The Festival became a registered charity - the Bushey Festival Association, number 802826 - in 1990. It is run entirely by volunteers who work hard throughout the year to produce a varied programme of events for the local community.
The aim, broadly, is to put on and promote events – artistic, recreational and leisure-time – for the people of Bushey and surrounding areas. In practice, these take place during the annual festival fortnight starting the first Saturday in July.
The Festival has a twenty-five-year history. In April 2008, we were honoured to receive the Mayor of Hertsmere’s Civic Award for ‘services undertaken for the benefit of the residents of the Borough’.
We have been fortunate in recent years for the generous financial support we have obtained from various sources in addition to the funds raised through the Festival’s activities. We have a Friends’ Scheme: members pay a subscription – currently £8 single and £15 double – each year. We also receive income from ticket sales. All proceeds from events we organise go towards supporting the Festival. Consequently, we are in a good position to grow and develop our involvement in the community.
The Festival can only work if people are prepared to give up their time and talent to it. All offers of help are welcome. We are short of volunteers on the committee of trustees, especially those with particular skills such as bookkeeping, accounting, legal and IT. We are also looking for people with knowledge of or experience in the charitable sector or to help with publicity. Does any of this apply to you? If you think you can spare a couple of hours a week and attend a meeting once a month, then please call 01923 213451 or 020.8950 9119 to find out more.
We offer our sincere thanks to all our sponsors, donors, members and helpers.
There have been a number of 'festivals' held in the history of Bushey, but the Bushey Festival we know today came about as a result of the enthusiasm and dedication of Kate Morgan came to Bushey in 1982 with her husband Philip, the new (then) Rector of St James Church. Kate was a singer and, with encouragement from the organist at St James, Andrew McIntyre, and other local people, the idea of a Festival of co-ordinated events organised by a single committee began to take off.
In 1983, the first Bushey Festival took place over a week, culminating in a Gala Concert conducted by Dr Keith Swanwick at the international University in the Avenue. Through advertising and auditions, a choir of over sixty people, including several members of St James church choir, was put together. The orchestra was mainly professional musicians, local and from further afield. In 1989, John Wyatt (who was by then organist at St James) took over as conductor and the Festival extended to two weeks. About this time, the Bushey Chamber Choir had emerged — a panel of Gala choir singers who could be called on for particular concerts at other times of the year. There have been two Chamber Choir trips to Landsberg in Germany. In 1991 and 1993, about twelve singers from Landsberg joined the Festival Choir for Gala Concert performances.
In 1990, the organisation was formalised; the Festival was registered as a charity.
Kate was organiser throughout until the end of the 1994 Festival. Since then, there have been many more people involved over the years and the events have become more numerous and varied. Today, while none of the original committee members remain as trustees, the Festival continues, run by a small team of enthusiastic volunteers. For many local people it is a highlight in the Bushey calendar and has become a much-loved part of Bushey community life.
The committee of trustees who organise the Festival are all volunteers and manage the charity in accordance with the terms of its Constitution. Not every event in the Festival is organised by the committee. We promote (for no fee) some events in the Festival that are organised by other local organisations. We do this if they are appropriate for the Festival and there is room in the publicity leaflet.
Apart from the income raised by the Festival’s activities – tickets sales and subscriptions – we have been fortunate to receive sponsorship and donations from a number of local organisations and individuals (credited in the publicity leaflet). All the income from sponsorship, donations, grants, subscriptions and ticket sales is used for the running of the Festival, including hiring performers, venues and publicity. All offers of help at events are welcome. There are many jobs where we need help, from stewarding and serving refreshments, to manning the box office or joining the committee. We are always on the lookout for new ideas to supplement old favourites. If you think you may have something to offer, then please contact us or ask a steward at any of the events.
Please note: At present we are without a Chairman and the Treasurer has indicated her intention to resign from the Committee at the next AGM. It is vital for the continuance of the Festival that suitable replacements can be found.