Over the Kitchen Table with Martin Newell, Mercury Studio Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, 8pm. £12. 01206 573948.

HE'S a local legend and almost a national treasure, and with no Golden Afternoon this year this is the only time to see the Wivenhoe-based poet and singer/songwriter before his annual Christmas poetry bash with John Cooper Clarke.

Expect tales of rock n roll, life in an estuary town and general East Anglian gorgeousness.

Johnnie Walker: The Story of Pirate Radio and the Summer of Love, Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, today, 7.30pm. £21. 01206 573948.

ONE of the only pirate DJ's still working on the airwaves today recalls 50 years of the Summer of Love and just what it was like to be on the 'boats that rocked'.

The Mersea Island Lions Summer Show and Transport Classics Event, Waldegraves Holiday Park, Waldegraves Lane, West Mersea, tomorrow, 11am to 5pm. Adults £4, children (5-16) £1.

THIS is one of the club’s main fund-raising events of the year with plenty of stalls, food, beer tents, live music, a dog show, crafts and more than 270 classic cars.

With the club marking their 40th anniversary next year money raised goes to help the less fortunate people within the Mersea Island area.

SlackFolk, Piatto Café, Priory Walk, Colchester, 2pm. Free but donations welcome. 07850 773291.

HIGHLIGHTS at this month's gathering of the very best in acoustic and folk music include American singer/songwriter now based here, Philip Marino, Kevin Wortley playing high energy blues and jazz standards and Stan Harvey, who regularly performs at the Arts Centre playing American folk and country songs.

SUMMER HOLIDAY TREAT

Film Camp, Signals, St Runwald Street, Colchester, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10am, £80 for the two days. 01206 560255.

BUDDING Spielbergs and Scorseses will be in movie heaven next week when Colchester Signals runs one of its popular two-day film camps.

Aged at 11 and above, it gives young aspiring flimmakers a fantastic opportunity to learn the process of making a film, including; scriptwriting, storyboarding, set design, cinematography, special FX and editing.