The 2007 Bedford Park Festival
The 2007 Festival - marking the 40th anniversary of the first Festival in 1967 - was a great success, attracting large crowds and many local sponsors, who helped us raise over £40,000 for Unicef, the Upper Room, the repair and repainting of St Michael's Church, and the church's Trust.
It was opened, at the Green Days fete, by ITV News presenter Mary Nightingale, seen (right) with Father Kevin Morris and the winner of the Fancy Dress Competition - the witch in the gingerbread house.
Four news crews and other photographers were there to see violinist David Juritz, leader of the London Mozart Players, begin his global busking tour, in aid of his new children's charity, Musequality.
Other celebrities who performed during the Festival fortnight included West End and X Factor star Brenda Edwards (right, with the Pop Idol winner), the BBC’s Fergal Keane, actress Jill Balcon, the Guardian writer Michael White and Radio 3 broadcaster Sandy Burnett.
Brenda - who played Mama Morton in Chicago – sang and presented the Pop Idol prizes at the climax of Green Days weekend, which attracted thousands of people to the Green opposite St Michael's Church, on June 9th and 10th. As well as enjoying the Craft Fair and the usual array of stalls, fairground attractions, food and live music, many of them tried to win a stylish VW Eos convertible car. And 40 won meals for two at top local restaurants including La Trompette, Le Vacherin, Chez Gerard and FishWorks.
Following Green Days weekend, there was a fortnight of arts and community events. The doyen of silent film pianists, Neil Brand, introduced and accompanied the classic Buster Keaton film, Sherlock Jnr, in St Michael & All Angels Church.
The BBC’s Fergal Keane read from the poetry of Louis MacNeice and the actress Jill Balcon read poems by her late husband, the Poet Laureate C Day-Lewis. The editor of Eric Morecambe's diaries, William Cook, recalled the days when Morecambe & Wise lived in a boarding house behind the old Chiswick Empire on the High Road.
The Guardian political writer Michael White, a Bedford Park resident for over 30 years, analysed the upheaval at Westminster as Blair gave way to Brown. And broadcaster Sandy Burnett appeared in two concerts, conducting two Bach Cantatas and leading the Sandy Burnett Quartet in an evening of top-quality jazz.
The Festival included all the most popular regular events - the Bedford Park Summer Exhibition, the Open Gardens, the Bedford Park Walk, the children's musical and the photographic competition. And it celebrated the Festival’s 40th anniversary with films and photos, marking its role in saving Bedford Park from property developers in the 1960s.
To see the 2007 Festival programme, more pictures, details of the Craft Fair and Win a Meal contest, and archive material from previous years, go to: www.bedfordparkfestival.org.