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.

We're delighted to be able to share photos from our 2025 Gala Concert, starting with these images of 10 year old violini...
17/03/2025

We're delighted to be able to share photos from our 2025 Gala Concert, starting with these images of 10 year old violinist, Alice Cumberbatch.

Alice currently attends the Royal College of Music Junior Department and this September she will be joining the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School of Music.

She presented her class-winning violin solo at the Gala Concert and won three awards that evening, including the Melville prize for the most promising Festival performer who is in year 9 or below, the Woodfine Lousada Challenge Cup for Junior Music, and the Woodfine Lousada Cup for the most outstanding Music Performance.

Congratulations Alice, it was a pleasure to hear you play and we hope to welcome you back in 2026!

📾

Thank you to another lovely mummy who has emailed in to tell us about her children's experiences at the Festival! "Perri...
12/03/2025

Thank you to another lovely mummy who has emailed in to tell us about her children's experiences at the Festival!

"Perrie (Year 3) and Dustin (Reception) both got chosen to enter the solo poems and both got second place! It was all very well organised, the judges (and everyone involved) were so good with the children.

"The confidence of everyone we saw was incredible, and the encouragement to continue to build on their skills was priceless. They both really enjoyed themselves and want to do it all again next year!"

Well done Perrie and Dustin, we can't wait to see you again in 2026! đŸ€©

We were delighted to receive another lovely email from a proud mummy - thank you to everyone who has given us feedback t...
12/03/2025

We were delighted to receive another lovely email from a proud mummy - thank you to everyone who has given us feedback this week, it helps us to improve the festival for future years. Florence’s mummy said:

“I wanted to say a huge thank you for all you’ve done to put the festival on this week. My daughter Florence was entered via and was placed 1st in three classes at Bedfordshire Festival – for pre-grade 1 piano solo, year 3 verse, and year 3 reading.

She thoroughly enjoyed the week and was absolutely thrilled to win three times over! We’re so grateful for the wonderful performing opportunities Beds Festival provides for children at such a young age.

Florence thrives when given opportunities that stretch and develop her. This week has been a boost to her confidence so thank you very much!”

“Just wanted to share a big THANK YOU from proud parents of twins Jash and Naya, who thoroughly enjoyed their first expe...
11/03/2025

“Just wanted to share a big THANK YOU from proud parents of twins Jash and Naya, who thoroughly enjoyed their first experience at the festival. It was like a 'Clash of the Titans' for us to watch. On a serious note, hats off to everyone working behind the scenes to have taken the effort to make this happen and a special mention to all the adjudicators whose honest feedbacks were not just a constructive criticism but also had a brownie tip for the rest of the students.”

The stage is set for tonight’s spectacular Gala concert đŸ€©Come along to the Corn Exchange this evening to enjoy the fines...
08/03/2025

The stage is set for tonight’s spectacular Gala concert đŸ€©

Come along to the Corn Exchange this evening to enjoy the finest performances from across Festival week - the concert begins at 6.30, and tickets cost just ÂŁ2.50, ÂŁ1.50 for concessions and free for under 11s! If you have a season ticket, please bring that with you and you can get in for free!

We can’t wait to see you! đŸ„ł

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the strong team of fabulous ladies that work on the Festival Committee...
08/03/2025

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the strong team of fabulous ladies that work on the Festival Committee, without whom the Festival couldn’t run.

Girl power! đŸ’Ș

(The men are awesome too 😉)

What’s on at the Festival - Saturday 8th MarchOur Festival draws to a close tomorrow, but we still have some amazing cla...
07/03/2025

What’s on at the Festival - Saturday 8th March

Our Festival draws to a close tomorrow, but we still have some amazing classes left to enjoy before our Gala Concert tomorrow evening!

In the Harpur Suite we have a lovely morning of singing, ranging from our 16 and over British Composer class to year 4 and 5 musical theatre.

Then our Speech and Drama programme concludes in the Howard Room with Prepared Reading, Dramatic Solo and our brand new Reading to Children class đŸ„°

Then in the evening you can join us for our spectacular Gala Concert, featuring the most exceptional performers from throughout Festival week. The performers will be competing for a series of exciting prizes, to determine who is the most outstanding senior and junior performer of the week, in both Music and Speech and Drama. Tickets are priced at just ÂŁ2.50 and we would love for you to come and see the amazing talent that Bedford has to offer.

What’s on at the Festival - Friday 7th MarchWe might be nearing the end of the Festival, but there’s still HEAPS of amaz...
06/03/2025

What’s on at the Festival - Friday 7th March

We might be nearing the end of the Festival, but there’s still HEAPS of amazing entertainment to enjoy tomorrow!

In the Corn Exchange, we have a full day of Senior Drama on offer, ranging from Duologues to Shakespeare and Dramatic solos. Some fascinating performances to enjoy from some of our most experienced actors.

Then in the Harpur Suite, we have a full day of singing - starting with the Year 2 and 3s, and then covering our very popular ‘songs from animated films’ and musical theatre classes. A day not to be missed!

Then if poetry is your thing, we have our last day of verse speaking in the Howard Room - starting with year 4s and finishing with our senior verse speaking and sonnet classes.

If you haven’t been along to the Festival yet, tomorrow is a brilliant day to visit and experience some of the best classes in the programme đŸ€©

A huge thank you to our friends at Park Rotary who continue to support and sponsor the Bedfordshire Festival each year ...
06/03/2025

A huge thank you to our friends at Park Rotary who continue to support and sponsor the Bedfordshire Festival each year ❀

We value this relationship so much, and love to work with them to give performance opportunities to our region's young people.

Thank you Bedford Park Rotary for your years of support!

05/03/2025

We are so proud of one of our lovely basses, John who has won 2 cups at the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama this week in the Own Choice and Victorian Song classes.

We wish you lots of luck for your final class on Saturday morning and if you want to hear John’s wonderful voice, he will be in the Gala concert at Bedford Corn Exchange on Saturday at 6:30pm where he will be performing Flanders and Swann’s The Elephant.

Congratulations, John! We’re rooting for you!

If you want to have the opportunity to sing with Pirton Community Choir’s very own award- winning bass, come and join us on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm! đŸŽ¶

A lovely message from another happy mum today! “Thank you for staring this new category for Business Pitch. Such a great...
05/03/2025

A lovely message from another happy mum today!

“Thank you for staring this new category for Business Pitch. Such a great platform for young people to showcase their ideas. My son Vivaan won the Mrs C Austell Cup today.”

Congratulations Vivaan!

What’s on at the Festival - Thursday 6th MarchTomorrow is going to be our busiest day at the Festival as we have FOUR ve...
05/03/2025

What’s on at the Festival - Thursday 6th March

Tomorrow is going to be our busiest day at the Festival as we have FOUR venues in action, and we have a special event taking place in partnership with the BLMK music hub đŸ€©

Here’s a brief rundown of what’s happening tomorrow:

The Corn Exchange starts in the morning with Duologues and Dramatic Solos, then all afternoon you can enjoy our exciting Scene from Musical Theatre classes, before our senior Dramatic Solo class in the evening.

It’s Woodwind and Brass day in the Harpur Suite while in the Howard Room there’s a full day of Verse Speaking and Prepared Reading to enjoy đŸ€©

Then for one day only, the Festival also takes over Bedford’s King’s House venue on Ampthill Road. In the morning we welcome performers from a range of different schools to our non-competitive Celebration class where performers can share a hero own choice of music, drama or expressive movement.

Then in the evening we are hosting the ‘My First Festival Gig’ class - a performance opportunity for local youth music groups including Bedford Music Co-operative’s Friday Flyers, Saturday morning music centre as well as DJs from Musical Seeds’ Digital Beats.

We hope you can make it along to one of our venues to support our amazing young performers tomorrow!

05/03/2025

Another great day at Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama our year 5 team were amazing and our year 6 came second! Very proud!

What’s on at the Festival - Wednesday 5th MarchWe have an extremely varied day on offer tomorrow at the Festival across ...
04/03/2025

What’s on at the Festival - Wednesday 5th March

We have an extremely varied day on offer tomorrow at the Festival across three venues, so if you’re in the mood for some top quality entertainment, you’re sure to find something fabulous!

The Corn Exchange begins with Group Poetry and drama in the morning, the afternoon features orchestras, music groups, woodwind and the prestigious Concerto class, then the evening features the Year 11 and over Shakespeare Solo then the Group Musical Theatre class.

Over in the Harpur Suite, audiences can enjoy a morning of Verse Speaking, an afternoon of Senior speech and drama, and then a very varied evening of music including the brass, woodwind, Mozart and composition classes. We also have our Festival All-Rounder class at 6pm, where entrants perform a piece of music and drama linked by a theme.

Finally, up in the Howard Room, we have a full day and evening of Verse Speaking, Prepared Reading, Business Pitch and Shakespeare Duologues.

Goodness, what a fascinating day! And you can come and watch any morning, afternoon or evening session for just ÂŁ2.50 or ÂŁ13 for a season ticket to go to as many as you like during the remainder of the week.

What a treat!

Lovely to receive an email from a very happy mummy today, who wanted to share the good news that her daughter Hope won t...
03/03/2025

Lovely to receive an email from a very happy mummy today, who wanted to share the good news that her daughter Hope won the first place trophy at the piano solo class pre grade 1 this morning! đŸŽč

Hope’s mummy, Cara, said: ‘The adjudicator was so kind and so lovely and gave some wonderful comments to everyone! I have had all four of my children enter this class over the last 10 years and so it was all the sweeter to end on this note of my youngest child gaining first place!’

Congratulations, Hope! We’re so glad you had a lovely morning! đŸ‘đŸ„ł

What’s on at the Festival - Tuesday 4th MarchTomorrow all the action is taking place in the Harpur Suite and Howard Room...
03/03/2025

What’s on at the Festival - Tuesday 4th March

Tomorrow all the action is taking place in the Harpur Suite and Howard Room, and there’s plenty to come and enjoy throughout the day and evening đŸ€©

It’s strings day in the Harpur Suite beginning with the pre-Grade 1 classes in the morning, and finishing with the Grade 8 and over and Chamber Ensembles in the evening. A fantastic day for lovers of string music đŸŽ»

Then in the Howard Room we have a host of junior speech and drama classes taking place, including Verse Speaking, Prepared Reading, Reading from a religious text, Prose Reading, Business Pitch and Write and Read a Story. 🎭

Don’t say we don’t spoil you! đŸ€©

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Videos

Thanks for joining me!

The Corn Exchange

The Harpur Suite

The Howard Room

Come with me on a walk around to have a look at three of the fabulous venues we’re using for this year’s Festival đŸ™‹đŸŒâ€â™€ïž

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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