Things to Do

Milton Keynes City Orchestra (MKCO) will showcase their concert and education work in a magnificent 3pm matinee on Sunday 12th March at MK Theatre. The concert will open with the MK Youth Orchestra, on stage, side by side with MKCO professional musicians, performing Sibelius Karelia Suite. This is a fine example of MKCO education work in the community. The students have been rehearsing for six months and the professional musicians and MKCO Music Director Damian Iorio have been helping with the learning process. The sensational Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue will follow, featuring pianist and Classic FM star Ji Liu. This concert illustrates that first-class, international musicians are keen to come to Milton Keynes and perform with Milton Keynes City Orchestra. The finale, Dvorak Symphony No.9 (From the New World) will demonstrate the world-class performance quality of MKCO, accelerated over the last three years under the baton of Damian Iorio, International..

The John Bunyan is Bedford’s Community Boat run by volunteers, and provides cruises both public and private hire on Bedford’s River Great Ouse. Last year it carried over 7,000 passengers and in total has carried over 22,000 passengers since it was launched in July 2013.  This year’s public cruises launch on Easter Saturday with an evening Fish and Chip Supper Cruise, followed on Sunday afternoon by an Afternoon Tea Cruise, Bank Holiday Monday also has a special Afternoon Cruise. Thereafter there are public cruises every Thursday and Sunday with Fish & Chip Supper Cruises on various Friday and Saturday evenings.  The boat which carries 50 passengers also has monthly Lunch Cruises to The Anchor in Great Barford and Afternoon Tea Cruises to The Barns Hotel, plus a monthly Jazz Cruise featuring top national and regional jazz trios.  The boat is fully licensed for drinks, has a 5 Star Food Certificate,..

Companies, clubs and organisations from across the region have been getting their teams together and signing up to take part in this year’s eagerly anticipated Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival in aid of Age UK Milton Keynes. The Festival takes place at Willen Lake on Sunday 25th June and there’s still plenty of time to raise a team and get involved! The Dragon Boat Festival attracts up to 60 companies each year - a complete mix of new and returning crews and all with the same aim in mind - to enjoy a fabulous day out with colleagues and friends and make a difference in their community. One of the new entrants to take up the challenge this year is Blum UK. Based in Kingston, Milton Keynes, Blum delivers kitchen fittings all over the country and has grown substantially over the last five years, with now well over 50 employees...

Half term may nearly be over but there’s still plenty of time to enjoy free activity at intu Milton Keynes. With FREE creative cooking themed workshops available every day this week, children have been flocking to the centre to take part in exciting challenges and fun, educational workshops such as the World Food Creation Station, Guess The Grub and the big ingredient hunt. Plus, join the intu team at the Kids Club area for more FREE half term fun including the amazing banoffee pie making workshop, Easy as Pie and cookery themed colouring. No booking is required and all are welcome. Full details of what’s on can be found online to www.intu.co.uk.

One of the UK’s most renowned fashion and portrait photographers, Rankin has for the first time in his career created magic both in front and behind the camera to design an exclusive range of T-Shirts for Red Nose Day 2017 in collaboration with TK Maxx and Comic Relief.  Fronting the TK Maxx and Comic Relief T-shirt partnership, which is now in its seventh campaign, is comedian Jack Whitehall (A League of Their Own, Bad Education) and actress Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones). Pledging their support for the campaign are a host of other amazing celebrities from the world of fashion, film and music including Winnie Harlow, Heidi Klum, Will Poulter, Joanna Lumley, Caroline Flack, Alesha Dixon, Blake Harrison, Donna Air and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. With an extensive portfolio, Rankin has shot the likes of The Queen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Kate Moss and James Bond to name only a few. ..

Runners are racing to sign up for the Milton Keynes Marathon with organisers preparing for their biggest event yet when it returns for its sixth year on Monday 1st May as one of the flagship events of the MK50 celebrations. Entries are already up 25% on previous years with the number of runners predicted to reach 10,000 across the five events which make up the Marathon Weekend. Runners can sign up for the full marathon, half marathon, MK Marathon Relay or the Superhero Fun Run. There’s also the return of the Rocket 5K race which takes place the day before the main event – a fast, downhill 5Km run between CMK and Stadium MK. Event Director Andy Hully said: “We’re very excited that so many runners want to join us in celebrating MK50 by running through some of the most beautiful parts of Milton Keynes. This is a great opportunity..

As all Milton Keynes residents know, there’s so much more to this new city than just concrete cows and roundabouts. Milton Keynes’ 50th birthday invites an opportunity to re-discover home with plenty of ideas and activities for families this half-term. Put your best foot forward Equipped with thick coats, hats and gloves, there’s no reason not to get outside. Milton Keynes Council and The Parks Trust recently launched their joint project, 50 Walks for MK50. Over half-term walks will take place on Monday and Wednesday from 10am at Furzton Lake and Walton Lake. The first walk will be the free Beat the Street Nature Walk led by an experience walk leader, pointing out winter wildlife and fauna. The following walk is the Beat the Street Wild Photo Challenge, a free wildlife walk and photography challenge with the chance to win some great prizes. If the weather looks promising, spend a..

Getting a true return on investment from a website isn’t just about increasing the number of visitors - it’s about driving the right traffic, knowing what to do with it and turning it into paying customers. Klood Digital, a digital marketing agency based in Milton Keynes, is inviting small business owners and marketers to learn more about this topic at the second of their Klood Bytes events, Turning Website Visitors into Revenue, on Thursday 23 February at 6.30pm. This free-to-attend event is being hosted at Klood’s bespoke on-site Academy, and will provide guests with the digital skills needed to grow their organisation’s online presence and turn visitors into customers. Topics covered on the night will include customer personas, driving the right traffic to your website, turning those visitors into revenue, technologies, trends and conversion rate optimisation. This valuable advice will be provided by guest speaker Paddy Moogan (co-founder of Aira)..

Unveiling of the ‘New Griffin’ design in the Conniburrow/Downs Barn underpass with  “Act of Gold”; a community performance celebrating Milton Keynes’ urban heritage as part of Milton Keynes 50th Anniversary. As part of the “Underpasses: connecting people connecting places” project, On The Verge will unveil the first of two new underpass artworks and host a community performance by 100+ residents and children on Friday 10th February at 2.25pm in the Conniburrow/Downs Barn underpass off Conniburrow Boulevard, under Marlborough Street . The performance will last approximately 15 minutes, followed by refreshments and celebratory activities in the Southwood School Assembly Hall until 3.20pm. Entrance is free and all are invited. The New Griffin artwork design is inspired by conversations with the community and the accompanying performance will feature the children of Southwood and Germander Park schools and the Conniburrow Community Choir. This celebration will feature a brief outdoor performance and the unveiling of..

Milton Keynes 50th Birthday year not only calls for celebrations, but also for exploration! 2017 offers a chance for residents and visitors play with the city, which is why MK Council’s art team has commissioned ‘Writer in Residence’, Rachel Barnett, to bring MK’s public art to life through the MK50 Art Trail app. The Public Art Audio walking tour takes you across 13 pieces of public art around Milton Keynes, each telling a different fictional story about the piece of art. The tour begins at the Milton Keynes Museum in Wolverton, but shorter tours can start at Artwork #2, the Octo, outside Norfolk House in Central Milton Keynes. The MK50 Art Trail app is free to download for Android and iPhone users. The stories narrated in the app were written by Writer in Residence, Rachel Barnet. Rachel was offered a 6-month residency to engage with the community and offer writing opportunities..

Ride High will be turning up the glamour with its dazzling Ball celebrating all things silver screen on Saturday 28th January 2017 at Jury’s Inn, Milton Keynes. The MK charity are delighted to welcome the return of BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine who will inevitably bring his own sparkle to what promises to be a fantastic evening in aid of a very important cause. All proceeds from the Ball will enable Ride High to keep helping hundreds of the most disadvantaged children in Milton Keynes. Guests can expect a sparkling drinks reception, four course dinner, International band and disco and live and silent auctions with exclusive prizes including a luxury villa in Jamaica, Chef’s tables for 10 at the Dorchester Hotel and a weekend in Paris. Tickets: £80 standard or £100 corporate (includes programme advertising). Tables or 10 or 12. To order your tickets email helendixon@ridehigh.org or phone 07743647511.

Council aims to reduce the number of casualties through education Places cost just £20 and are available to any post-test motorcyclist in MK Following the success of the scheme in 2016, the Council’s Road Safety Team will be holding more motorcycle safety training days this year. The assessment days are specifically designed to offer post-test training to all ages of motorcyclist to make them more confident and safer on the road and promote better riding techniques. Extra education for motorcyclists is being offered in response to the high number of biker casualties that have occurred over the last 24 months. In this period alone, 41 motorcyclists have been killed or seriously injured on Milton Keynes roads. The Council is subsidising the cost for the 1-day training course so it only costs £20 and is open to post-test motorcyclists in Milton Keynes. Available course dates are as follows: Saturday 18 March    ..

Crucial information on the state of the property market in Milton Keynes and beyond will be shared at the city’s premier Landlord and Investor Summit. Property landlords and investors will be gathering at Stadium:MK on Friday, February 10, to find the latest information if they are aspiring to either own property or to grow and develop their portfolio. Neil Briggs, the Managing Director of inspired Sales and Letting, based in Sovereign Court in the city centre, is headline sponsor of the summit. He said: “Property specialists often talk about location, location, location as being important but it is much more nuanced than that.  “Being close to a fantastic primary school can boost property prices dramatically whereas being close to a large secondary school won’t have that same impact. “For example, being in the catchment area of St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School in Bletchley puts a massive 12.4 per cent..

February half term is fast approaching and there is plenty to keep the little ones happy at intu Milton Keynes. This year, intu went straight to the source and asked their youngest visitors what they wanted to do and learn this year. With this in mind, creative cooking themed workshops became the theme for this year’s FREE half term activities. Activities available will include a world food creation station which will teach children about foods from around the world, a dessert making workshop and a ‘what’s in the box’ challenge, allowing children to guess what ingredients are using just their hands, plus much more! Join the intu team in the Kids Club area outside Debenhams for FREE cooking themed fun all week from the 11- 19 February including colouring, hands on workshops and educational activities your little ones will love. More details about the FREE activities available will be revealed..

Milton Keynes’ public art is one of the city’s iconic features and now collaborative artistic practice, Something & Son has been appointed to deliver the Oxley Park Public Art Commission. As a welcoming event, Something & Son will host a Milton Keynes and Oxley Park Quiz for everyone to enjoy. Oxley Parks’ community are invited to channel their inner Henry Moore, Dorothy Annan, and other renowned artists to contribute to developing a proposal for a major public art project, due to be delivered in 2018. To get the creative juices flowing, Something & Son will be developing and delivering a number of activities for everyone to take part in to share ideas, thoughts and opinions over the next four months. The project aims to encourage social cohesion and community development, provide cultural provision for young people and contributes to a sense of place – encouraging civic pride and active citizenship,..