IT is with great regret that the Directors of the Edington Music Festival have had to decide to cancel this year’s festival, the 65th, which was to have taken place from the 23 – 30 August.
Director Richard Pinel says, “In the light of the Coronavirus guidelines and regulations recently updated by the Prime Minister, it is clear that restrictions around the lockdown are very unlikely to be eased to accommodate the large numbers of visitors whom we would normally expect in the Priory Church during the festival. With an eye to ‘Safety First’ for our hosts, the community, our musicians and our visitors, we will not be holding the festival this year. Needless to say, this is a cause of great sadness to us all.”
He continues, “However, the festival in 2021 will still be the 65th, and we will be able simply to move this year’s programme to next year. We have all the music and themes for each day in place ready for re-activation. It will be a doubly celebratory week of glorious music in an environment which is very dear to all of us who are involved in this unique event.”
Preparations are also being made for ‘Edington Online’ during the festival period. We will celebrate our core tenets of friendship and fine liturgical music through a series of online videos, making use of archive material and new virtual-choir recordings along with readings and thoughts for the day from our regular team of festival participants and clergy. Information and updates will be posted on the website, www.edingtonfestival.org and through our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages.
