Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama

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Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama The Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama provides a showcase for the wealth of talent in the amateur performing arts in the area.

🎺 Sound the fanfare for the new Chair of the Festival! 🎺For today's instalment of our Meet the Committee series, it's ti...
08/02/2025

🎺 Sound the fanfare for the new Chair of the Festival! 🎺

For today's instalment of our Meet the Committee series, it's time to wish a very warm welcome to our new Festival Chairman, Lucy Copeman 🤩

While Lucy has been on the Festival committee for a few years, and attending for many years to watch her own children perform, 2025 is the first year with Lucy at the helm and she is working super hard behind the scenes to raise the profile of the Festival, to reach new schools and young people, and to continue the Festival's tradition of being a warm, welcoming and encouraging place to nurture a performer's skills.

Lucy said: "The Festival is a week-long celebration of the incredible talent and creativity within our county and beyond and we are so excited to welcome performers of all ages to the stages of the Corn Exchange on the 1st March. I applaud all our participants for their dedication and hard work, and the bravery it takes to step into the spotlight, It is such a special occasion and we can't wait to share it with you all."

Be sure to say hello to Lucy when you come along to the Festival this year - she is looking forward to welcoming and getting to know all the performers, stewards and audience members who make the Festival such an exciting and memorable event 🎻🎭

Our friends at have announced the return of Bedford's beloved Proms in the Park concert which will take place on Sunday...
06/02/2025

Our friends at have announced the return of Bedford's beloved Proms in the Park concert which will take place on Sunday 6th July, and just for today you can get hold of a ticket for a special launch price of just £25 (plus fees)!

But you'll have to hurry as this price is only available until 10am tomorrow so get your skates on and head over to smmr.se/Bedford to snap yours up!

Today we're saying a massive thank you to another of our Bedford superhero sponsors - the wonderful team at ♥️We're del...
04/02/2025

Today we're saying a massive thank you to another of our Bedford superhero sponsors - the wonderful team at ♥️

We're delighted that they've chosen to support us in 2025, and will be helping us to give even more young people from across Bedfordshire and beyond the chance to perform, to share their talent and to develop their creative skills.

Thank you, Robinson and Hall, you absolute legends! 🙌

For today's Meet the Committee post, say hello to the lovely Lucy 👋Lucy joined the committee last year and has already b...
01/02/2025

For today's Meet the Committee post, say hello to the lovely Lucy 👋

Lucy joined the committee last year and has already been a really positive driving force in all sorts of areas - especially working super hard on fundraising and building the Festival's profile in the community.

Both of Lucy's children have grown up taking part in the Festival and have even been selected to perform in our Gala concert in previous years, so she understands how valuable the Festival experience can be for young people.

Lucy said: "Many children grow up seeing the wonder of on-screen music and drama, but never get the chance to experience it themselves. The Bedfordshire Festival gives them this amazing opportunity.

"My children have loved performing at the festival for years. They have learned so much, gained confidence, and made friends.

"I volunteer at the Festival so that joy of music, speech and drama can be experienced by everybody."

Be sure to look out for Lucy during Festival week and if you'd like to talk about getting your business involved as a sponsor for as little as £500, Lucy's the lady to speak to!

💬 Giving children an opportunity to go on a journey of realising confidence they don't always know they have is priceles...
30/01/2025

💬 Giving children an opportunity to go on a journey of realising confidence they don't always know they have is priceless.

The process is just as important as the product, with our pupils working in small groups to challenge, support and improve each others' performance, developing a sense of togetherness that can't be easily replicated.

They are given an opportunity to deconstruct and explore a poem amidst a jam-packed curriculum, making small gains through practicing a poem that becomes a part of them.

Finally, by giving them a grand stage and platform to perform on provides them with an opportunity you can rarely reproduce in a state school.

This is further appreciated when our pupils manage to place or win against students from independent schools, as typically, our students are not in the same position of advantage, yet prove they have every right to be present, and compete.💬

Dan Wiltshire
Headteacher
Brickhill Primary School

Our Festival simply couldn't happen without the generous support of the local businesses who sponsor us - companies that...
28/01/2025

Our Festival simply couldn't happen without the generous support of the local businesses who sponsor us - companies that are passionate about offering creative opportunities to our young people - and we are so grateful to all of them!

The first of our superstar sponsors to get a shout out is the fantastic team at !

Thank you for supporting us and continuing to champion the work that we do, you are absolute heroes 🙌

For today's Meet the Committee post, it's only right I say hello myself! 👋I'm Olivia Cooper and I look after the social ...
25/01/2025

For today's Meet the Committee post, it's only right I say hello myself! 👋

I'm Olivia Cooper and I look after the social media for the Beds Festival, and I'm also involved with the outreach programme, the music and drama planning, and various other activities on the Festival committee.

You may also see me at the Festival as one of the team of accompanists, which is one of my favourite bits of the job!

I performed in the Festival myself as a pianist when I was younger, and now have my own students taking part across both music and speech and drama, so I see first hand the benefits of participating in the Festival and the wonderful things it can do for a student's confidence and also for their technique. I am passionate about giving performance opportunities to as many children as possible, and helping them to learn from and encourage each other.

The absolute highlight for me is seeing young people who are not necessarily the most confident take to the stage and overcome their fears and insecurities to perform. Even if they don't go away with a trophy, that is the biggest win in my eyes.

I can't wait to see everyone in March and to have the privilege of watching you all show off your hard work and talent! Be sure to give me a wave when you're there, and if you're feeling brave I'd love to feature a photo or video of you on our social pages so you can tell everyone what a great job you've done!

See you there, you talented bunch! 🤩

💬 Ursula Taylor Church of England School has been taking part in the Bedfordshire Festival for Music, Speech and Drama f...
23/01/2025

💬 Ursula Taylor Church of England School has been taking part in the Bedfordshire Festival for Music, Speech and Drama for over twenty years. We have entered our choir into both the competitive classes, and also, on occasion, into the non-competitive class.

It is the perfect focus for our choir, as it provides us with an excellent occasion to prepare the children for. They gain the enjoyment and experience of singing for an audience, which is always so exciting. Our choir has had the good fortune to be successful in the festival several times, however, the most important value of this experience is the opportunity for each individual to flourish through singing and performance.

It is a joy to join together with other schools to enjoy and appreciate the many performances there are. We have always received such a warm welcome whenever we have been part of this festival. 💬

Samantha Wintle
Ursula Taylor C of E Primary School

It's Blue Monday - a day that's officially the most depressing day of the year 😩If you've got a case of the January blue...
20/01/2025

It's Blue Monday - a day that's officially the most depressing day of the year 😩

If you've got a case of the January blues, first of all, don't worry - the Festival is in just a few weeks and that's guaranteed to put a spring in your step!

But our recommendation today is to try and do something creative even if it's just for 10-15 minutes, as the proven benefits of art, drama and music on our mental health are staggering.

Whether you take a moment to sing your favourite song while you're making a cup of tea, to practice a much loved piece on a musical instrument, to take yourself off somewhere quiet to do some creative writing on your break, or you simply just listen to a beautiful piece of music on your headphones during a dog walk - those few mindful minutes of letting the creative world in might just be the thing that banishes some of the winter blues out.

We hope Blue Monday isn't too blue for you today!

Wishing everyone a very happy World Religion Day! 🥳We are excited to be holding our 'Reading from a Religious Text' clas...
19/01/2025

Wishing everyone a very happy World Religion Day! 🥳

We are excited to be holding our 'Reading from a Religious Text' class once again in 2025, where we can enjoy presentations of our performers' favourite passages from their chosen religious text.

This is a special and joyous class that never fails to inspire, and we are delighted to be able to offer an opportunity for people young and old to explore the beauty and the challenges of reading aloud from a book of their faith.

We would be delighted for you to join us to watch this delightful class - look out for it in our full 2025 programme, available soon!

There's still time to advertise your business or event in our 2025 Festival programme! 🤩For more information and for ful...
16/01/2025

There's still time to advertise your business or event in our 2025 Festival programme! 🤩

For more information and for full pricing, contact [email protected] before the end of January!

Next up in our 'meet the committee' series is the lovely Manoj. Manoj joined the committee a couple of years ago and is ...
14/01/2025

Next up in our 'meet the committee' series is the lovely Manoj.

Manoj joined the committee a couple of years ago and is actively involved in loads of areas of Festival planning, from outreach to music planning - but he's particularly instrumental (pardon the musical pun) on the IT side and will be helping us to develop a brand new website and entry system for 2026 which is really exciting.

He's passionate about encouraging young people from all backgrounds to take part in the Festival. When explaining why he got involved, Manoj said: "The festival is an established institution on the Bedford calendar and has a rich heritage. It gives young people an opportunity to challenge themselves and get genuine, constructive feedback to help develop their abilities. Having seen my son go through the experience as an entrant, I was delighted to join the committee in order to help shape the future of the festival and nudge it towards changes that I felt ought to be made."

Look out for Manoj during Festival week, and be sure to say hello! 👋

Our friends at .rotary are offering young musicians across Bedford the opportunity to enter the Young Musician Competiti...
11/01/2025

Our friends at .rotary are offering young musicians across Bedford the opportunity to enter the Young Musician Competition next week - if you are interested, drop an email to [email protected] asap and you may be called up to perform!

Good luck! 🎺🎻🎶

As the Bedfordshire Festival draws ever closer (eek only 7 weeks tomorrow!) we thought it would be nice to introduce you...
10/01/2025

As the Bedfordshire Festival draws ever closer (eek only 7 weeks tomorrow!) we thought it would be nice to introduce you to some of the faces that you will meet at this year's Festival - the people behind the scenes who ensure that everything runs smoothly and who will be looking after you throughout the week.

First up is the lovely Irina, who is new to the Festival committee this year and will be taking over as Chief Steward from 2026. Irina will be in charge of co-ordinating and supporting all of the stewards who run the Festival rooms and she would love to hear from anyone who is interesting in volunteering this year or in years to come.

Irina has been coming to the Festival for many years, with both of her girls taking part across the Music and Speech and Drama classes and even performing in the Gala Concert, so she has experienced first hand the benefits that the Festival offers to young people's confidence and the development of their talent.

Irina explains: "It is uplifting to see so many people every year enjoying the Festival experience, sharing their love for performing arts, celebrating each other's accomplishments, big and small.

"The Festival has a great positive impact on our diverse community, especially on young people, helping with their creativity, mental health and communication skills.
I am excited to be part of the incredible team of volunteers who work hard to keep the Festival going."

We're excited to have you on the team, Irina! Look out for Irina during the week, she will be delighted to meet you :)

Do you want to encourage young people to continue to pursue their love of the arts? As creative and expressive arts subj...
04/01/2025

Do you want to encourage young people to continue to pursue their love of the arts?

As creative and expressive arts subjects are being squeezed from the school curriculum, it's vital that children have the chance to nurture their talent and build a passion for creativity, no matter what school they go to and what socio-economic background they grow up in.

We are looking for sponsors for the 2025 Bedfordshire Festival this March, where children from over 60 schools will gather to share their love of performing, to learn from each other and to make unforgettable memories.

Could you help us to achieve that? If so, please get in touch at [email protected] - no level of support is too small!

Introducing our final Adjudicator for 2025, Speech and Drama specialist, Katrina Mulvihill 🤩Katrina studied at The Rose ...
03/01/2025

Introducing our final Adjudicator for 2025, Speech and Drama specialist, Katrina Mulvihill 🤩

Katrina studied at The Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and feels privileged to have been part of the unique three year Actor/Teacher Course.

Having Graduated with Honours, she won a Scholarship to The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and went on to study Opera, Musical Theatre, Acting and Piano for a further two years.

Katrina, as a professional Soloist and Principle, has appeared at many prestigious venues over the years performing in Plays, Operas, Recitals and Concerts at The Drury Lane Theatre, The Shaw Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, The Purcell Room and the QEH.

Katrina is an experienced Director, as well as performer, and has enjoyed producing plays, concerts and shows with adults through to young children in a variety of styles ranging from Pantomime and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Light Operettas through to Shakespeare and Grand Opera.

A longstanding member of LAMDA’s Examining Board, for over 30 years, she has also regularly lectured and given Master classes for LAMDA and other multiple agencies in Mime, Improvisation, Acting, Voice Production and Musical Theatre to name but a few.

Katrina , until recently, served as a Headteacher for over 30 years across the State, Private and Independent sectors. She recently took early retirement to focus on and develop her private Communications, Speech and Drama School, Studio 'K', which she co-runs with her (fellow thespian) husband, Stefan. She has also increased her work and commitment as both a LAMDA Examiner and BIFF adjudicator.

We can't wait to welcome you back to Bedford in March, Katrina! 🎉

Leaping into the new year like........
01/01/2025

Leaping into the new year like........

Are you making any new year's resolutions to be more creative in 2025?Whether it's joining a choir, taking up writing, e...
28/12/2024

Are you making any new year's resolutions to be more creative in 2025?

Whether it's joining a choir, taking up writing, exploring a new musical instrument or trying your hand at acting - taking on a new creative challenge is fantastic for your wellbeing.

The positive impact that creativity has on our mental and physical health, particularly the wellbeing of children, are well documented. Creative activities such as music and drama provide a way of expressing yourself and your feelings, they can reduce stress, offer opportunities to connect with other young people, improve problem-solving and boost self-esteem to name but a few benefits.

Could 2025 be the year that you find your creative passion?

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Wishing everyone a very happy festive break from all of us at Team Bedfordshire Festival. We look forward to seeing you all again in the new year!

Entries are now open for the 2025 Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama. The 8-day event celebrates the finest musical and dramatic talent of Bedfordshire and beyond and offers over 250 competitive classes that cover most musical instruments and genres as well as many varied Speech and Drama disciplines. Although competitive in nature, the Festival is an annual celebration of the talent that can be found in Bedfordshire and the surrounding area and gives young and old alike the chance to share their passion for the performing arts. We hope you will join us for the 2025 Festival and share your hard work and talent with us. To view our syllabus or submit your entry, visit www.bedfordshirefestival.org.uk

Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama
Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama

We are thrilled to present the very first Festival video! Well done to all of our fantastic performers this year and a huge thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who keep everything running so smoothly behind the scenes. Looking forward to 2019 already!

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