Clevedon Pier celebrates its 150th birthday this year. To mark the occasion the Pier team are hosting a programme of wonderful celebratory events starting on Bank Holiday Monday 27^th May with a day of entertainment, a ticketed evening concert and a late evening firework display.

Who better to start the party than the Barnacle Buoys, who will be performing from 11.20am to 11.50am. These very talented cappella sea shanty singers are no strangers to the Pier where they have organised and performed a number of shanty events. This non-profit making group are hugely popular in the North Somerset area and have performed at many events in the South West. They so obviously love what they do and all the monies they raise go their principle charities which are the Children’s Hospice South West and the RNLI. If you’d like to know more about the Barnacle Buoys, then check out their website here:

 

Between 12.00pm and 12.30pm Amplify will take the stage. Amplify is a show choir who are based in North Somerset but have performed all over the world. They sing pop, rock, jazz and musical theatre songs in harmony with dance moves thrown in for good measure. They performed on stage as part of the Disneyland Paris 25th Anniversary Celebrations in 2016 and provided the support act for Gareth Malone’s 2018 tour. If you’d like to know more about Amplify, then check out their website here: While you’re at it, you might like to check out the local photographer Stewart McPherson who took this fabulous photo. This very creative individual has some wonderful photos on his website which you can access here:

The Road Trips are a popular covers duo based in the south – west and they will be performing from 12.45pm to 1.30pm. With Karen on vocals and Stuart playing guitar and singing backing vocals, this talented duo entertain audiences with a selection of their own material and  a wide range of classic popular songs that span the decades. Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Johnny Cash the Stereophonics, Foo Fighters, Adele……..and many more. The Road Trips proved very popular the last time they entertained us on the Pier in August 2018 and it will be great to have them back. If you’d like to know more about The Road Trips, then check out their website here:

 

Rock Choir Somerset Coast will be performing from 1.45pm to 2.30pm. Rock Choir Somerset Coast is the collective name for Rock Choir Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Burnham-on-Sea, Bridgwater & Taunton – members from all of these choirs will be coming together for this special Birthday performance! Rock Choir is the UK’s pioneering choir, the first (and biggest) to offer everyone the chance to sing! There is no audition, no experience needed and no sheet music! There are over 400 Rock Choir locations nationwide with more than more than 30,000 members who meet weekly to learn to sing together. They are always a joy to watch and listen to, they support local community events and raise money for charities all over the UK. If you’d like to know more about Rock Choir Somerset Coast, then check out their FaceBook page here and if you would like to sign up for your FREE taster session, then you can do so here: !

From 2.40pm to 3.10pm the glitz and glamour of the Mumtaz Bollywood Dance Group will take over. Mumtaz Dance Company is the first of its kind to present and teach Modern/Indian dance in the South West. They specialise in encouraging people to participate in dance; promoting Bollywood dance and fitness to a multi-cultural society; making dance and fitness accessible for all; developing and coaching individuals. They have been on the Pier before and they are lots of fun. If you’d like to know more about Mumtaz Bollywood Dance Group, then check out their website here:

 

At 3.20pm Extreme Cello will start their performance which goes on until 3.50pm. Extreme Cello was born after three cellists from Sheffield – Clare, James and Jeremy – read about, and watched on television, the sport of “Extreme Ironing”, in which contestants iron clothes in locations such as up mountains, up trees and under water. They are judged on both the extremity of the location and quality of the ironing. According to their official website, Extreme Cello aims to “take musical performances to new heights, and depths, by giving performances in many extreme locations.” As you can see from the images below, they most certainly do that!

 

Extreme Cello have already visited our lovely Pier when in 2016, over the course of 14 days, they travelled around the coast of Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight), playing on all 58 surviving piers. Everyone loved them and we can’t wait to see them back again. To date, this fabulous trio have raised over £38,000 for a variety of charities, both local and national. If you’d like to know more about Extreme Cello, then check out their website here:

The final act of the day at 4.00pm is the very talented Teresa de Roberto. Teresa is a versatile vocalist specialising in classical crossover and jazz. Having started classical singing at the age of 14, Teresa has entertained audiences with her big voice and even bigger personality around the UK, in Europe and in Africa, performing at weddings, parties, holiday resorts and many military and corporate events.

 

Notable highlights include singing at the Sensatori resorts in Egypt, Crete and Tenerife; singing with rapper ChozenOfficial combining rap and opera at venues in London and singing alongside Dame Kiri Te Kanawa on BBC1. Teresa is also no stranger to the Pier, she took part in the Pier Classical Day and wowed the audience with her fabulous voice and infectious personality. If you’d like to know more about Teresa de Roberto, then check out her website here:

There will also be a number of pop up stalls on the Pier which include The Little Craft Company, Clevedon Flower Show, Avon Wildlife Trust, Truly Scrumptious, Hawthorns, Theatre Orchard, AWARE, the RNLI, the Blood Bikes as well as a number of artisan crafters.

 

On the water itself, you’ll be able to see the Clevedon Sailing Club, – for more information about this very popular club, see here: Clevedon Pilot Gig Club – an equally popular club you  can find out about here:  and the Clevedon Swimmers that you can find out more about on their FaceBook page here:

 

I also have it from a very reliable source that there will be an Imperial presence throughout the day!

In addition to all this wonderful entertainment, there is the opportunity to see the work of the Community Archive team who have created a fabulous collection of historical documents and artefacts which will be on display in the Porthole Room for one week starting from the 27th May.

If you’d like a souvenir of your day on the Pier then you might well like to visit the Pier shop which sells many beautiful items including a new souvenir brochure. You can now buy a limited number of items on line here: but otherwsie the shop is open when the Pier is open.

The brochure ‘The First 150 Years’  has been released to mark this historic occasion. It is a  beautiful, glossy, commemorative publication with stunning imagery that will tell you all about the early beginnings of Clevedon Pier, and the pioneers behind it. It reflects on the eras that truly define the Pier story – Victorian, rock n roll, the collapse, the fight, the re-openings, a new dawn and………….the future

If you buy one of the first 2,000 copies of the brochure, you will be entered into a draw to win a stunning picture of the underside of the Pier as seen through the wonderful Porthole Room window created by acclaimed artist Claire Wright and donated by Fizz Gallery. Find out more about Fizz Gallery and Claire here: Each brochure contains a card carrying a unique number and on Saturday, 7th September one of these numbers will be drawn and published on the Pier’s website. Booklets can also be bought online here:

The cost of entrance to this very festive day is the normal cost of entrance to the Pier and as long as you can show your ticket you can go on and off the Pier as many times as you like on this particular day. You can have a look at the costs here:

In the evening, the ‘Birthday Sunset Party’ runs from 7pm until 10pm. This is a £12 per head ticketed (16+) event consisting of live music and dance from Planet Boogie. You can check out their FaceBook page here: And to end what will be a mighty day of celebration, there is a spectacular firework display courtesy of FireMagic. You can check out their website here: There are still some advance tickets for the Sunset Party  available for £10. You can buy them here:

There’s a bar at the Sunset Party and I’m sure they’ll be selling some of the new Pier Bier which has been specially produced to celebrate this year’s big 150th anniversary event. For every bottle of Pier Bier sold, 5p will go towards the maintenance of the Pier. Similarly 5p will be donated for every pint bought on draught.

I haven’t personally tried it yet but Keith Hayles, head brewer at Twisted Oak who are brewing the beer, describes it as ‘………..a deliciously drinkable, pale ale made entirely with English hops – perfect for the summer!” You can check out Twisted Oak here:

 

Pier Bier is available in bottles from: Twisted Oak’s micro pub, ‘The Fallen Tree’, on Clevedon’s Hill Road; Tiffin on the Pier; Tiffin cafe at Bullock’s Farm in Kingston Seymour; The Cellar in Clevedon; The Curzon Cinema in Clevedon; The Theatre Shop in Clevedon; The Cork & Fork in Yatton; Tout Budgens in Langford and Brockley Farm Stores near Cleeve. It will also be available on draught from The Fallen Tree throughout the summer.

A huge thanks to the Clevedon Pier team who have put so much thought and effort into this fabulous, very inclusive community event. I’m sure it will be a huge success.

I’m off now to the Clevedon Pier shop to try and get a copy of the beautiful, limited edition, signed print created by Emily Charlotte Moran to mark this very important birthday. Check out Emily’s website here: I’m not very hopeful because there were only thirty produced and it is really very, very attractive.