/Welcome

Welcome to the Mary Wakefield Westmorland Music Festival

A review of the 2011 Festival by the Chairman, Philip Buckler
The Festival Choral Concert on Saturday 26th March 2011 (which was a performance of Paul Spicer’s Easter Oratorio held in the composer's presence) brought the 68th Mary Wakefield Westmorland Festival (MWWF) to a rousing conclusion.

The Festival has grown significantly since Mary Wakefield started it off in 1885 - for this Festival we have had around 1800 participants taking part over one week in the many different events and adjudicated classes spread over 5 different venues.In addition to this there has been a large army of volunteers who have helped in many different ways to bring this Festival from its beginnings in 2009 to its fulfillment this last week.As I write this I do not have any firm figures for our audience numbers, but subjectively they have been very good. Considering the geography and population of the area served by this Festival this surely must be seen as a marvellous achievement .

The committee will very shortly start the planning of the 69th Festival and I hope that the generosity and support by the local community continues and grows.In times of austerity, special festivals such as this one, are more important than ever.The enthusiasm of the participants and audiences is a joy to behold!

Philip Buckler
Chair of The Festival Committee