Festival Drayton Centre packs out Market Drayton with Shaun Ryder and a busy new season

Market Drayton's community arts centre had a packed house in October 2026 when Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder brought his Q&A show to the Festival Drayton Centre, the first of two Shropshire dates on his autumn tour.

Promoting his new book, 24 Hour Party Person, Ryder told the audience how the Happy Mondays were formed, how the band split in the late 1980s and how his career continued with international chart success with Black Grape and a move into reality television. In the second half he answered questions from the floor, including tales from filming Celebrity Gogglebox and his fascination with UFOs.

The night was one of many in a busy season for a venue often described as the "beating heart of Market Drayton". The centre was brought into community ownership in 1984, when a disused chapel in the town centre came up for sale, and it has grown through two major developments into a modern auditorium for films and live events, with meeting rooms and a licensed coffee shop.

The centre is run with the help of more than 100 volunteers and won the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2014. After a major extension and refurbishment in 2004, it was named Best Regional Winner of the West Midlands Market Towns Award for regeneration in 2006.

Its programme for autumn 2026 runs from family films such as Shaun the Sheep to new releases, a satellite screening of the ballet Manon, an exhibition by Francesca Devine in the gallery and a local MDOADS production of Dad's Army in November. The centre also offers rooms for hire, from the Festival Room to the Garden Room, and its auditorium can even be booked for gaming events.

The centre has recently welcomed a new chair of trustees, Malcolm Kay, who thanked long-serving former chair Geoff Vernon MBE for helping to "create a wonderful facility for the Town".

Tickets and the latest listings are available from the box office on 01630 654444 and on the Festival Drayton Centre website.