Success in the sunshine for final festival weekend
After 17 days of top-quality musical and theatrical performances, the Bury Festival 2009 came to a sun-drenched close.
On Sunday, crowds gathered in the Abbey Gardens for the classical proms night, featuring soprano Rebecca Bottone and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, followed by a firework display.
The proms provided the perfect end to a highly-successful Festival, which was crammed full with brass bands, drive-inmovies, jazz quartets, art installations, orchestras and folk groups delivering performances across the town’s many venues, including the Corn Exchange, St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Cornhill Walk Shopping Centre.
Nick Wells, Festival manager, said: “This year’s Festival has been brilliant. I know I keep saying it, but the Festival really does keep getting better and better each year.
“I have been getting the most amazing feedback from audience members, who have been amazed by what they have seen and heard.
“The 70s and 80s night was just brilliant, Matthew Sharp and Johnny’s Midnight Goggles worked wonderfully and the Philharmonic Orchestra was the highest quality orchestral performance we have ever had at the festival.”
Despite the current credit crunch, Nick said tickets had sold well, with many performances selling-out or nearly selling out.
“It has been a bit mixed with ticket sales this year. Some things sold incredibly well, while others were slow to take off,” he said.
“People have certainly been buying their tickets later than usual, which was a bit of a worry at first, but it did pick up and many performances sold out,” he added.
Drive-in-movies were a huge success, as were the international films at the Hollywood Film Theatre – two elements which are hoped to feature again in next year’s Festival.
Weather also played an important role in the success of the Festival, with the sun shining down for the Beating Retreat, street theatre and the Abbey Gardens concerts, which were all held outdoors.
“We had so many people to enjoy the street theatre, which was helped by the good weather, and the sky looked beautiful at the proms concert – we were just so lucky,” Nick said.
Nick has confirmed the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and Grimethorpe Colliery Band will perform at next year’s Festival and hopes he can build on the success of this year to deliver an even better Festival in 2010.
Article taken from Bury Free Press, Friday May 29
