The Alley shouts from the roof tops about new Winter Events Guide, assisted by the Quiet Men of Strabane!

The Alley launched the new events guide this week, wonderfully assisted by In Your Space and their cracking John Wayne inspired characters "The Quiet Men".

This season the Alley will be hosting the Flann O'Brien's play "The Poor Mouth" which has several links not only to Strabane, the also the Alley and the site upon which we are based. Flann O'Brien is now seen as one of the leading authors in Irish literary history, compared to the likes of Joyce, Yeats and O'Casey. In "The Poor Mouth" O'Brien tells the tale of the farmer and his pig, Ambrose, who eats the farmer out of house and home, literally. The Alley Theatre in 2008 erected a statue called "Where Dreams Go", a 8ft bronze pig, which is now more affectionly known as Ambrose. Not only does the statue celebrate Strabane's literary history, but also highlights the history of the Alley site itself, which use to be a old pig and cattle market, one of the largest in the North West.

We therefore brought the "Quiet Men" from In You Space to the Alley to recreate the scene of Ambrose the Alley Pig being taken to market. The photography was by local artist Raymond McCarron, who did a fantastic job in finding new shots and angles within a building which has hosted numerous shoots over the last 3 years.

This season the Alley will be hosting The Ulster Orchestra, The Hothouse Flowers, PJ Gallagher, Cinderella, European Ballet and The Johnny Crampsie Traditional & Bluegrass Festival. To see a copy of the new guide click here.

BT Sounds Like Summer is set to get Turbulent!

The BT Sounds Like Summer Music Festival is about to hit the Alley Theatre in what should be a far superior competition than last years event. Starting on August 7th, this years final has an abundance of quality entrants, with bands from all over Northern and Southern Ireland applying to be in the final 16 bands. This magical music event is free to attend for people wanting to hear the very best in unsigned talent, thanks to the collaboration with our sponsors BT and NWIPP (thank you!!).

This year we have bands form Derry, Strabane, Fermanagh, Belfast, Donegal, Limavady to name but a few, with all music tastes covered. As I have been marketing the event we have used various tools, from the traditional avenues like our events guide, flyer's and posters, to radio, ticket comps and social network sites like Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter etc.

One piece of advice I would give any band looking to do well in any festival or within the music industry, make sure you have a good website, nothing too fancy, but something that covers all the bases. From band bio, video clips, free track downloads, press pictures, contact details, gig guide and links, these are the essential items for a band to have available at a moments notice, ready for when the press or music label come calling.

One band which is taking part in the BT Sounds Like Summer Music Festival and ticks all the boxes in being prepared are Turbulent Eddy, whose new website I believe covers all the areas I would be looking for. Check it out by clicking here

Who will win the BT Sounds Like Summer festival and walk off with the top prize of a music video and a CD produced by the Nerve Centre, free broadband for a year and extensive media coverage? Well at the moment I would say all 16 bands are in for a real shout, its that close! For more information on the BT Sounds Like Summer click here.

The Alley goes "Back to the Future"

In celebration of the forthcoming screening of that classic time travel adventure “Back to the Future” on July 18th at 2 p.m., Strabane’s Alley Theatre, supported by Harte and McGarrigle Estate Agents, took delivery of a iconic DeLorean sports car for the day.

It was a busy Thurday and the owner of this mint condition car travelled down to Strabane from Lisburn, not knowing he had a press pack waiting to interview him (and his father who built the machine!). The DeLorean was in top condition, 6500 miles on the clock, original tyres and a body work to die for!

The photo shoot had been annouced in some of the major papers, including the Derry Journal, so we have some real DeLorean fans travelling miles to see the car, with some even jumping into the drivers seat to recreate that "Marty McFly" magic!

Pictured with the DeLorean was Sophie from Electric Candy Boutique, one of the new fashion retailers based in Castle Street, Strabane, just 2 mins walk from the Alley Theatre. She was a great model and didn't seem to mind the crowd gathering to watch the event.

If I could do it all over again would I change anything about the shoot? Not a thing!

We had Radio Foyle, the Strabane Chronicle, Strabane Weekly and the Derry Journal all down for interviews and pics, so the coverage next week will be fantastic. If Carlsberg did photo shoots - this would be a pretty damn close thing!

UK and Ireland Breakdance champions coming to Strabane

Strabane District Council will be bringing the UK and Ireland Breakdance BOTY Champions, Bad Taste Cru, to the Alley Theatre, Strabane, for a series of workshops for 13-18 yr olds.

Joining Bad Taste Cru, will be Sabroso with Regaeton and Salsa classes, Popping and Locking with Fox n’ Crew and Hip Hop with Georgina Kee.

Listen to Ryan Tracey from Strabane District Council Community Development Officer and Hip Hop instructor, Georgina Kee talk about Dance Fusion! Click here to hear the podcast.