• WILDLIFE supporters fighting to conserve threatened orangutans are hoping to boost funds with the help of a lucky rabbit foot.

The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band are among the acts playing the orange Tie Ball at the Big Bang on Saturday, in aid of the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS).

The jazz-swing band will join comedian Bill Bailey, a familiar face to millions for his appearances on QI and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and Oxford country-rock band The Dreaming Spires. There will also be traditional Indonesian music and dance from the Oxford Gamelan Society and a three course dinner followed by a fundraising auction. And while Oxford’s own Kings of the Swingers are more at home in the urban jungle than the tropical rainforests, they are keen to get involved. ORFSB leader Stuart Macbeth said: “We are delighted to be playing in support of SOS and its vital project work. I’ll be bidding in the auction too; one of the items is a bottle of wine from Mick Hucknall's vineyard. I quite fancy drinking that on the bus ride home”.

Tickets are £45 from orangutans-sos.org

  • WE aren’t even into the worse of winter, but already minds are turning to next summer’s festival season. First out of the blocks are those dapper chaps at Cornbury, who have announced their high-end weekender at Great Tew will take place from July 5-7.

Next year will be the festival’s 10th anniversary and organiser Hugh Phillimore is planning a greatest hits-style line-up, inviting back many of the names who went down well over the past decade.

Early bird tickets go on sale next Thursday. Adult weekend tickets with camping passes start at £150 – a saving of £35. Family and other options are also available. Go to cornburyfestival.com or call 0844 338 0000. Those lads at Truck have also been busy. They are planning another two-dayer, to take place at Hill Farm, Steventon, on July 19-20. Keep the date free.

  • ONE of the more bizarre additions to the winter programme has been the announcement of a tour by outlandish girl three-piece Stooshe.

The sassy singers hit the O2 Academy Oxford on December 16, fresh from a support slot for Jennifer Lopez. Tickets are £12.50 from ticketweb.co.uk