Thu 22/5/08	Newbury Spring Festival (inc workshop on day), Newbury		01635 522733
Thu 12/6/08	St Andrew's Church, Billingborough, Lincs. 7.30 pm		01780 480846
Wed 25/6/08	Warwick International Festival, Warwick
Dec 1/12/08	1-22 Dec or so. We will be touring with Maddy Prior again this December, at venues in England & Wales.		Details to follow.

CARNIVAL BAND TEAMS UP WITH YOUTH CHOIR FOR NEW CD
’Choral History’ is the latest CD from the Carnival Band. Five ’radio ballads’ commemorate the life of Ralph Vaughan Williams and the rich heritage of traditional English song. The project is a collaboration between writer David Calcutt who created the script with children from primary schools in the Kidderminster area, Wyre Forest Young Voices Chorale (an inspiring group 9 - 18 year-olds) and the Carnival Band. The stories and songs are skilfully woven together by producer Peter Leslie Wild as radio ballads, a form pioneered by Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker in the 1950s and 60s. For anyone passionate about the transmission of traditional music from one generation to another, this album is a must!

WEEKEND WORKSHOPS
A spinoff from the Paradise Found album has been the piloting of workshops for singers and instrumentalists. The first one was held in Sketty Methodist Church in October and the second in Worcester in January. There is obviously a demand, and feedback from the first pilots was very positive so we plan to organise some more.  If you are connected with a venue that might be interested in hosting a workshop - church premises and village halls for example - do get in touch.

NEW CDs
2007 was a busy year in the studio for Maddy and The Carnival Band.  First off the press was Paradise Found a celebration of the 300th anniversary of Charles Wesley and a follow up to our earlier album Sing Lustily and with Good Courage.  The words and tunes have a vitality that makes them great fun to sing and play and there are thousands of them!  I reckon we’ve chosen fifteen of the best.  If you’re looking for something to cheer your spirits on a dark wet spring day then I thoroughly recommend this album.

Even more recent - in is our latest Christmas album with Maddy, Ringing the Changes.  For many years we’ve played traditional carols and Christmas music from earlier centuries and we still enjoy them. But on our 2005 Carols and Capers tour we included a handful of original songs, all of which appear here. The remaining songs for this album were written in 2007. Musical influences range from medieval to chachacha!  Well, it is the Carnival Band!

All our albums are available from www.parkrecords.com and from this website.

Wed 2/4/08	Thatcham and Newbury schools workshops - part of the Newbury Spring Festival,
Fri 23/5/08	Corsham Primary School, Corsham, Wiltshire
Sat 27/9/08	Christmas music taster day (10.30am - 5.30pm), Bromyard Road Methodist Church, Worcester
Sun 19/10/08	Brighton Early Music Festival, Brighton