Not so long ago we were looking toward May and the possibility of returning to live music. Sadly, it’s become all-too-clear that isn’t possible. The latest Government recovery roadmap has confirmed that live music isn’t possible for a while yet.
Before the announcement was made the Festival Chairman and Board took the decision to move the Festival to September. We now have a confirmed season from 4 – 20 September 2021. We are delighted that we will have a full Festival fortnight in September and that Mark Eynon has worked hard to re-book many of the artists who would have appeared at the postponed Festivals. Our sadness at postponing May’s Festival is tempered by the excitement about September.
Full details of the new programme will be released here on the website in the coming weeks. Highlights of the new September Festival include – The Armonico Consort performing St Matthew Passion with Ian Bostridge on the opening night, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Jennifer Pike on the middle weekend, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra will close the Festival on the final weekend.
We envisage many of the social-distancing restrictions may still be in force even in September. Most events will therefore be held in St. Nicolas Church and the Corn Exchange to allow us to take advantage of our largest capacity venues.
We’re pleased to be able to confirm the booking dates for the September Festival, with Public Booking opening on Wednesday 28 July. Should you be interested in getting priority access to tickets, do consider becoming a Friend of the Festival. Friend’s booking opens from Tuesday 6 July.
With the vaccination programme continuing apace, let’s hope that we can all meet again in September and look forward to some late summer sunshine as we stage some live music concerts again. Perhaps for this year only we’ve become “Newbury September Festival” rather than “Newbury Spring Festival”…
Donate to the Festival
The financial implications of having to cancel the 2020 Festival in order to safeguard the health of our audiences, artists and staff due to the coronavirus pandemic, were huge. We can’t wait to get back to what we do best, bringing the best world-class music to Newbury as soon as we are able. But to do this we need your support.
So, we are asking you, and everyone we know, to make a donation to help us survive this extraordinary situation so that we can return next year with two weeks of world-class music.
If you are able, we would be delighted if you might make a one-off donation to support the future of the Newbury Spring Festival.