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The Final Countdown

It's been fifteen years since Freddie Fellowes first invited 1,000 people to one stage in Abbots Ripton, near Huntingdon, for a party like nothing the UK had seen before. If you haven't been, we're talking naked mud wrestling, sunflower mazes accessed via a Portaloo, skywriting, haystack discos and mermaid schools.

Since 2002, the Secret Garden Party (SGP) has grown to 15 stages and a capacity for 32,000 gardeners. This week, Freddie speaks to Run Riot about the legacy the party will leave behind as it gears up to celebrate its last summer in this current incarnation. You can read his interview here and learn more about the final SGP here.

Freddie's sending us to Oval Space for his first top pick, for an evening of guilty pleasure sing-a-longs with London's leading alternative choir London Contemporary Voices. He's also adamant we join Regression Sessions in taking over The Bankside Vaults for their 5th birthday in April, and that we finish off some truly psychedelic choices with a trip to The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains at The V&A in May.

On our other stages, we've been paying tribute to music pioneer and none other than the father of rock and roll, Chuck Berry, who sadly passed away of natural causes at the grand age of 90 at the weekend. We're also delving into the works of Tony Conrad, avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker and musician, with Completely in the Present, a non-fiction film examining his creative life. And for some light relief? Simon Amstell's Carnage is finally available on iPlayer. In his feature film debut, it's the year 2067, and JME, Joanna Lumley and Martin Freeman are ready to show us what a vegan utopia will look like. Delivered in Simon's classic deadpan humour, Carnage may just be the most watchable argument for veganism made to date.

If you're in the mood for a gamble, step right up to the competition tent, folks. Sunday Papers Live is back with a wonderful Easter Sunday special- what could be better than having some properly curated down time at Cecil Sharp House, and not even have to think about work the next day? You'll also find a pair of tickets up for grabs for Sad King and $elfie$ at Hackney Showrooms as part of the wonderful Joy & Dissent Festival. Rich Mix will be interrogating the relationship between democracy and the arts in a post-Brexit landscape with Artists In A Global World on 28th March. And Wandsworth Fringe is gearing up for some hoopla at Tooting Tram and Social in May, with a night of Hoops and Loops, dancers, contortionists, hand balancers and acrobats.

We're thinking about parties and legacies, but we're also embracing that wonderful freedom of beginning something brand new. Rip it up and start again. RR x

Ps. Don't forget, the clocks go forward 1 hour on Saturday night (at 1am on Sunday to be precise); while on 29 March the UK go back 44 years (well, some will, while a whole bunch remain in reality, doing their best to drag the rest towards 2018 and beyond. Good luck all!). Get in the mood with Europe's The Final Countdown.

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