FROM the creator of such improvised art events as the Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race, knitting live on stage, jazz bingo and Ian McMillan's Elvis bus tour of Ryedale comes The Shed's 25th Birthday Party on Thursday.

Left-field impresario Simon Thackray re-emerges from behind his trademark Shed door – after a hiatus dedicated to kicking up a stink over sewage matters in Brawby – to present visionary violinist and fortune teller Lynda Beast and The Fortune Teller's Caravan with spells in Malton, Pickering, Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, Hovingham and Brawby between 10.30am and 4.30pm.

Lynda Beast is an anagram and alter ego of Dylan Bates, long-time violinist with Billy Jenkins & The Blues Collective and stalwart collaborator with Thackray at The Shed.

"Touring Ryedale to celebrate 25 years of The Shed in this free event, Lynda will tell fortunes using her unique methods of divination; reading 'cards' in Kirkbymoorside and 'stains of teas' in Helmsley and scrying 'the tin of Pease Pudding' in Pickering," says Simon. "Lynda will alight for short spells in Malton and Hovingham before finishing her tour in Brawby with a BBC Music Day tap dancing special."

Should you be wondering, "scrying" is defined as a mystical divining or seeing. "Reading tea leaves is scrying; it can involve all manner of objects," says Simon.

"Lynda will read 'the Plastik Hands' – I assume these are little plastic hands – and 'the Cards with Wings', her speciality pack of cards of British birds, and she'll also be using 'the Tin of Pease Pudding' too.

"In Lynda’s case, she uses the Foresight tin because of its brand name; she doesn't take the top off; she just stares through the lid of the unopened tin, and even does that with her eyes closed sometimes.

"I suspect there’s a pinch of surrealist salt in there somewhere, but I might provide the customers with a welding face mask in case of flashes of bright light!"

York Press:

Lynda Beast's mode of transport for Thursday's 25th birthday party for The Shed: his Fortune Teller's Caravan. Picture: Simon Thackray

In preparation for her fortune-telling duties, Lynda has been doing her research, by the way. "She spotted the presence of a witching post at Ryedale Folk Museum, used for warding off witches, though she says she's a little uncertain of its range," says Simon.

Thursday's timetable will start at 10.30am at the gate of Yorkshire Water’s Waste Water Treatment Works, on the York Road Industrial Estate in Malton, where Lynda will give the world premiere live performance of A Sewer Dweller’s Song To His Mistress.

Lynda will move on to Malton Market Place, outside Derek Fox Butchers, for "possibly the longest stop of the tour" from 11.10am. "Lynda has told me she'll be reading some sausages in Malton, given that Malton is, by its own boasting, the Food Capital of Yorkshire," says Simon.

York Press:

The Fortune Teller's menu of readings

After taking a few trips with the caravan around the Brambling Fields roundabout on the A64 at 12.30pm for a forthcoming video, Lynda will visit Kirkbymoorside Market Place at 1.30pm and Helmsley Market Place at 2.30pm, and the finale will be at Brawby, the home of The Shed, from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.

To mark BBC Music Day today, BBC Local Radio, the BBC Asian Network and the British Plaque Trust are awarding 47 official Blue Plaques to commemorate people or places that have influenced the musical landscape across the country. BBC Radio York’s award will go to The Shed and the Blue Plaque will be fixed to Brawby village hall and unveiled during Jules Bellerby's show at 4.10pm in a ceremony conducted by the broadcaster.

"The Shed is such a worthy recipient of a Blue Plaque: a tiny venue in what you might call the middle of nowhere that brought the world to North Yorkshire in the acts Simon booked," says Jules.

York Press: Simon Thackray, of The Shed, Hovingham Picture: Mary Thackray

Simon Thackray with The Shed door

“This is a wonderful surprise and a great honour and I'm delighted to accept the Blue Plaque on behalf of The Shed’s audience and the artists who have entertained and thrilled us over the past 25 years,” says Simon.

Artist, writer and poet Colin Challen, the former Labour MP for Morley and Rothwell, will be artist in residence for the tour's duration. "Colin is another time-served Shed collaborator and he's a founding member of the Scagglethorpe International Arts Biennale committee too, " says Simon.

Among those attending will be The Shed and Mrs Boyes' Bingo "super-fan" Tony Lingard. "He's travelling from Oxford to be part of the 25th birthday celebrations, having followed The Shed to all parts of the country over the years, from London to Margate and Belfast to Cork," says Simon.

Lynda Beast and The Fortune Teller’s Caravan is dedicated to the memory of Russell Hopper (1961- 2014). "He was a keen supporter of The Shed for more than 20 years, and today's event has been made possible using money kindly donated by Russell’s family and friends," says Simon.

Before then, Lynda's new song, Your Fortune, can be heard online at theshed.co.uk, performed under another anagram alias: Stanley Bad.

York Press:

Simon Thackray launching The Shed in 1992

The Shed in 100 words

The Shed is a “pint-sized” music, poetry and performing arts venue on the edge of the North York Moors, created in 1992 by Brawby artist Simon Thackray, who has attracted artists from all over the world, including Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Japan, Finland, Alaska and Mongolia, to perform in North Yorkshire.

It has created and staged unique art events across Britain and Ireland in skips, rivers, ponds, village halls, vans, trucks and buses, ranging from the Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race on Bob's Pond to trombonist Alan Tomlinson's Fish and Chip Van Tour of Ryedale and Mrs Boyes’ Bingo featuring percussionist Mark Sanders.