Broadway Arts Festival 2016
This weekend marked the return of the eagerly anticipated and hugely popular fourth Broadway Arts Festival.
The Broadway Arts Festival, a biennial tradition which this year runs until June 19th, will be hosting a wealth of exciting events across different venues throughout the village for all to get involved in. The Lifford Hall, St Michael’s Church, The Lygon Arms and the Springfield Studio are among those that will be hosting painting classes, photography exhibitions, music concerts, drama workshops and lectures - to name but a few. One noteworthy event includes an open art exhibition of Patrick Lichfield’s photographs, featuring some of his most famous collections and ones that have rarely been seen before.
The Broadway Arts Festival Trust is a registered charity ran entirely by volunteers and its trustees, which was founded in 2010 to support and nurture Broadway's rich and diverse artistic heritage. It continues to inspire the next generation who are pursuing a future in the arts by making financial grants to local art students.
The festival itself is a celebration of Broadway's close connection with the arts; inspired by the last 140 years when a colony of artists, writers, performers and musicians settled in Broadway following William Morris' inauguration with the village in the 1880's - paving the way for the Arts & Crafts movement that became prominent in this area. Famous names such as Francis Davis Millet, John Singer Sargent, Edwin Howland Blashfield and Frederick Barnard and J M Barrie all have close connections to the village. Even today artists continue to live and work in the village, keeping alive the tradition and evoking the spirit of its creative past.
So come and join in with the celebration of Broadway's artistic ancestry. To find out what's on and when, visit broadwayartsfestival.com where you can book to take part in an event, or head to the box office at The Gordon Russell Design Museum. With plenty going on, this is definitely one not to be missed.
