The Festival season will soon be underway and with the full programme for the Hay Festival due out on April 10th, we have heard the news that Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be at the Hay Festival in May. After ex-President of the USA, Jimmy Carter, came to Hay last year, Desmond Tutu will be the second recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize to visit the town. Already well-known for its books, Hay’s Festival brings some very well-known people to the area; others appearing this year include Alan Bennett, Michael Morpurgo and the South African musician Hugh Masekela.
The Ledbury Poetry Festival (described by Andrew Motion as the best in the country) returns between July 3rd and 12th with such writers as Joan Bakewell, Michael Horowitz, Roger McGough and Benjamin Zephaniah. Pam Ayres came once, and proved to be very popular! Last year there was a very successful Poetry Breakfast under the Market House which The Woodhouse sponsored. Pastries and croissants were consumed whilst we were entertained by two excellent poets reading their own work.
In August, Hereford hosts the Three Choirs Festival; it rotates between Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester. I sing as a second Soprano with the Hereford contingent, having managed to pass the auditon for another three years which is a great relief! It is quite an ordeal to stand before Geraint Bowen, our conductor, and his assistant Peter, and then have to sing a piece at sight!
Intrinsically an English festival, featuring the works of such English and indeed local composers such as Elgar, there should be something to appeal to most tastes. The Festival Chorus sings large-scale choral works like The Dream of Gerontius and Elijah, both in this year’s programme, but there are also the Three Cathedral Choirs of Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester and other small choirs including the Rodolfus Choir. Orchestral groups range from The Philharmonia Orchestra to small instrumental groups including Fretwork (“the finest viol consort on the planet”), brass ensembles and string quartets. There are also talks and plays and other events both in Hereford and in nearby venues. The booking forms were made open to the general public yesterday by post and online booking goes live from 10th April.
Inbetween these larger festivals, we have the smaller ones too -just one example is The Big Apple Blossomtime celebration the first weekend in May. This is a combination of activities related to apples and cider-making, held around orchards in the Ledbury area, which should be in full blossom just then.
There is such alot that happens in this area – relatively unpopulated as it is and relatively unheard of, it is a wonderful place to live and we hope to be able to tempt you to come and stay or make a repeat visit if you have been before. Sue
