The School holidays are upon us and the Astor are offering a unique experience for 12 – 16 year olds – Destination Imagination.  For one-week from 6-10 August, there will be workshops where participants have the opportunity to write, film and crew their own short film whilst learning about filmmaking.  Participants will get their own DVD copy of their film as well as participation in a special screening at the Theatre for family and friends.  And for aspiring thespians age 7-11, there will be an opportunity to stage their own play, invent characters and design their own set and costumes at the Twisted Tales workshop from 30 July to 3 August

Fee £125 per week – book now at The Astor

A favourite with Astor Audiences is The Good Old Days Music Hall and there will be two performances on the lst August at 2.30pm and 7.30pm – stroll down Memory Lane with song, dance, comedy and old style variety with Mr Gordon Clarkson.  A show packed with melody and mirth presented by a talented company of artists all “engaged at enormous expense”.

The extraordinary talented Liane Carrol, winner of two BBC Awards will be performing with her Trio on the 3rd August at 7.30pm. Having been a stalwart of the British jazz scene for many years, Liane has in the last few years gone on to enjoy huge critical acclaim and is now considered by many to be one of the top jazz vocalists not just in the UK, but worldwide.

“Swinging like hell one minute, brutally expressive and heart breakingly tender the next…….. utterly brilliant” Time Out

The Astor will host the 2nd Annual Astor Beer Festival from Friday 17th August from noon to 12pm and Saturday 18th August noon to 12pm.  Great Beers, Great Bands. 2 days of music, beer and cider!  Help to raise funds for the Deal Maritime Folk Festival in association with Gadds, the Ramsgate Brewery, Wantsum and Green Berry.  Bands will include Driftwood, Lynda Borley, 3 Dimensions, Ravenhill, Way Out, Jonny Lane, Deal Hoodeners, McMcKean, Ramblin’ Ade and friends, Captain Patch and the Mermaid Mollies, Eddie Higham

Classic concerts on Sundays at the Astor have proved to be very popular and on the 5th August at 3pm Jennifer Brisk will bring present “Her Mini Mezzos”, 1 young singers from East Kent.  Jennifer herself is a mezzo soprano, having Graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury.

Crosstown Lightin’ with Charles Shaar Murray will be on 18th August at 7.30pm

A founding contributor to Q and Mojo magazines, Charles is one of Britain’s best known music journalists having worked on Oz, NME and acclaimed Hendrix biography Crosstown Traffic. He is also a prodigious guitar collector, contributor to Guitarist magazine … and an extremely fine blues guitarist who leads this Chicago Blues style quartet.

IRIS will be at The Astor on the 10th August, 7.30pm. Having recently been signed to 'Engineer Records', Kent based Quartet IRIS will spend most of 2012 touring the country with their new EP 'Out Of Fiction'!

The release this summer will be available to purchase through iTunes and various distributors worldwide, and will be followed up with further videos and singles from the EP.  Since forming in 2010, the alternative rock band has gained a strong fan base and their energetic passionate live show is gaining them a wider audience everyday!  The band, consisting of Adam Smart, James Wells, Darrel Foy and Marc Foy, have already appeared with many up and coming UK acts in London and around the country and will also appear on compilation CDs, satellite TV stations, magazines and in various PR campaigns to heighten their profile and push their success throughout the year!

On the 11th August at 7.30 “Rock the Astor”, in aid of Cancer Research will include Band XZ and Shameful Behaviour.

www.theastor.org