All the fun of the festival

4:09pm Wednesday 2nd July 2008

FOR one week Leytonstone becomes a heady mixture of activity, colour, energy and fun and true to Leytonstone Festival's community spirit - lots of the events are free Now in its fifteenth year, Leytonstone Festival 2008 will be bigger and better than ever with a series of events lined up featuring local talent as well as guest celebrity appearances.

The mix of performances from nationally known stars to a whole host of local people means there's something for everyone to enjoy.

From the opening ceremony on Saturday July 5 with Harry Cohen MP to the end of Festival Party on Sunday July 13 - you'll be on a rollercoaster of events.

For some non-stop' comedy with one of the most distinctive and talented comedians on the comedy circuit get down to the Heathcote Arms where the Leytonstone Comedy Club presents Trevor Lock and friends (Saturday July 5 at 8pm entrance £7 concessions £5).

In Association with Newham Bookshop, Sathnam Sanghera, author of If you don't know me by now' a memoir of love, secrets and lies in Wolverhampton - will be in conversation with fellow author Jacqueline Walker, author of Pilgrim State' at Leytonstone Library (Sunday July 6 at 6.30pm entrance £3).

For lovers of avant-garde music, the Cornelius Cardew night is a must. Cardew lived in Leyton until his death from a hit and run accident in 1891.

A political radical, his music reflects a series of turbulent changes of direction from conventionally scored works through to the outer fringes of musical experimentation. (O'Neills Monday July 7 at 8pm entrance £3) Celebrating one of Leytonstone's most famous sons - don't miss the launch of the Leytonstone Film Club with a showing of Alfred Hitchcock's silent film The Lodger' accompanied by musical improvisation from the Argentine composer, Fabricio Brachetta (Leytonstone Library Tuesday July 8 at 7.30pm entrance £3 Uncle Rabbit and Ambit Poetry and prose' takes place on Thursday July 10 - an evening of improvised music from Uncle Rabbit' and poetry from quarterly magazine Ambit' (Heathcote Arms Thursday July 10 at 8pm entrance £3) Hot foot it down to the Loaded Dog for the Legendary tap dancer Will Gaines. Cool jazz, hot tap from the dancing maestro! (Loaded Dog 8.30pm entrance free) And be sure to make a date with Four Poofs and a Piano'. The Jonathan Ross regulars make a triumphant return to the Festival on Friday July 11 7.30pm at the Heathcote Arms.

Toned, tanned and tuneful they promise an evening of song and dance that could be a bit naughty and will definitely be rather saucy.

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