Gin & Juice is launching tonight (Thursday 28th February) at No.131 in Cheltenham, transforming the venue into a bustling, late night destination every weekend with over 350 Gins that will amaze beginners and satisfy connoisseurs.

Skilfully paired with our original cocktail list and resident DJ’s, No.131 is sure to resume it’s social stature at the heart of Cheltenham's party scene.

During the day, Gin & Juice will also be offering an all day brunch menu, making it a perfect place to work from. 

theluckyonion.com/whats-on/gin-juice-launch

Jess Glynne and Elbow will be Saturday and Sunday headliners at this year's Big Feastival alongside Rudimental who will be doing a DJ set to close Friday night. 

Lewis Capaldi, The Zutons and Fun Lovin' Criminals are all on the line-up. 

Confirmed chefs include Raymond Blanc, Prue Leith and Gennaro Contaldo. 

The festival takes place from the 23rd - 25th August on Alex James' Farm in Kingham. 

thebigfeastival.com

Emily Watkins has announced today that she and husband Miles Lampson will leave the Kingham Plough after 12 years. 

Watkins' journey as a chef began in the kitchens of Ristorante Beccofino in Florence before moving to work for Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in Bray in 2002 and then to the Kingham Plough in 2007. 

In her time at the Kingham Plough, Emily has featured on The Hairy Bikers, Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food as well as winning BBC's Great British Menu in 2014 with her fish course, going onto cook for war veterans at St Paul’s Cathedral in a banquet commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The line-up for Wilderness has been revealed this morning with Bombay Bicycle Club, Tom Odell, Freya Ridings and Tom Grennan all featuring. 

The festival takes place at Cornbury Park from Thursday 1st - Sunday 4th August 2019.

www.wildernessfestival.com

The line-up for the Cheltenham Jazz Festival has been confirmed with some big names on the bill including Gregory Porter, Jamie Cullum, James Morrison, Sergio Mendes and Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night. 

The festival takes place from the 1st - 6th May 2019. 

Members tickets go on Sale on 27th February at 10am, 16-25 Members on Sale on March 1st at 10am and General Sale goes live on March 6th at 10am.

www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz

I have never been a "new year, new me" kind of person but I have been trying to eat less and get fitter in the last month or so. It's not nice, nor is it fun, it's more cutting down on any snacks so I can eat all the things I love without feeling any remorse. A Sunday roast is one of the things I love.

My previous two roasts out have both been in hotel restaurants. This isn't my usual style. I usually go in search of a cosy pub with with a log fire and all the other ​clichés associated with them. Turning down invites is also not my style and last week saw us head over Cleeve Hill to the beautiful Ellenborough Park. 

The drive up to the hotel has the feel of entering a private country estate. The building is very grand as you would expect and a wire horse stands on the front lawn gazing out towards Cheltenham Racecourse which is just yards away. Inside is a cosy maze of stone, wood and soft furnishings and beautiful rooms at every turn. We were shown to our table in the corner of the lovely oak panelled dining room. It's the kind of room where my grandparents would have donned their Sunday best and visited on a special occasion and why the hell not? 

It's customary before I go anywhere that I look at the menu online, and to my surprise the Sunday Lunch was £25 for two courses, the same price, if not cheaper, than some pubs in the northern reaches of the Cotswolds. I was expecting it to be more.

David, the Sommelier, introduced himself (The Ellenborough is well-known for the quality of its wine) and offered to pair our wine for each course. How could we possibly refuse? I'm used to a glass of house red to wash down my roast beef. 

Our Rabbit and Duck starters arrived, beautifully presented along with a wonderfully fruity and light Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin En Jouise and a New Zealand Dry River ​Gewürztraminer that got both thumbs up from the non white drinker the other side of the table.

In good time a man appeared holding a tray with two plates full of perfectly rare sirloin, roast potatoes, Jenga-style carrots and parsnips and a Yorkshire Pudding, along with two small pots of veg, a jug of extra gravy and incredible horseradish to knock your socks off. David paired a 2011 Clos du Val Merlot from Napa Valley which was a lot heavier than the first red but went down just as well.

We usually share a pudding but were torn between the Sticky Toffee Pudding and Apple Tarte Tatin so we ended up ordering both. I think David was pleased as he could pour us a glass of Patricius Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos from his native Hungary. I rarely eat pudding so rarely have dessert wine but this was heavenly sweet honey-finished golden nectar and the perfect way to end a meal. 

Ellenborough Park is lovely in every way and although it may not be your usual setting for a Sunday Roast, it's the perfect place for a special occasion where the service is impeccable and everything is done brilliantly well. 

www.ellenboroughpark.com

Food: 9
Service: 10
Location 9
Price: 2 courses £25. 3 courses £32

Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls will headline the Thursday of this year's 2000 Trees Festival. 

The multi-award-winning festival is a 3 day extravaganza set Upcote Farm in the stunning Cotswold Hills.

​He joins You Me At Six, Rolo Tomassi and former My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero and his Future Violents band. 

The festival takes place on the 11th, 12th and 13th of July 2019. 

www.twothousandtreesfestival.co.uk

The Dormy House Hotel launched their brand new restaurant, The Back Garden, today. 

The Back Garden celebrates ​the finest ingredients from the Cotswolds including high-welfare rare-breed meats, veg grown in our own gardens and responsibly cultivated grains, all sourced and served in tune with the rhythms of nature.

www.dormyhouse.co.uk/eat/mo-the-back-garden

​Not one, but two Cotswolds Distillery whiskies have triumphed at the 2019 World Whiskies Awards. 
  
Cotswolds Distillery Founder’s Choice Single Malt Whisky was the overall winner in the ‘English Single Malt’ category, and the distillery’s flagship Single Malt Whisky also took home a gold in the same category. 
  
Founder’s Choice Single Malt Whisky, released in December 2018, is made using shaved, toasted and re-charred American Oak red wine barriques. The uniquely active casks provide the whisky with a rich and intense maturation with notes of toffee, oak and red fruits, giving a beautiful and deep colour. 
  
Based in the heart of the Cotswolds, the Cotswolds Distillery has become a leader in English whisky production since the inaugural launch of Cotswolds Distillery Single Malt Whisky in 2017, the first-ever distilled in the area. It uses 100% locally grown, floor-malted barley and has been aged in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels and reconditioned red wine casks. The whisky is rich, fruity and sippable. 
  
The World Whiskies Awards are global awards which select the very best of all the internationally recognised whisky styles; and promote to consumers and trade across the globe. 
  
Dan Szor, Founder and CEO of the Cotswolds Distillery said: “We are delighted to win gold and the overall title for ‘English Single Malt’. Our whisky offerings come following years of hard work using the best-in-class Cotswolds ingredients to produce some truly remarkable whisky. We couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved so far.”   

www.cotswoldsdistillery.com

The Specials and Keane will join The Beach Boys as headliners of this year's Cornbury Festival that takes place on the 5th/6th/7th July at The Great Tew Park. 

The rest of the line up will be announced in March. 

www.cornburyfestival.com

Legendary punk band The Stranglers will close the Wychwood Festival on the Sunday evening this summer. 

Now in its 15th year, the festival takes place on 31 May – 2 June 2019 at Cheltenham Racecourse and is one of the leading family festivals in the UK. 

The Stranglers will join funk and soul DJ Craig Charles, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam band,  Scouting For Girls, T'Pau, Toyah +many more across the weekend. 

wychwoodfestival.com

The Churchill Arms in Paxford have joined pub line-ups for Tom Kerridge's Pub in the Park at both Warwick and Bath. 

Taking place across 8 locations between May and September, Pub in the Park describes itself as the "biggest celebration of the best food and music the country has to offer". 

For all tickets and info, please visit www.pubintheparkuk.com

I'm a Celebrity winner Harry Redknapp is coming to Cheltenham Town Hall in November for a fun filled event with tales of the jungle and of a football managers life, plus a Q&A with the audience.

The event takes place on Wednesday 6th November. 

Click HERE for all information and tickets. Hurry as there are not many left already!