Top Five Things To Do In Colchester This Week

A TRIPLE dose of family fun from one of the country's best loved children's companies.

CBeebies Patrick Lynch, ably assisted by Elena Marini, takes the audience on an interactive romp through the seasons through the rain and the falling leaves, as well as the snow until the sun wakes us all up for a springtime party.

A Kind of Alaska and The Collection by Harold Pinter, Headgate Theatre, Chapel Street North, Colchester, until tomorrow, 7.45pm plus 2.30pm tomorrow. £12, £11 (over-65s), £10 (students). 01206 366000.

A CRACKING cast, two of Colchester's best directors, and one of the best playwrights ever to have lived. Wait for the pause. What's there not to like.

Mersea Island Art Group Annual Exhibition, Mersea Island Museum, High Street, West Mersea, until Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Free. 01787 223914.

THIS annual exhibition always throws up an interesting collection of work not just from the many artists that live on the island but those from the surrounding areas as well.

Colchester Symphony Orchestra with John Jermy, St Botolph’s Church, St Botolph's Street, Colchester, 7.30pm. £14. 01206 271128.

CHRIS Phelps will be wielding his baton once again for the orchestra in Mozart’s Symphony No.39, Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony No.6 and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto with Ipswich-born John Jermy. John is a regular concerto soloist with local orchestras and returns to Colchester with the Seckford Brass Ensemble on August 1, performing with Ian Ray at the Moot Hall organ as part of the Town Hall Lunchtime Summer Concert Series.

Space, Warm Winters, Surge, Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, Thursday, doors 7.30pm. £15. 01206 500900.

AS if Nineties indie-pop legends Space were not enough to make this the gig of the year so far, checkout the support acts. There's the welcome return of the awesome Warm Winters and those cheeky chaps from the coast, making a real name for themselves on the UK gig circuit, Surge.