For the Chiswick Book Festival, which has its own website, click here
Read all about this year's Bedford Park Festival, which runs from June 8th to 23rd. Click for the new Festival website where you can see this year's full programme. The dates of this year's Festival are June 8th and 9th (Green Days weekend) to June 23rd 2013. If you’d like to help in any way, or would like more information, please contact Helen Simkin at helen@may.be or sign the notice at the back of the church.
The Bedford Park Festival and Green Days Fête
Chiswick's favourite fortnight, every June: Two weeks of art, crafts, comedy, cycling, disco, drama, fancy dress, film, food and drink, football, fun, music, opera, poetry, photography and gardens, in aid of charities and the church
The Bedford Park Festival - including its opening Green Days weekend (above) - takes place every June and is one of the highlights of the local year. The fortnight of arts and social events is the centrepiece of St Michael & All Angels' work in the community and raises money for charities and the upkeep and outreach of the church.
Bringing the community together
The Bedford Park Festival is Chiswick's biggest community event, attracting thousands of people from the area and further afield, and raising money for charities and projects at St Michael's. It opens with the two-day Green Days fete and Craft Fair, on the Green opposite the church. You can get a flavour of it from Green Days: The Film by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Kelvin Murray, and from the video below.
The Festival has had a profound effect on the community, helping save the world's first garden suburb from being wrecked by developers.
The first Festival in 1967 - under its patron John Betjeman - led to 356 houses being declared listed buildings. See
45 Years of the Bedford Park Festival (Scroll down for reports on previous Festivals.)
Raising money for good causes
Over the past 45 years, the Festival has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local and overseas charities and the work of St Michael and All Angels, with the support of the community and many local businesses. You can read about this year's charities and the opportunities for commercial firms to support them.
Supporting the arts and creativity in the community
Upholding Bedford Park's arts and crafts origins, the Festival offers a mix of concerts, talks, exhibitions, competitions and performances (The Mikado, 2011, right). Speakers, artists and performers in recent years have included Sir Andrew Motion, Edna O'Brien, Simon Curtis, Axel Scheffler, James Cracknell, Cath Kidston, Kate Dimbleby, Richard Briers, Sir Peter Blake, Kevin McNally, David Juritz, Alfred Daniels, Opera Novella, Clive Arrowsmith, Neil Brand, Francis Bowyer, Mel Smith, London Tango Quintet, Sandy Burnett, Rosemary Ashe, Polly Devlin, Rohan McCullough, Candida Lycett Green and dancers from the Arts Educational Schools. Dozens of local people take part in events such as the Bedford Park Summer Exhibition, the Poetry evening, the Photographic Exhibition and, on the final Sunday, the Festival Mass, Bedford Park Walk and Open Gardens.
Bedford Park Festival programme 2012
Photo Gallery 2012
The Festival's Green Days fete is attended by a sprinkling of local celebrities, such as Jeremy Vine and Clare Balding (see video below).
If you would like to be involved in the 2013 Festival in any way, please contact Helen Simkin, the Festival administrator, at helen@may.be. And you can remind yourself of the highlights of the previous Festivals below.
Bedford Park Festival 2011
Bedford Park Festival 2010
Bedford Park Festival 2009
Bedford Park Festival 2008
Bedford Park Festival 2007
Earlier Festivals
Celebrity presenters
The Festival team also helps organise the Chiswick Book Festival in mid-September. If you would like to be involved in the 2013 Book Festival (dates to be confirmed), please contact the administrator, Dinah Garrett,
on 020 8994 7252 or at ddinahg@supanet.com
How to buy tickets for Festival events in 2012
How to help or take part in the 2012 festival