PAGE 38 • FESTIVE NEWS • DECEMBER 2016
COUNTY’S TOP
TALENT ON SHOW
Two thousand mostly young people take part each year in the Herefordshire Performing Arts Festival at The Courtyard in Hereford . It is a showcase of the county’s vast
pool of talent covering all forms of the performing arts and every age group from five
to eighty five.
This year’s festival – it was once known as the
Herefordshire Music Festival – had 381
individual classes ranging through singing,
dancing, musical instruments, poetry and drama.
Most schools and colleges in the county take part.
A selection of the best of the week perform at a
Gala Concert in The Courtyard on the final
Saturday evening.
But the cost of staging this huge opportunity
for the budding artistes of the future to perform
publicly in the regions premier theatre and arts
centre comes at a high cost. The bill for this
year’s festival, including the hire of the venue and
fees and accommodation for seven professional
adjudicators was an eye watering £19,000. To
keep the festival running the organisers appealed
for sponsorships and donations. One of the first to
respond was Hereford Lions Club who
contributed £500. Liion Colin Smith said: “One
of the aims of the club is to support the
development of young people and what better
way to invest in their future than to help fund this
outstanding festival which gives a taste of the
performing arts to many hundreds of county
youngsters.”
Can your company or organisation help
safeguard the future of the festival? Contact the
chairman,
HAMPTON HOUSE
Colin Smith with festival organiser Carol Thompson (left) and chairman Anne Ellis and some of
the festival trophies
VANDALS ATTACK
ANCIENT MONUMENT
Residential Care Home
Serving the Community for 60 years
Set in beautiful grounds and offering
Long term and respite care
Safe comfortable
accommodation
Daily activities
Tel: 01432 870287
to see what we have to offer
One of Hereford’s most ancient and precious monuments,
the ruins of the 13th century Blackfriars Priory in
Widemarsh Street has been daubed in graffiti .
The vandals struck in July last year defacing the stone
walls, yet 18 months later Herefordshire Council has taken
no action to clear the eyesore and protect a listed building.
The peaceful spot surrounded by rose gardens has
become a favourite meeting place for students at the nearby
Robert Owen Academy. A spokesman for Hereford in
Bloom said, “This is yet another example of the council
failing to keep the city in good order.”
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