Welcome to Richmond Festival

The Festival is open to amateur performers of any age in the arts of music, dance and drama and it is just that – a festival of the arts with the emphasis on performance in a supportive, relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Performances are arranged in sections relative to age and levels of attainment at a variety of venues across the borough of Richmond upon Thames during February and May annually.

Every participant

• has the opportunity to perform before a welcoming and sympathetic audience
• has the opportunity to listen to and see others performing
• receives a constructive written and verbal appraisal of their performance by an experienced professional in their chosen field as an aid to improvement, understanding and motivation
• receives a certificate and a category assessment as an indication of relative achievement

Richmond Festival awards substantial cash bursaries to help with future training to the Richmond upon Thames Young Pianist, Young Singer, Young Instrumentalist, Young Dancer and Young Performer (Speech & Drama) of the Year. There are also other prizes, tokens and vouchers, medals and trophies to be won.

By providing a goal to aim for and a focus for practice, our Festival offers the opportunity to gain confidence and develop performance technique. The Festival is not a platform for examinations! Nationwide Festivals like ours seek to create not only the next generation of performers but also new and informed audiences.

 

Each year some of the performers are chosen to take part in the annual Festival Showcase, held for the past two years at the Normansfield Theatre in Teddington in the presence of the Mayor of the borough. There are also opportunities to work with Richmond Orchestra and some young musicians are invited to take part in local charity concerts. Richmond is a qualifying Festival for the prestigious ‘All England’ Dance competition which is held biennially and many dancers have progressed to the National finals of this event.

 

The Festival is affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals which sets standards for Festivals across the country and whose Child Safeguarding and Adjudication policies are followed by Richmond Festival.