A VARIED programme of events is presented by Mid Border Arts at the Assembly Rooms in Presteigne this spring, starting on Saturday, February 8 with a double bill featuring The Brass Funkeys, a performing monkey troupe that escaped the New Orleans circus; hitchhiked East on a hot-air ballon; landed in the Atlantic and swam ashore in England. Having raided the store of a colliery band for pristine trombones, trumpets and sousaphones they are now on the loose……. (that's what they say). The other act is the Showhawk Duo, who play an eclectic selection of music on two guitars - from 70′s rock hits, to gypsy jazz, to operatic overtures.

There's a change of mood on Friday, February 21, when the Huntley Film Archive presents film from the first world war, a challenging time for the film historian as fact and fiction were less well defined then. Amanda Huntley looks at the evidence.

March opens with a concert by John Hymas, violin and Jeremy Fisher, piano, performing works by Brahms, Britten and César Frank. Then on Saturday, March 15, Box Tale present Northanger Abbey, a production created and adapted entirely by the company. With the inclusion of beautiful paper puppets and handmade costumes and props, this production stretches the imagination and brings out every last drop of Austen’s wit, playfulness and humour. “You could have heard a pin drop: the audience was hanging on every word and character,and the strange thing about the puppets is how completely real they become” , said Joanna Lumley of the production.

A dual portrait in film by Barrie Gavin, Memorials of a Quiet Life, looks at the world of Ann and Graham Arnold, who, 40 years ago, decided to abandon the metropolitan world and move to a remote countryside, where they could work uninterrupted by the pursuit of fashion and success. In this film they reminisce about their first encounters with art, the discovery of like-minded artists and the independent quiet world which they have created for themselves.

April brings the Curtis Ellers American Circus, featuring the highly intriguing New York-based banjo-playing singer/songwriter, Curtis Eller, who has successfully brought a variety of influences to his unorthodox folk-rock vision. His work has an old-time feel, drawing on influences from the twenties, thirties and forties, with many of his lyrics dealing with American politics.

Local writer Helena Attlee will present an afternoon lecture on Sunday, April 13, exploring the curious story of citrus in Italy, based on her new book, The Land Where Lemons Grow.

For full details of events and to book, visit midborderarts.com