Drowned Places, was released in 2025 and nominated for the Maritime Foundation Best Book Award. Damian read Theology at Oxford University and is a native speaker of the Romani language. He grew up in Sussex, where he lives with his partner and their two daughters, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

damianlebas.com/

Photo of Delaine Le Bas by Egbert Trogemann at Maxim Gorki Theatre, 2025

Photo of Damian Le Bas by Tara Darby

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