World Class Music and Comedy in the Sussex DownsTicket sales for this year’s Petworth Festival
(12th- 29th July) have started really strongly with some performances already sold out. This summer for over a fortnight, the well-established cultural extravaganza boasts an incredible line up of artists and the best talent to appear outside London. The diversity of the programme – featuring world-class classical musicians including Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside, Natalie Clein and Cédric Tiberghien, comedic national treasures such as Angus Deayton’s Radio Active, Hal Cruttenden and the inimitable Rainer Hersch Orkestra, a pop up exhibition from local schools supported by West Sussex Young Arts and outdoor family theatre in Bignor Park– makes it an event for everyone with tickets starting at just £6 for adults and a limited amount of FREE tickets for 18s and under at some events.Talking about this year’s festival, Artistic Director Stewart Collins commented: “I love seeing the sold out sign going up against festival events and they’ve already started appearing. We’ve even had to add an extra show in one case ‘by popular demand’, so everything is going in the right way. All I would say is don’t leave it too late. With top quality performers in our intimate venues Petworth Festival events are always high octane and we absolutely hate turning people away!”Other highlights include:
- BBC Radio 4 Comedy hit Radio Active featuring Angus Deayton, plus the magical Card Ninja
- A brand new adaptation of Orpheus Caledonius, one of the most important traditional works in 18th century Scottish folk music, presented by violinist Zak Ozmo, early music ensemble L’Avventura and Scottish traditional group, Old Blind Dogs
- Top classical artists including Natalie Clein (cello), Cedric Tiberghien (piano), Chloe Hanslip (violin) and The Coull Quartet
- Jess Robinson’s stand out, stand up show from Edinburgh Festival: Impressive… and we’re certain it will be!
- A ‘Come and Sing’ event for all-comers with Ben Parry featuring the classic and much loved The Sound of Music.
- Frances Hatch’s new exhibition Impromptu at Kevis House Gallery featuring drawings based on dancers and musicians in rehearsal, which will be on show for the entire duration of the Festival.
- The superhero duo of Tommy Foggo and his cello will create a fantastical world of music and performance for families at Leconfield Hall.
- A Duo of concerts featuring musicians from the Royal Academy of Music including Lucy Humphris (trumpet) and Harry Rylance (piano) on 14th July, and Hao Zi Yoh (piano) on the 26th July.
- Lyricist to Donna Summer and multiple Grammy nominee, Pete Bellotte, presents The Unround Circle in a literary event packed with entertaining stories of his work in the music industry.
- There’s an extra date, due to popular demand for the raffish cabaret duo Bounder and Cad. They’ve entertained royalty and prime ministers and now they are here to sing for us!
This year also sees the first
Artistic Director’s Trail in which we encourage audiences to try something new and outside their normal comfort zones. For more information, see the website for video blogs and catch up with the festival on social media.The annual
Jazz in the Stables event has sold out, but there are more jazz events with the
Jay Rayner Quartet and
Claire Martin’s Hollywood Romance and with so many other events to see and experience in the stunning beauty of the Sussex Downs, we look to welcoming everyone to celebrate with us.Tickets for this year’s Petworth Festival are available to purchase online at
www.petworthfestival.org.uk, by downloading the booking form and posting it to Petworth Festival 151 Whites Green Lodge Lurgashall Petworth GU28 9BD or by telephone on 01798 344576.For more information, become a sponsor or friend or volunteer, please contact the festival office on 01798 343055 or email
info@petworthfestival.org.uk 
A message from our Artistic Director…The 39th Petworth Festival has come and gone, but it will absolutely live in the memory such was the sequence of stellar performances over our very special two and a half weeks. People will inevitably differ on their personal favourites, but I have received nothing but the highest praise for the events featuring Roderick Williams, Cedric Tiberghien, The AKA Trio, The Old Blind Dogs & L’Avventura, Piers Adams and the EUCO, The Alex Mendham Orchestra – and many others. And anyone who failed to be lifted off their feet on the final evening featuring Martynas Levickis and his Lithuanian Mikroorkéstra colleagues….Whilst I always have mixed feelings when a festival comes to an end, we have particular reason to keep the energy going this time around. Quite apart from an amazing literature festival line up (due to be announced at the end of September), we also have the 40th Petworth Festival in our sights for next summer, with a very significant programme of events already lined up to suitably mark that anniversary. It almost goes without saying that we look forward to seeing you then, but do please look out the for our announcements on the subject, and do block off your diary for the entire period of Tuesday 17th July to Saturday 4th August 2018. You won’t want to miss a thing!Whether an audience member, Friend, Patron, sponsor or sponsor-to-be (!) thank you for being with us in July 2017, and here’s to a wonderful 40th year…Stewart CollinsArtistic DirectorTo book tickets for all events, or find out more about how you can be involved in the 40thAnniversary year in 2018, please visit: www.petworthfestival.org.ukDon’t forget to join us on Facebook or Twitter and please share with us your festival stories, favourite events and reviews.
