The Dartmouth dot tv team think this year's Dart Music Festival was probably the best ever! The main problem for us was choosing which artists to see and which we had to miss; there was just so much music to choose from. Several times we thought we would "dip in" to something and then hurry back through town to do the same somewhere else, but found we were so taken by the original act that we stayed to the end!

Highlights included Bowjangles in St Saviour's Church on Friday evening - this was certainly a string quartet with a difference! Jenna Witts who charmed us in Bayard's Cove on Saturday and Jane Taylor, also in Bayards Cove on Sunday. As always, we squashed ourselves into the Floating Bridge for 59 Ford's rock and roll (why can't they be in the Bandstand?). Of course we managed to "dip in" to many other acts, too numerous to mention, and finished up on Sunday, tired and happy. Congratulations to the organisers, and especially for the good weather!

Chris Jones of The Dart Marina Hotel and Wildfire Bistro reports “We only have a few spaces left for the Philip Shaw Australian Wine Dinner at Wildfire Bistro on Tuesday 19th May. Most of the spaces were booked on the night after our last dinner in April. It will be a very entertaining evening so book your spaces quickly to avoid disappointment”  Click here to see the menu and the wines.

Philip Shaw's search for an Australian region capable of making classic wines with elegance, depth and bright fruit came to rest in 1988 when he discovered the undulating hills of the high-altitude, cool-climate region of Orange. Philip Shaw Wines are sourced entirely from Shaw's 47 hectare Koomooloo Vineyard. Purchased in 1988 and planted in 1989 on red loam over limestone, this cool climate vineyard rises to an altitude of 900m (2,950 ft). This immaculately tended vineyard has already produced the "Prix D'Excellence" Chardonnay at the 1998 VinExpo in Bordeaux and the "Best Red Wine" at the 2002 National Wine Show in Canberra. The fruit from Koomooloo has clearly defined varietal character that displays elegance, power, and length.

The Dartmouth TV crew highly recommend these evenings, a 5 course meal and 5 different wines/bubbly to try, and all for £35!  That includes the food and the drink.  But, there is more, a guest celebrity may appear, we can't tell you who, you must come along to find out.  Click here to see the menu and the wines.

3.   I've Loved You So Long tonight!

Kristin Scott Thomas' performance is superb in I've Loved You So Long, as Juliette, a fortysomething French woman reunited with her younger sister Léa after a mysterious 15-year absence.

Where has she been?  Writer-director Philippe Claudel reveals his secrets gradually, but performance is the key: Scott Thomas, who can suggest anger, hurt and depression merely by inhaling on a cigarette, progresses from morose defensiveness to a tentative re-awakening of her spirit. It's absorbing to watch, and the two leads offer an acting masterclass.

Guest tickets for sale in The Windjammer £3.50 from 7.30 - 7.55. Our bar at The Guildhall opens at 7.30 - the film to be shown at 8pm approx

4.   Small News

• Dartmouth News update.  We have successfully migrated to the new news server and more of you than ever are now getting the news.  Some of you are still not receiving our news as your ISP or mail client identifies all the photographs as spam.  So after a day or so we are sending out a very short text e-mail to tell you how to get it directly on the net.
   

• Do we feature your business?  We all like to know what is happening, a feature in Dartmouth News can half fill a restaurant (Wildfire) or as last week get 26 potential customers (Paul Barclay).  Do you want to work with us and spread the word? click here if you do.
   

Why not come and visit Dartmouth?

• Self catering accommodation click here
   
• Dartmouth B and B  click here
   
• Dartmouth Hotels click here
   
• A Tourist Guide to Dartmouth click here

Images copyright Dave Cawley & others.