June Boom Week Four: 23-29 June 2025

Wow, what a time we’ve had. We’ve seen cracking comedy, stimulating theatre, amazing live music, inspiring exhibitions, compelling talks and discussion events, and even a travelling installation celebrating roadside witchery… if there was ever any doubt that Exeter can bring its cultural A-game then June has absolutely knocked that for six. All hail to the producers, the venues, the performers and the audiences who have made June Boom such an exciting time. AND THERE’S STILL A WEEK TO GO! 

If you want to catch up with write-ups from our team of wonderful Culture Collaborators, head to the June Boom page for pieces on Reclaim the Mic, and Pile Up! Worlds of Stuff.

We might have bade farewell to the Comedy Festival for another year (how amazing was THAT!) but there are some big hitters coming in to keep those laughs coming. You might be too late to book for New Zealand’s favourite surrealist Rhys Darby (from the brilliant Flight of the Conchords and Our Flag Means Death, among many other TV delights) who’ll be bringing the house down at the Corn Exchange on Tuesday 24th, but you can still grab tickets for the supremely talented Rachel Fairburn at the Phoenix on Sunday 29th. Star of Live at the Apollo and co-host of All Killa No Filla, and named by Rolling Stone magazine as a ‘rock’n’roll star of British Comedy’, Rachel is performing Side Eye, a show that moves beyond her usual acerbic stand-up into character-comedy show. Get ready for skillful impressions and delightfully awful personas. 

From Left to Right: Rhys Darby; Rachel Fairburn

If theatre with laughs is more your bag, then on Monday 23rd Exeter Phoenix is setting up the sun loungers for Brits Abroad: Banned - an evening of comedy, physical theatre, live music and biting satire from NotThatButThat. After being banned from going anywhere abroad, yes even Benidorm, this bunch of British tourists are forced to go on holiday to the only place that’ll have them: Hell. At least it’ll be hot… Following a sell-out run at Edinburgh, Hastings and Brighton Fringe 2024, this show kicks off the summer with a West Country tour before heading back to Edinburgh later in the year.

There’s more theatre treats across the week, with the musical taking centre stage. On Tuesday 24th, Irish Annie’s at the Northcott celebrates Irish culture with comedy through to music, featuring a live five-piece band, Shenanigans. With a cast including Ricky Tomlinson (The Royle Family), it’s sure to put a smile on your face. On Saturday 28th, Barnfield Theatre is hosting an afternoon double-bill of productions from Theatretrain Exeter’s students: Chicago and Disney’s Aladdin Jr. 

Everyone’s favourite spoken-word maven Chris White and Spork! are in residence at the Library on Thursday 26th, featuring award-winning poets Malaika Kegode and Caroline Bird. There’ll also be live music from hilarious local singer-songwriter Lizzie Lidster, and a pop-up bar. Spork! has - quite rightly - become a staple of the city’s cultural landscape, and always brings the joy. Not to be missed.

From Left to Right: Caroline Bird and Malaika Kegode

For visual arts fans, Art Work Exeter’s brilliant Pile Up! programme has one more event before it comes to a close: join Louise Ashcroft, Farmer Glitch and Freya Gabie for ‘Artists Talk Rubbish’ at the Custom House from 4pm on Friday 27th to talk about the exhibition and answer questions. After a short performance action by Louise at 5.30pm, the artists will be in conversation with Matt Hulland, Resource Recovery Manager at Exeter City Council, about the materials and processes involved in making Pile Up! and wider issues of resource exhaustion and circular economies. This event is free, but booking is essentialbooking

Musically, there’s something for everyone this week, with Kae Tempest at the Phoenix on Wednesday 25th (you had to be quick for this one, which sold out in double quick time!), a tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at Corn Exchange on Friday 27th (‘Oh What a Night’), Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending at the Cathedral the same night, and the Exeter Science Choir in full voice for Granny Galactica at the Library on Saturday 28th. If you fancy something a bit more bluesy, then the fabulous Southern Fried Groove Queens are at the Phoenix on Saturday 28th celebrating the release of their debut EP – expect laid back tunes, soulful syncopations and the spirit of the Mississippi Delta. On Sunday 29th, you can round out your week in relaxed style by checking out rising independent artist Mac Adam at 12 Bar Music and Social on Paris Street - expect an evening of soul, stories, and sound. To make the most of this hot weather (fingers crossed!), grab some outdoor tunes at the Transit Shed on the Quay for the Lympstone Band Summer Concert (Thursday 26th) and Jazz on the Quay (Sunday 29th)

On Sunday 29th, the Quay also plays host to the annual Dragon Boat Race (10am-4pm), where local teams compete – all in aid of Devon Air Ambulance. It’s always a fun day out! 

We don’t know about you, but we feel wonderfully full to the brim and utterly restored and energised by all this fantastic creativity.