This year’s 60th anniversary of Highbridge Festival Of The Arts has been celebrated with the publication of a special souvenir brochure recounting the history of the event.
The 40-page publication looks at the festival’s highs and lows since 1947 and includes memories from the dozens of people who have been helped organise it.
“The history of the festival has reached another important milestone since Mr A Watson, headmaster at St John CEVC School in Highbridge, and his small committee started it all in 1947 with the first festival in 1948,” organiser Jenny Golding told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“This small volume was made possible following the receipt of a donation from the Highbridge History Project and a legacy from a former committee member.”
The first Highbridge Festival Of The Arts was held over a half day in May 1948 and included classes covering vocal, instrumental and country dancing. The event quickly became so popular that classes for adult singing, choirs and instrumentals were added. And by 1977 the festival had been extended to three weeks with entries spanning a huge 1,200 classes.
After 35 years in Highbridge, the event moved to Burnham-On-Sea when Highbridge’s Town Hall was deemed unsafe. Since 1984, the event has been held in The Princess Hall.
Several notable names from the world of entertainment have begun their careers at the festival, including Stephen Daldry and Rupert Graves.
The 2007 event will be held in The Princess Hall from February 28th. It will include dance categories between February 28th and March 4th; speech and drama categories on March 5th and 6th; music categories between March 7th-10th; and the final concert on March 17th.
Copies of the souvenir brochure are available, priced £1.50, from Burnham Post Office.
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