Please put SHIT THE BED in the subject line.

Also, Shit the Bed would like to keep all competition entrants up to date with news of their future events, if you don’t want to hear from Shit the Bed, please put ‘no updates’ in the subject line too. On the other hand, if you do want to hear what they have coming up, you don’t need to do anything and you’ll be added to their mailing list!

Closing date for entries: February 29.[contact-form-7]

Festival favourites Bellowhead will headline the main stage on Friday 8 June. Five-time winners of Best Live Group at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, the 11-strong Bellowhead’s set will be a special opening night treat. Armed to the teeth with South American charm and soul The Cuban Brothers, will strut their stuff on Wychwood’s main stage on the Friday 8th June, while Howard Marks, renowned for his captivating spoken word and story telling, will step up to the mic in the Big Top on Saturday 9th June. Also appearing on Saturday over on the main stage are Doctor & The Medics, the psychedelic rockers famed for their number 1 single ‘Spirit In The Sky’.

From a recent appearance on Rob Brydon’s 2011 Christmas Special on BBC2 to Cheltenham Racecourse, The Magic Tomolinos’ punk infused Balkan folk will headline Friday in the Big Top. Sunday’s Big Top welcomes folked-up hip-hoppers Dizareli and The Small Gods, while the cheekily named Thrill Collins return to Wychwood offering up cover versions skewed with their own ‘nu-skiffle’ twist as part of Sunday’s main stage line-up as will JuJu. Comprising of artists Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara, JuJu present a heady mix of traditional African and leftfield jazz sounds on Saturday alongside fellow musicians Billy Fuller and Dave Smith.

Once again seven BBC Introducing shows from surrounding counties will be joining forces to provide the best in new music from Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Coventry, Warwickshire, Hereford, Worcester, Oxford, Wiltshire and Wales, further information to be announced soon. Famed for delivering a truly family-focused festival experience, Wychwood leads the way with innovative programming designed to delight children as well as wonderful music from around the world to entertain the adults. Since launching in 2005, Wychwood has become one of the UK’s most successful independent arts events of the summer season and been nominated in the ‘Best Family Festival’ category at the UK Festival Awards every single year.

Day tickets now on sale, starting at £37 for adults or £47 with camping for one night. Weekend tickets from £115adv . All tickets available from www.wychwoodfestival.com

The Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge will be the ultimate test of skill and ability of the best bartenders across the UK using the full range of Appleton Estate’s hand blended golden rums, from the Appleton Estate V/X through to the Appleton Estate 21 Year Old, all with the distinctive aroma of rich Caribbean spice – the hallmark of all Appleton Estate Jamaica rums.

To qualify for the regional heats (the Bristol one takes place on March 5), simply upload your entry on the Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge Facebook Page before the closing date of Tuesday 7 February.

Regional heats will take place throughout February and March across the UK, where 12 bartenders will go head to head in each region for their chance to make it through to the London final. Bartenders will be judged on a range of real life scenarios from technical bartending skills and knowledge to their charisma, creativity, personality and ability to entertain and charm the customer. Judges will include Jamie MacDonald, partner of award winning bar The Raconteur and newly opened Crown & Felon and Appleton Estate Master Blender Joy Spence.

Nick Worthington, Appleton Estate Brand Manager is delighted to bring the challenge back for another year, commenting “We are now entering the 3rd year of the Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge and we expect record numbers of entries in 2012 due to the availability of social media to help drive the interest and buzz around the competition.”

More info at www.appletonestate.com

The Limit To Your Love singer will be joined by the likes of The Walkmen, The Felcie Brothers, Yann Tiersen and The Wave Pictures as well as a whole host more of indie artists. Other confirmed acts include Jonathan Richman, Junior Boys, Damien Jurado, The Time & Space Machine (Live), Cass McCombs, Scritti Polliti, Slow Club, Ghost Poet, Peaking Lights, Dark Dark Dark, Cashier No. 9, Islet, Rocketnumbernine, Alt-J, Teeth of the Sea, The Perch Creek Family Jug Band, Richard Warren, Goodnight Lenin, Sweet Baboo and Alaska.

Feist, whose 2011 album Metals was among one of our albums of the year, will take to the stage at the 10th anniversary Green Man Festival on Sunday August 19 (festival dates August 17-19) and heads the first wave of amazing acts confirmed for the most varied and exciting line-up in its decade-long history. Her Grammy-nominated 2007 solo breakthrough The Reminder sold over a million copies worldwide, while last year’s superb follow-up Metals was declared the best album of 2011 by The New York Times. A long-standing member of acclaimed music collective Broken Social Scene, Feist has also collaborated with the likes of Wilco, Beck and Grizzly Bear, and this month received a 2012 Brit Award nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist.

Tickets on sale now at www.ticketline.co.uk/green-man More info at www.greenman.net

The annual Run to the Sun shebang (RTTS) takes place on June 1-4 at Trevelgue Holiday Park in Porth, nr Newquay. Entertainment comes from Pendulum, Judge Jules, Lisa Lashes, DJ Hype and Netsky as well as Jaguar Skills, Modestep, Friction, Mister Jam and more.

Established in 1987, RTTS has become popular with VW enthusiasts and fun/sun-seekers alike. Camping tickets cost £75adv and are available at www.runtothesun.co.uk

Red Bull Hill Chasers will see 16 elite and 16 amateur cyclists from BMX, mountain bike, road cycling and fixed-gear compete in a series of gruelling head-to-head knockout rounds on the unforgiving incline. Riders will be paired randomly giving amateur riders the chance to compete against the elite. Look out for some big name competitors!

A knockout format will halve the field until just two riders remain for the ultimate showdown. This year, the course has been shortened and pinch points added to make the race equal amongst all disciplines. A qualifying round will be held on Hill Street, just off Great George Street, between 8.30am and 11:00am on 18 February.

In 2011, the final of the Red Bull Hill Chasers event in Bristol was truly awesome. Charge Bikes team rider Chris Metcalfe eventually won the knock-out competition in front of a huge crowd. In all, 16 national and international pro cyclists, including Red Bull Athlete Danny MacAskill, competed head-to-head in drag races against top local cyclists from five different disciplines; road, fixed, BMX, cyclocross and mountain bike.

After the race Metcalfe said, “The crowd is so close to you as you ride up the hill that they really spur you on and it’s great that relative unknowns can ride against some of the best riders in the world, all right in the centre of Bristol!”

For your chance to compete against the elite as one of the 16 amateur riders go to www.redbull.co.uk/hillchasers and register for your place in the qualifier.

The group, aka Dave and Dom, are known to millions of people around the UK and indeed the world, as part of the multi-award winning Chris Moyles show on Radio 1. And if you don’t believe that introduction, here’s what they say about themselves: “Let’s be clear on this….FolkFace are more than just a band. FolkFace are more than just an amazingly brilliantly gifted phenomenon. FolkFace are more than just a global success story. FolkFace are the past, the present and the future of music.” Actually these two folk leaders have performed with an array of international recording artistes. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters said these guys are “awesome”. JLS were honoured to be asked to sing the chorus to Lamb Bhuna and more recently, Scouting for Girls were lucky enough to collaborate with FolkFace too.

Advance Tickets £15/£14 Concs – available from the Pavilion box office 01326 211222 or online at >www.princesspavilion.co.uk

Queuing up the stairs, we’re greeted with the sounds of Crybaby – a dapper foursome, complete with a pretty girl drummer and matching monochrome outfits. Danny Coughlan’s lead vocals impress immediately, with hints of Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch and a crooning Richard Hawley. ‘We’re supposed to be in Love’ is an instant hit, complete with a catchy chorus and sultry bass. The band then take it down a notch for two or three songs, hushing the audience to silence and proving their worth as a band to watch out for in 2012.

Scarlet Rascal & The Trainwreck take to the stage just after ten to a room compiled of avid followers and an inquisitive few. Singer Luke Brooks furiously swings to the front, gasping into the microphone as the rest of the band start the first song. If they wanted to grab the audiences’ attention, they’ve done just that. The set is full of a continuous raucous, with Luke sparking off mannerisms worthy of Prince. Richard Clarke’s extra echoed guitar adds a hint of Joy Division whilst James Stockhausen provides steady bass lines throughout. The highlight of the set has to be ‘The Haunting’ to which Luke’s screeching hits a high as he falls to the floor for a full throttle at his guitar.

Scarlet Rascal & The Trainwreck have definitely got something good going on; it’s simply a case of nourishing their already impressive songs and building a sound exclusive to them. With a confident frontman and a refreshing take on a vintage genre, I expect nothing but a bright future for them.

Words: Sammy Maine
Photo: Laura Williams