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Festival Welcome

At the end of September, as Summer winds down, Windsor and the surrounding area will bloom again with an eclectic, vibrant and celebratory Festival. The Festival is to be enjoyed and embraced by those who live and work here, and this year we have a programme which promises much to savour.

We welcome the best of British music-making: the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, London Symphony, English Chamber Orchestras will visit, and to the Theatre Royal we welcome the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band and London Festival Opera among many others. A wonderful array of talent and interest fills our literary series including Barry Cryer, Jenny Eclair, General Sir Richard Dannatt, Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, Phyllida Law, Arabella Weir and Lord Waldegrave. We are delighted to welcome Monks Investment Trust, managed by Baillie Gifford, as our first Literary Partner.

We have decided to hold the next International String Competition in March 2011 within the Spring Weekend, to allow for better availability of competitors and to help encourage more prominence for this exciting part of the Festival.

For families and children we have a strong programme this Autumn including a children’s orchestral concert, Opera Magic at the Theatre Royal specially designed for ages 7-13, The Pied Piper and author Darren Shan. Our programme of walks and tours continues to uncover more history about the area in which we live, particularly concerning King George III, whose accession to the throne 250 years ago heralded an era of great progress in Windsor and the country as a whole. The life of the King, who became known as The Squire of Windsor, is also reflected in events in St George’s Chapel where he worshipped and is buried.

I do hope that you will enjoy reading this brochure and I look forward to welcoming you to the Festival.

Martin Denny
Festival Director

The Festival is presented by Windsor Festival Society Ltd a limited liability company, constituted not for profit, and registered under the Charities Act 1960. Windsor Festival Society Ltd, Registered Charity 258888