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There were record attendances at many of this year's Festival events, with the Michael Room packed out on four occasions - for novelist Celia Brayfield's talk on the Desperate Housewives of Bedford Park; the poetry evening on the theme of 'Love In The Park'; the Supper after the Summer Serenade; and Simon Shorvon's lecture on The Pissarro Family in Chiswick. All were highly engaging and enjoyable.
The events at Rosalind Leney's studio at 2a Blenheim Road proved equally successful, including Barry Jobling's appreciation of Mozart and the lunchtime guitar recital by the Mexican maestro Morgan Szymanski. Two other events in private Bedford Park houses were also sell-outs - the Champagne Piano Recital with Peter Bithell and the Wine Tasting and Supper. Thanks very much to Jane and Kenny McKenzie and Jenny and James Donald for their generosity in opening their homes.
Other musical events included the Bach Cantatas, conducted by Radio 3's Sandy Burnett and the children's musical, The Wizard of Oz, put on by St Michael & All Angels Junior Choir. Around 250 people saw the two performances in the church on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. They rewarded the young cast with loud applause for the highly enjoyable production, which was enhanced by some remarkable sets and costumes, including three live apple trees, poppies that turned into snowflakes, and a hot-air balloon, in which the Wizard of Oz departed!
Milly Forrest played Dorothy, with Eleanor Douglas as the Scarecrow, Alice Kent as the Tin Man and Maisie Preston as the Cowardly Lion. Jocelyn Juritz was Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, Charlotte Keith as the Wicked Witch of the East, Helena Bickley as the Wizard, and Millie Chesson as the Winkie General (and Dorothy's understudy).
Much of the show's success must be credited to its director and musical director, Sarah McDowall, the director of the Junior Choir. Just 22 and studying at the Royal College of Music, she comes from New Zealand, where she was a semi-finalist in the televised 'Young Musician of the Year' competition. Many parents helped with the costumes, set design and technical production and half a dozen young musicians also played a large part in the show's success. It was sponsored by Letts, the educational publisher, based in Chiswick High Road.
Several of the local schools took part for the first time. Mary West of Orchard House School organised a pupils' art exhibition in the Parish Hall, as the culmination of a week of artistic events at the school. And two music teachers from Orchard House, Sara Temple and Arun Menon, performed a Mozart trio with their friend Catherine Milledge, as part of an evening called A Midsummer Night's Daydream, in which pupils from Chiswick & Bedford Park put on an adaptation of Shakespeare's play and the Arts Educational School performed several songs.
There were three highly successful Exhibitions. The Festival began with the annual preview party for the Summer Exhibition in the church, which was packed with people, jostling to see the works and meet friends. Alongside it was an exhibition about John Bedford, the man after whom Bedford Park was named and who built three Georgian houses, including Melbourne House and Bedford House. Several of his descendants came to the exhibition and were photographed there.
 The annual photographic exhibition on the final weekend also proved very popular. David Beresford’s wonderful photo of Father Graham Morgan and Mother Nicola Stanley won the humour section, voted for by visitors to the Exhibition. The prizes were presented by portrait photographer Vibeke Dahl, who also selected the overall winner of the competition and donated a free sitting for a portrait, to be raffled. “The standard was very high and I thought the Exhibition was a wonderful community event, encouraging photographers of all ages” she said.
Over 50 photographers took part, submitting more than 200 entries – and 194 visitors filled in ballot papers to choose the winners of the nine categories.The Exhibition was held last weekend in St Michael’s Parish Hall. The winners all won photographic equipment donated by Snappy Snaps in Chiswick High Road, where the winning photographs were on display for a week.
The category wiinners chosen by Exhibition visitors were:
A. Essentially Bedford Park: Michael Sodring
B. Portraits and People: Malcolm Webster
C. Animals: Roger de Montfort
D. Places - Rural or Urban: Kyle Johnston
E. Plants, Trees, Flowers: Annie Barclay
F. Humour: David Beresford
G. Miscellaneous: Meryl Salter
H. Young Entry (4-11): Kayd Kalali (aged 9)
I. Young Entry (12-16): Helena Bickley (aged 13)
The overall winner (chosen by Vibeke Dahl) was Jonathan Hibberd. The winner of the raffle for a free sitting with Vibeke Dahl was P Howell.
The final Sunday brought the Festival to a wonderful finale. The church was crowded for the Festival Mass, a superb performance of Haydn's Nelson Mass by the Bedford Park Festival Orchestra & Chorus, led by David Juritz and conducted by John Venables. The sun then came out for the Festival Mass lunch in the Vicarage garden, and the Open Gardens and Bedford Park Walk, enhanced by cream teas and live music outside the Parish Hall!
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