The Bedford Park Festival

The Bedford Park Festival is one of the highlights of the local year. It began in 1967, with John Betjeman as its patron, and is held every June. The fortnight of arts and social events is the centrepiece of St Michaels’ work in the community and raises money for charities and the upkeep and outreach of the church.

Bringing the community together

The Festival is Chiswick's biggest community event, attracting thousands of people from the local area and further afield, and raising money for charities and projects at St Michael's. To remind yourself what a great Festival we had last year, do watch this wonderful 3-minute film of Green Days by commercials director Kelvin Murray.

Raising money for good causes

Over the past 45 years, the Festival has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities and the work of St Michael and All Angels, with the active support of the community and dozens of local businesses.
This year we'll again be supporting the Upper Room charity, based in Shepherd's Bush, which helps the homeless, vulnerable, and socially disadvantaged of West London. For the first time, we'll be raising money for a Chiswick youth charity called CEDARS, a drop-in centre for young people, supported by several Chiswick churches. And we'll also be supporting two overseas projects run by USPG. You can read more about all of them here.

Supporting the arts and creativity in the community

There’ll be the usual mix of concerts and talks, as well as a few surprises and all the regular favourites: the Festival Mass, the Bedford Park Summer Exhibition, Open Gardens, Bedford Park Walk, the Poetry evening and the Photographic Exhibition. The programme will be published in May. The two-day Green Days fete, opposite St Michaels, will again have stalls, fairground attractions, live music and dance, craft fair, children's fancy dress competition and talent contest, with plenty of food and drink at the beer and refreshments tents and the barbecue.

The Festival opens with Green Days weekend - a two-day fete and Craft Fair, held opposite the church and Turnham Green tube station. It continues with a fortnight of concerts, talks and exhibitions, including lots for children. On the final Sunday, there's a Choral Festival Mass in St Michael & All Angels Church, followed by lunch in the Vicarage garden, the Bedford Park Walk and a dozen Open Gardens.

If you would like to be involved in the 2011 Festival in any way, please contact Helen Simkin, the Festival administrator, at helen@may.be. And you can remind yourself of the highlights of last year's Green Days below.

Green Days 2011 - Zumba, Clare Balding and Jeremy Vine

Watch the video to see Jeremy Vine opening the 2010 Bedford Park Festival. He took a leaf out of John Betjeman's book by writing a poem about the Festival. Betjeman was the Festival's first patron and helped save Bedford Park from being wrecked by property developers. The first Festival in 1967 led to 356 houses being declared listed buildings. The following year, Betjeman celebrated with a poem.

Bedford Park Festival 2010
Bedford Park Festival 2009
Bedford Park Festival 2008
Bedford Park Festival 2007
Earlier Festivals
Celebrity presenters

The Festival team has also organised two Chiswick Book Festivals in late September 2009 and 2010. If you would like to be involved in the 2011 Book Festival (September 16 - 18) , please contact the administrator, Dinah Garrett, on 020 8994 7252 or at ddinahg@supanet.com