It’s all about races on Girls Around Town this Sunday – two races to be precise and they couldn’t be more different!

Stage Four of the Tour of Britain comes to town on Wednesday 6 September, bringing with it thousands of visitors ready to line the streets and cheer on the cyclists as they head to the grand finish at Sconce and Devon Park.

But the festivities in Newark begin a day earlier….

For the last few weeks, Louise Clark of A Little Bird Told Me Emporium and Melanie Luff have been busy organising a Craft Market as part of the pre-tour celebrations happening on Tuesday 5 September.

They’ll be joining June and Tina in the first hour of the show to share details of some the gifts and goodies available to browse and buy from the 30-plus stalls open in the Market Place between 4pm and 9.30pm.

Then, from a cycle race around Britain to a horse race around a piazza in Tuscany when writer and blogger Jane Keightley makes a welcome return to the Radio Newark studios to describe her latest Italian adventure. Not as a participant, mind you, but as one of the thousands of spectators watching the historic Palio di Siena  recently…

Dating back to medieval times, this breathtaking spectacle is held twice a year, in July and August. It’s a fast and furious affair with 10 jockeys, riding bareback and dressed in colourful costumes, completing  a thrilling three laps of the Piazza del Campo, usually in under 90 seconds.

Tune in or listen online between 10am and 12 noon on Sunday to find out what’s in store for Newark on 5 September from Louise and Melanie and what’s next on Jane’s Italian itinerary.