The Committee of the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama is pleased to announce that a special, scaled-down version of the Festival is still planned for March 2021. Deadline for entries is imminent!
Due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 virus and the anticipated restrictions, it will not be possible to hold the Festival in its entirety in March. The Committee has also made the difficult decision to postpone its Centenary celebrations until 2022 when it is hoped that it will be possible to mark the occasion appropriately.
Instead, the Festival will be reduced to 3-4 days of solo performances only, with restricted numbers of performers and audience per session (dependent on the Government guidelines at the time), taking place between March 8-12, 2021. However
The Festival’s Chairman, Julia Smith said: “The last six months have been extremely challenging for those in the performing arts industry. As a result, the Committee feels it is so important for musicians and artists to have the opportunity to give a live performance, if at all possible, within a safe, compliant environment, which so many performers have missed in recent months. We will be constantly monitoring the progress of the pandemic. Whilst we want to be able to deliver a live performance opportunity, if this does not prove possible, we have contingency plans to move online instead so performers would still have the opportunity to perform and receive feedback. A decision on this will be taken nearer the time if this does prove necessary but we will let performers know in good time.”
The Festival, which has been running since 1921, provides a showcase for the wealth of talent in the amateur performing arts in Bedfordshire and the surrounding area. In an ordinary year, the Festival offers a wide range of classes for all ages and abilities covering most musical genres as well as varied Speech & Drama classes.
A special edition electronic version of the Syllabus has been published for this year only and can be found on the following link: https://www.bedfordshirefestival.org.uk/Home/Syllabus
With entries closing on December 13, 2020, now is the time to decide which classes you would like to try!
For further information, please contact the
Festival Secretary, Alix Smith: tel: 07824 829097, e: festival@bedfordshirefestival.org.uk
Sign up for your daily digest of local Bedfordshire news here:
https://www.bedsbulletin.com/kempston/sign-up/