THERE’S still plenty more to enjoy during the Westbury Music and Arts Festival, as the programme works its way towards its finale on the 2nd October.
The festival opened with an exciting folk weekend, a new addition to this year’s festival. Crowds turned out to enjoy the free festivities in the All Saints Churchyard on Saturday 17th, with market stalls, appalachian clog dancers, morris dancers and Irish dancers all twirling their talents, while audiences had the chance to join in and learn some of the moves themselves.
The remaining events range from Matravers’ So You Think You Can Dance competition to the celebrated Big Draw, and from the blue grass of the Bow Legged Skeeters to the musical delights of mezzo-soprano Nina Alupii Morton and pianist Maria Angel.
The festival concludes on the 2nd October with the welcome return of the popular Opus One Swing Band, whose repertoire includes the music of Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, and Sammy Nestico, and the songs of George Gershwin, Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and more.
Roy Inwood, chair of the Westbury Music and Arts Festival committee said, “The performances so far have been tremendous, and I think we had a rousing success with the market day [on the 17th September]. Big thanks must go to Mick and Helen Franks for organising and sponsoring the folk weekend.
“With the upcoming events, Opus One and Finnegans Wake [Irish Folk Band] are the ones that are selling the best at the moment, although I’m looking forward to everything else in the festival!”
Tickets for festival events are on sale from Town and Country in the High Street on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10.00am-2.30pm.
For those who cannot make it to the ticket office, tickets can be purchased by sending a stamped addressed envelope to WMAF, 10 Meadow Lane, Westbury, BA13 3AE, along with a cheque for the quantity of tickets required, made payable to Westbury Music and Arts Festival (please also write the name of event and quantity of tickets on the back of the cheque). Where available, tickets will also be sold on the door.
More information about the festival and events is available at www.wmafestival.co.uk, or turn to the centre pages of this issue for upcoming events.
• If you enjoy a festival event, let us know with a Letter to the Editor! Send us your festival feedback to whitehorsenews@btconnect.com or post to 31 Market Place, Melksham, Wiltshire. SN12 6ES
