'I want to go to almost everything': 25th Preston Arts Festival hopes to be picture-perfect

It’s set to be a picture-perfect weekend for the creatives of Preston, as the city prepares to welcome the annual Preston Arts Festival.

Now on its 25th year, the festival will see a slew of events hosted by the Preston Arts Association, which is itself celebrating its 50th anniversary.

It will run from September 20 to October 4, with a bonus portrait challenge set to be held on September 19.

Honorary president Vince Smith has been on the Preston Arts Association’s committee for the past 30 years.

He told the Lancashire Evening Post that he hopes this year will be one of the best festivals yet.

“We’ve got a really big, comprehensive programme this time, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Vince said. “I’m expecting it to go down well.

“We’ve got loads of choirs, speakers, drama, and other activities. We’ve got a couple of talks, one about the Brontë family. I’m going to do a talk on the cathedrals of the North West. And then we’ve got loads of concerts - nearly every choir that is affiliated to the Arts Association will be involved in the festival this time.

“There’s something on every day, and in some cases, twice a day. It’s actually a bit of a nuisance for me, because living in Chorley, I want to go to almost everything. Am I going to stay in Preston, or dash back to Chorley, grab a sandwich, and dash back? I haven’t decided yet!”

The Preston Arts Association is made up of over 40 member groups, and includes hundreds of artists, writers, musicians, and performers across the city.

They most often meet at St. George the Martyr Church, near Fishergate, which is also celebrating their 300th anniversary.

According to Vince, the original idea for the festival was thanks to popular demand from members, who wanted more opportunities to share their work with others.

“We were created in the first place by the Borough Council, as it then was, to distribute small grants to local arts groups. They would apply for grants, and we would sit around as a committee and decide which ones to give money to, and how much.

“But once a year, we would do an event called Arts Live, in which we invited three groups who were affiliated with the association to come along and give a performance. When the grant allocations came to an end, we thought, ‘What about Arts Live?’, and some others said, ‘Why don’t we expand it and make it into an arts festival?’.

“It took a while to get going. We had the first one in 2002. It lasted a week, and we had some very good performances and very good workshops. That’s how it all started, and it’s expanded since then: for a few years it was just a few days or a week, and then it very rapidly got to two weeks, and it’s been two weeks ever since.”

In the early days, Vince said the popularity of the festival was not something he “ever could have expected” - but that he hopes the excitement will continue through to this year.

The 50th Preston Arts Festival will see more than a dozen events across the next fortnight, including a performance from world-renowned pianist Martin Roscoe.

Other events set to feature in this year’s festival include:

- Saturday, September 19: Preston Portrait Challenge. For entry, email [email protected].

- Sunday, September 20: Official Festival Launch Concert. 2pm - 4:30pm, St. George the Martyr Church. Free tickets.

- Monday, September 21: ‘Bus Station’ - a short film by Gloria Regonesi, presented by Michael Akers. 2pm - 3:30pm, St. George the Martyr Church. Tickets £5.

- Tuesday, September 22: Framing Preston: Exploring the city’s history through the artwork at The Harris. 1:30pm - 3pm, The Harris. Tickets £5.

- Wednesday, September 23: ‘Exits and Entrances’: A celebration of Preston’s theatrical history. 6:15pm - 9pm, Preston Guild Hall. Tickets £5.

- Thursday, September 24: Anne Brontë: The forgotten sister. 2pm - 3pm, St. George the Martyr Church. Tickets £5.

- Thursday, September 24: Preston Cicilian Choral Society performance. 6:30pm - 7pm, The Harris. No tickets needed.

- Thursday, September 24: Portrait Challenge: Presentation and exhibition opening. 7:30pm - 9pm, Chew’s Yard. No tickets needed.

- Friday, September 25: Performance of Handel’s Messiah. 7pm - 10pm, St. George the Martyr Church. Tickets £20.

- Friday, September 25: Archive creative writing project. 2pm - 4pm, The Harris Reading Room. Free tickets.

- Sunday, September 27: Two choirs concert. 2pm - unspecified, St. George the Martyr Church. Tickets £10.

- Monday, September 28: Cathedrals of the North West. 2pm - 4pm, St. George the Martyr Church. Tickets £5.

- Tuesday, September 29: Martin Roscoe piano recital. 7:30pm - 9:30pm, St. George the Martyr Church. Tickets £20.

- Wednesday, September 30: Damson Poets open mic. 7:30pm - 9:30pm, The Boatyard at The Continental. No tickets needed.

- Thursday, October 1: Madalina Rusu piano recital. 1pm - 1:45pm, St. Andrew’s Church. Tickets £15.

- Thursday, October 1: A Celebration of Singing. 6pm - 8:30pm, The Harris. No tickets needed.

- Friday, October 2: Katy Bradley and Friends present: The guys that made it happen. 7:30pm - 9:30pm, Leyland Methodist Church. Tickets £15.

- Sunday, October 4: Preston Symphony Orchestra presents: Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious. 7pm - unspecified, St. Michael and All Angels Church. Tickets £15.