N.B. Photographs on this website are mostly copyright Chris Bright and Poppy James Photography. A few have been nicked from the web, if you have any problem with them being used please let us know.
Free Lindy Hop & Jive Classes with Paul and Debbie Jackson!
2001 at Steeple Morden Village Hall based near Royston. They had both been dancing since 1993 from different backgrounds in dance, Debbie took the ballroom & Latin route with her gold medals in both & 3 years on the Salsa dance scene, meeting Paul along the way at modern Jive, Paul had been learning Lindy Hop since 1995 all over the place & was keen for a partner so introduced Debbie to Lindy Hop in 1998. They got married in July 2000 having a Swing wedding & the rest is history!Keen to share their passion for dance, they go everywhere social dancing & encourage their class members to join them, therefore supporting many other dance clubs, as well as holding many dance nights themselves like “The Steeple Swing Out” at Steeple Morden & spring & autumn dance nights “Hop ’til U Drop” at Biggleswade with some really great Swing Jazz & 40′s/50′s Rhythm & Blues Bands. As the class has grown in popularity it is full of fun loving dancers who enjoy the social side of Lindy Hop & love to go out every weekend dancing as well as coming to classes for a challenge! Paul & Debbie are great ambassadors to keeping music live & love go to summer music festivals & band gigs of every kind. They are offering free lessons for visitors to Spring Break, check pa announcements for timings.
The ‘skinny’ on the show itself is that the central showground area and major displays are restricted to 1973
and earlier, although any vehicle can enter the main Stonham Barns complex. It’s a full weekend of (free) Trade stands, cars and bikes, hops, bands and burlesque, A great ‘grasstrack oval’ which is also free all weekend, and the vintage John Price on the mike! We had a great start in 2012, with the first Spring Break, and that was due to the fantastic support of all the traders and visitors who were prepared to give a ‘new’ show a chance. The 2013 show includes Show & Shine, a vintage fair, vintage auction and swapmeet, as well as plenty of entertainment all weekend. if camping, you can arrive anytime from 6pm Friday evening, there’s a disco/hop in the bar on both Friday and Saturday evening, with Saturday also featuring Bands and the Vaudeville acts. (DJ and Burlesque Friday). Yes you can bring your dog, and in fact the venue is absolutely perfect to bring along the whole family. (Well maybe the kids should be in bed before the ‘Mama’s Kittens Burlesque show.) 
Saturday is a day with the ‘focus on the 40′s’. The whole weekend is dedicated to all aspects of Vintage, Hot Rod and Kustom Kulture, but if jive and swing are your thing, today might just be your favourite day! During Saturday afternoon, a swing band will be providing a laid back, jazzy vibe, whilst John Price interviews owners about the history of their 30′s and 40′s vehicles in the main arena. The grasstrack is open for any suitable vehicles to have a blast around the oval, or you can brows the trade stands and stalls selling all things vintage, or even take a vintage funfair ride.
Saturday evening features a record hop, and live bands Steve Hooker’s Stripped Down Stomping Band, the Q Plates Rockabilly and the awesome Jackson Sloan. The Q Plates are a slap bass, drums and guitar trio that don’t take anything too seriously and welcome a ‘rapport’ with the audience (OK… yes they actually like ‘banter’… even ‘heckling’.) They are back after storming the first ‘Kustom Kulture Spring Break’ in 2012, having a great time on stage and we’re excited to be having them back again for 2013.
Jackson Sloan first came to prominence in the early 80’s as the lead singer of one of the UK’s premier Swing bands Rent Party. Since then he made a fantastic solo album going into the Be Bop territory and in more recent years is back fronting yet another amazing 50’s R&B group called Oo Bop Sh Bam. Jackson really is one of the UK’s truly legitimate and authentic Blues Shouters and easily comparable to the greats in the genre.
Jackson Sloan and the Rhythm Tones (Sat)
Steve Hooker’s Stripped Down Stompin Band (Sat) 
The Friday evening shenanigans are rounded off with the ‘Spring Break’ Burlesque Show. After the Hop, and after you’ve put the kids to bed! The troupe, ‘Mamas Kittens’, are fronted by the delightful Miss Ruby Ripple, and feature both male and female performers during their hour long show.Like many Burlesque shows, Mamas Kittens have some routines which eventually feature not a great deal more than tassels… but also like most Burlesque routines, is presented in the spirit of harmless late night fun. If you feel that such a performance is likely to offend you however, please don’t stay simply to confirm your suspicions.
Spring Break Sunday. Although the whole weekend is dedicated to all aspects of Vintage, Hot Rod and Kustom Kulture, the focus on Sunday is on the 50′s and later. Cars and Bikes as late as 1973 are permitted in the main ‘Spring Break’ Show & Shine, and there is an additional Show & Shine competition for later vehicles of ‘special interest’. This will include classes for later American cars, all Custom vehicles including later bikes. (Modern Harley’s and other cruisers, Choppers, Bobbers etc.)
The grasstrack is open for suitable vehicle to have a blast around the oval once again, or you can take another opportunity to browse trade stands selling all things vintage, enjoy a vintage funfair ride, or search for a bargain in the swapmeet.. If that’s not enough, Stonham Barns really is a great venue for a show, with a driving range, owl and bird of prey centre, meerkats, golf course, fishing lakes, plenty of shops… (Check out the snakes, spiders and lizards while wandering the Market Square.)
Free Trading at Spring Break
Trade Pitches are free! All trade stands selling appropriate merchandise at the Vintage Kulture ‘Spring Break’ will not be asked to pay for their pitch. All you will pay is the normal event admission price for you and your staff. We are offering this free trading facility because we believe that traders add to the visitor experience, and we recognise both that we are a new show, and that general trading conditions for most of us are ‘challenging’ during the economic downturn. Once again, thanks to every single trader who supported the event in 2012, and we hope to welcome you back this year for an even busier weekend.
To print a trade stand booking form, click Chris Bright’s superb pic below, or on the text ‘trader2013PDF’ .
trader2013PDF
Camping at Stonham Barns
The price you pay when you arrive at Spring Break includes camping and all activity and entertainment, until the end of the show on Sunday afternoon. If you arrive Friday evening, your £25 weekend ticket includes two nights camping. (At a venue which normally charges £18 per night for normal tourists in the area) If you arrive anytime Saturday, your ticket price includes all activity and entertainment as well as camping Saturday night, and is priced the same as a ‘normal’ visitor on the Mid Suffolk Tourist Route. (£18) If you arrive on Sunday morning, the gate price is £7, a 30% reduction on the 2012 price, for NSRA members and members of NASC affiliated clubs.
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Your Guide to the venue
The full address for the Mid-Suffolk Showground is Stonham Barns, Pettaugh Road, Stonham Aspal, Suffolk. IP14 6AT.
As well as the Showground and camping areas, the leisure and retail complex includes two fishing lakes, the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary and Birds of Prey Centre, a 9 hole golf course, a driving range with resident PGA pro, crazy golf and children’s play area, and shops featuring aquatics and reptiles, hair & beauty, jewellery and clothing, gift and toys, china collectables, antiques, home furnishings, fitness & vibro club, garden centre, cafe/restaurant, general stores, and a Post Office. Many of the business operating on the site have their own websites, which can be accessed via www.stonhambarns.com One great thing about Stonham Barns from a camping point of view, is that you will not need to load your vehicle with a weekends supply of food. The general store on site supplies most of the items you might expect to find in your average ‘corner shop’ grocers, milk, fruit, veg, cooked and uncooked meat items, canned food and drinks including beers and lagers. And all at very competitive prices. The market square which houses the shops is in a ‘public’ part of the complex, but you are totally free to move between the showground itself and the public areas of site. The public cannot of course access the Showground.
How to get there
The Mid Suffolk Showground at Stonham Barns is a few miles from the A14 trunk road, which links the venue to the M1/M6 motorways at one end of the A14, and the port of Harwich at the other, (ideal for European visitors). It is a surprisingly simple and direct journey from the centre of the UK, and has good access from many other parts of the country. From the London area, the journey from the M25/A12 junction for example is around 1 hour. Birmingham is a little more than 2.5 hours, Peterborough about 1.5 hours, and even North Yorkshire is no more than a 4 hour journey, which for a road trip to a holiday destination has to be worth considering!
The postcode for sat nav or route planners IP14 6AT
Most Journeys will involve traveling on part of the A14. For the final part of the route, leave the A14 on the A140 Norwich Road, (direction Norwich). Continue on A140 noting brown ‘Suffolk Tourist Route’ signs directing you to Stonham Barns. These direct you to the A140/A1120 junction, a right turn onto the A1120 (Or left if you’re coming from Norwich direction). Follow the road, and after passing through through Stonham Aspal village, Stonham Barns, and the Showground itself are on the right hand side, abundantly signposted. 
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