Oxfordshire’s most famous gang are serving up a refreshing tonic of music, song and dance to beat those credit crunch blues. The sheer enthusiasm of the 190 or so Brownies, Cubs, Scouts and Guides from units around the county shines through from the moment the curtain goes up at the Oxfordshire Gang Show, a variety spectacular where young people get a welcome chance to enjoy themselves on a professional stage.

While a few rough edges are inevitable, this year’s show, directed by Kim Griffiths, lifts the performance bar in terms of the chorus numbers and choreography. The opening number requires precision timing and concentration. The gang slowly move to form patterns on the stage, which at one point cleverly spells out the initials of OGS, while singing songs made famous by the show’s late founder, Ralph Reader.

Afterwards the junior gang spend a day at the seaside. Dressed in 1920s outfits they present a lively and colourful song-and-dance routine, performed in front of beach huts, a Punch and Judy show and a lighthouse. Among the other 12 routines is Street Fusion, which showcases the senior gang’s dancing skills with a mixture of street dance and salsa styles, while in Museum the exhibits come to life.The show covers a wide spectrum of music ranging from A Rollicking Band of Pirates We from Gilbert and Sullivan to Thin Lizzy’s hit The Boys are Back in Town.

There is no shortage of comedy, too, with well-scripted sketches including a send up of TV’s Take Your Pick. Another humorous offering, Home Wreckers, focuses on the appalling skills of three workmen and is performed to the song Right Said Fred.

Equally amusing is Channel Hopping, where the television storylines become confused as a phantom remote control zapper goes to work.

But best comes last. The finale begins with a song specially written by the show’s assistant director Paul Cox. Our Choice rightly takes its place alongside Gang Show classics such as Riding Along on a Crest of a Wave.

So why not support the best gang in town. The show continues at 7.15pm at the New Theatre, Oxford, until Saturday when there is also a matinee at 2pm.

Geoffrey Hedge st of hiring a grand piano for one event,” organiser Michael Bourdeaux told me. “So last year we had five concerts over one week-end, the Iffley Anglo-Russian Piano Festival. I was amazed by the response: five full houses – so I said yes when asked to put on another festival this year. This time I've organised five very different concerts.”

The festival, from February 13-15, kicks off with a Czech duo, mezzo-soprano Lucie Spickova and pianist Lada Valesova, who will include Czech repertoire in their programme. They were in Oxford recently for the Oxford Lieder Festival, where the audience much enjoyed their fresh and unfamiliar repertoire of Czech songs, and their relaxed, light-hearted presentation.

There is also a strong emphasis on performers with local connections. Lucie Spickova studied at Oxford University, and violinist Rebecca Minio-Paluello and her pianist partner Kate Whitley both come from Oxford – Rebecca’s earliest violin lessons were in Iffley itself. Their programme on Saturday (14) includes sonatas by Debussy, Janacek, 0and Ravel’s fiendish Tzigane. Pianist Craig Greene and flautist Louise Maltby are both music scholars at Oxford. Craig’s recital was a highlight of last year’s festival. On Saturday evening, they play a mixed programme of pieces ranging from Handel to contemporary works.

There is one solo piano recital – by Cordelia Williams, who won the piano section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2006, and who had to withdraw from last year’s festival through illness. On Sunday afternoon she offers a programme of Schubert Impromptus and Chopin pieces including the fourth Ballade. She is also premiering Hugh Brunt’s Fracture, the first-ever commission by Iffley Music Society. The final concert features cellist Madeleine Ridd, with a rich programme, including Brahms and Beethoven sonatas and a Bach unaccompanied cello suite.

All concerts take place in Iffley Church Hall, an intimate venue which combines a warm atmosphere with a lively acoustic.

Tickets and full details are available from Michael Bourdeaux, telephone: 01865 777276, e-mail: mbourdeaux@freenet.co.uk Giles Woodforde