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.