Frome is set to become a showcase for a fantastic line-up of art and culture from Friday 5th July for ten days, drawing in thousands of visitors to the town for the Frome Festival.
Festival director, Martin Dimery said, “Over 5,000 tickets have already sold from the Cheese and Grain box office, the Merlin and Memorial theatres, on-line outlets and Cooper Hall. It is expected that a further 3,000 will attend the free Food Feast on Saturday 5th July, outside the Cheese and Grain while The Hidden Gardens, Small Publishers’ Fair, Frome Open Studios and various free concerts are expected to draw perhaps 2,000 more visitors, many from out of town. By the end of the Festival, we’d expect a total engagement in the region of 12,000 to 15,000.
“The Festival opens on Friday 5th July with a lunch-time classical concert at Christ Church, followed by a Retro Summer Fair celebrating 60 years of Selwood School at 5pm.
“In the evening, there is choice of events that would be the envy of any town festival in the country – with ‘Danceworks’ at The Memorial Theatre; comedian Tom Binns (aka Ivan Brackenbury) at The Merlin Theatre; the wonderful Texan guitarist Rodney Branigan at the Silk Mill; Box Tale Soup theatre at the Tin Church, Brokerswood, and more comedy with Tom Burgess at the George Hotel’s Granary, which also hosts the Festival’s Sketchbook exhibition by Ann Harrison-Broninski.
“Classical jazz fans will love the Dominic Alldis Trio at Cooper Hall, and the literary element of the festival also begins with readings from local authors free of charge at the Archangel. The Cornerhouse hosts a free gig by punk pop septet Back of the Bus, whilst the Cheese and Grain will be taken over by hundreds of house music aficionados, as Radio 1’s Judge Jules presents a DJ set with a 10- piece live band. The Frome Festival incorporates all art forms and many workshops, walks and talks on other leisure activities. This year’s theme celebrates the 200th anniversary of JW Singer, whose Frome foundry forged enormous statues like Boudica on the Thames Embankment and Justice on top of the Old Bailey.
“Many events have sold out including Scouting for Girls, but it’s not too late to get tickets for other headlining acts; the Coral, Mad Dog McRea, the Moscow Drug Club, the South West Festivals Chorus, the Comedy Crawl and the Kids’ Comedy Weekender.
“All details are available on-line at www.fromefestival.co.uk or call the box office on 01373 455420.”
8 page festival pullout available on our digital edition:
