Still chance to catch Petworth Festival Autumn Special online

Petworth Festival rose to the challenge of the toughest of times to pull off a hugely successful autumn special.
artistic director Stewart Collinsartistic director Stewart Collins
artistic director Stewart Collins

“Somehow we made it happen and boy was it good”, says artistic director Stewart Collins. The live part of the festival concluded last Sunday night. “At any point over the last six months we could have had the rug pulled from underneath us as we went in and out of various levels of lockdown or Covid-based restriction, but remarkably we have been able to stage and stream all 26 of our events problem free and received the most gratifying amount of support and appreciation as a result.

“With music events including classical superstars Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason and guitarist MILOŠ and literary talks spent in the company of top authors such as William Boyd, Joanna Trollope and Anthony Horowitz, not only has the feedback from audiences been overwhelmingly positive, but so has the response from performers and authors alike.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We knew that we were one of the few festivals running with any kind of live audience this year, but the thanks we have received from our performers and authors has been extraordinary. They have doubtless been missing live interaction with audiences but we hadn’t appreciated quite how extreme these feelings were.’

“You can watch many of the autumn special events on demand until midnight Saturday, November 7 via www.petworthfestival.org.uk. With St Mary’s Church being made to look a million dollars by our brilliant production team, the Petworth events do have a real sense of presence, intimacy and specialness.

“From a purely personal point of view, I would recommend that people catch the literary events featuring Anthony Horowitz and William Boyd and the inspirational War Doctor David Nott.”