Quiz Night
2026-04-08 20:00 - 23:00, 2026-03-11 20:00 - 23:00, 2026-02-11 20:00 - 23:00, 2026-01-14 20:00 - 23:00, 2025-12-10 20:00 - 23:00 (Europe/London)
Quiz Night every 2nd Wednesday of the month with our quizmaster Mike Burt. Mike is renowned for his research and he delivers a challenging quiz.

Acoustic Beatles Shambles | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-06 15:00 - 17:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
A group of musicians who put equal emphasis on “acoustic”, “Beatles” and “shambles”. A wonderfully uplifting sing-a-long experience.
Check them out on Facebook!
The band
Lawrie Wright
Carlton Taylor
Matt Girling
Peter Wright

Hybrid P.I.G | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-05 21:00 - 23:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
Folk-rock with original material, rock and pop covers and even a little community singing.

Ma Bessie & her Pigfoot Band | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-05 13:00 - 15:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
Classic blues and jazz tunes from the inter-war years with a selection of original songs and hand-picked covers.

Rufus Ruffcut | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-04 21:00 - 23:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
Great musicians playing an eclectic mix of blues and soul.

The Acetones | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-04 17:00 - 19:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
The Acetones (pronounce it how you like) are a London 4 piece Blues Band, playing standard blues songs with an individual twist. The band consists of: Pete (lead guitar & vocals), Steve (drums), John (rhythm guitar, harmonica & vocals), Carlos (bass). They have all played in various recording and live bands in London over many years, with recordings being released in different genres.
Steve is a regular Cajon player at the Retreat for Low Key Sundays.

David Gray & John Dunsterville | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-03 19:00 - 21:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
Join us for an evening of blues, rock and silliness!

Stuart Maxwell's Blues Raiders | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-03 15:00 - 17:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
An evening of lively Blues music with vocalist and harmonica player Stuart Maxwell.

Phil Braithwaite & Friends | The Village Easter Festival
2026-04-02 21:00 - 23:00 | The Retreat Pub, 8 St John's Street, Reading, RG1 4EH, United Kingdom
This gig is part of The Village Easter Festival.
Phil Braithwaite is a composer, guitarist and author currently based in London.
Composer, Phil has written music for TV, adverts and commercials all over the world. Credits include American Horror Story, Harley Davidson, Ocado, Crystal Palace Football Club and many more.
An up-and-coming film composer. Composed the score for the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival nominated ‘Nan’ and ‘Buster’. Currently working on his first feature film ‘Everything After’.
Guitarist for the internationally renowned violin virtuoso Vanessa-Mae, other credits include Shane Filan, Westlife, X-Factor, The Game, Four Tops, Jonas Blue and many more.
Author of two critically acclaimed guitar tuition books. Adventurous Open Chords for the creative guitarist and Developing Phrasing and Solo’s for guitar.
After struggling at school, Phil got an opportunity to study music at Coventry University. During that time he practiced guitar between 8-15 hours every day. This period in his early 20s changed his life. Upon completing his degree he achieved the two highest grades the university had ever awarded, 95% and 98% for his final performances. Phil attained a First Class Honours Degree in Music and Professional Practice. Following these achievements, Phil was offered a scholarship from the record label EMI to study the master performance course at Tech Music Schools in London. Upon graduation, Phil was given the award for the ‘Best Performer’ on the course.
At 23 Phil became the youngest university lecturer in the UK, lecturing at The Academy of Music and Sound in Southampton and Birmingham as well as Coventry University.
In 2011, wrote his first book ‘Adventurous Open Chords for the Creative Guitarist’. This book was really well received by the guitar community and picked as one of the Best Guitar Tomes by Guitarist Magazine. He followed this book up two years later with his second book ‘Developing Phrasing and Solos for Guitar’. This was again picked up by Guitarist Magazine as one of their Best Guitar Tomes in 2013.
Since then Phil has toured the world as guitarist, session musician and musical director for some of the biggest names in the music world as well as performing on major TV and Radio shows. Also featuring on ex-Westlife singer Shane Filan’s top 10 debut solo album, playing guitar, ukelele and backing vocals.
Guests to be confirmed.

Jazz with Stuart Henderson, Simon Price and guests
2026-03-29 15:30

Jazz Singers' Night
2026-03-25 20:00, 2025-12-17 20:00

Low-Key Sunday
2026-03-22 15:30, 2026-01-18 15:30, 2025-12-14 15:30
Expect a more relaxed couple of sets of music..it’s Low-Key. And it will be less structured than most of our evening live music events.
In keeping with the nature of Low-Key Sundays, we list performers in alphabetical order.
It IS NOT an open mic event.

The definition of low-key:
low-key
/ləʊˈkiː/
adjective: low-key
not elaborate, showy, or intensive; modest or restrained.

The Pickled Onion Competition 2026
2026-03-15 15:00 - 18:00
You are invited to enter the Pickled Onion Contest 2026 at The Retreat pub in Reading. This is a very straightforward contest: You make your pickled onions, bring them to The Retreat, and we judge the winners. Read the history of the Pickled Onion Contest.
Here are the details you need:
DATE: Sunday 15th March 2026
TIME: 15.00 to 18.00
VENUE: The Retreat, 8 St Johns Street, Reading, RG1 4EH
COST: Free to enter
You can make our life easier by letting us know if you are entering, but this is not essential. An idea of numbers helps us prepare better.
Spectators are welcome. There should be ample opportunity to sample the submissions as well.
Pickled Onion Contest Rules

You must make your own pickled onions from raw onions or shallots.
You may add any ingredients you like.
Your entry should be brought to The Retreat, on the day of the contest at 15.00, in a sealed container.
Do not put your name on the jar. Your entry will be given a number that the judges will refer to.

Judging Criteria
The judges will decide the winners based on the following criteria:

Appearance
Colour
Crunch
Taste

The Judges
The judges’ names will be posted here soon.

The History of the Pickled Onion Contest

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Pickled Onions:
Pickled onions are a food item consisting of onions (cultivars of allium cepa) pickled in a solution of vinegar and salt, often with other preservatives and flavourings. There is a variety of small white pickled onions known as ‘silverskin’ onions, due to imperfections they are pickled instead of being wasted. They are frequently used as an essential component of the Martini cocktail variant known as a Gibson.
Pickled onions are usually pickled in malt vinegar and the onions are about 25 mm (1 inch) in diameter. Silverskin onions are pickled in white vinegar and are much smaller. Full-sized onions, e.g. Spanish Onions, can be pickled if sliced first.

Rugby
2026-03-14 14:10
Showing on the big screen!
IRE – SCO 14:10
WAL – ITA 16:40
FRA – ENG 20:10

The Sidemen
2026-03-07 20:30

Fusion 6
2026-02-28 20:30
A blend of funk, jazz, blues & Latin elements until they feel the groove!

Jazz Singers’ Night
2026-02-25 20:00, 2026-01-28 20:00

Jazz with Stuart Henderson, Simon Price and guests
2026-02-22 15:30
Lineup:
Stuart Henderson – trumpet
Simon Price – drums
Alan Barnes – sax
Tom Berge – piano
Murray Dare – bass

The Helen Bolton Cribbage Tournament 2026
2026-02-15 15:00 - 21:00
Date: Sunday, 15 February 2026
Time: 15.00 to 21.00
Venue: The Retreat, 8 St John’s Street, Reading, RG1 4EH
Format:
16 teams of 2 (32 players in total)
£5 per player/£10 per team
8 tables to start
Knockout
Spectators welcome
Proceeds to Duchess of Kent Hospice (Sue Ryder), Reading.
Spaces are limited, so enter now!

Jazz with Stuart Henderson, Simon Price and guests
2026-01-25 15:30
Lineup:
Stuart Henderson – trumpet
Simon Price – drums
Piers Green – sax
Pete Billington – keys
Stuart Barker – bass

Rufus Ruffcut Xmas Bash with Mince Pies
2025-12-20 20:30

Phil Braithwaite & Friends
2025-12-13 20:30
Enjoy a great set from Phil Braithwaite & Friends, led by a guitarist and composer with music in film and TV.
