Bedtime stories for festival's jubilee
A Shropshire festival marking its silver anniversary has introduced a new feature – bedtime stories read by prominent local people.
Wellington Festival, which has brought a range of arts events to the town for the last 25 years, will take place for three days from May 7 in a virtual format for 2021.
Councillor Julie Pierce from the festival team said: "For this year we came up with the idea of asking a few local Wellingtonians to select, choose and record on video their favourite bedtime stories for us all to enjoy together at 6pm on each day of the event.
“Town Mayor Pat Fairclough is one of those featured, as well as our local town crier and ‘ale taster’, our vicar and local authors, artists and teachers, as well as the manager of the Wellington Orbit arts centre.
“I particularly like the reading of the Butterfly Ball by our Mayor. This book has been brilliantly brought to life in the video. It was always a favourite of mine when I was a child so I can’t wait for everyone else to see it."
The festival will also include an art exhibition and local history talks and as it will be impossible to hold performances due to social distancing, the events will be available to view on the Wellington Town Council website and Facebook page and will cover the town’s literary heritage, the visual arts, poetry and storytelling.
Councillor Anthony Lowe, who chairs the festival, added: “This year is the 25th anniversary of the Wellington Festival and despite the Covid restrictions we still want to showcase the talent of Wellington, even though it’s virtual.
“Residents and anyone who has a connection with the town can participate in a number of ways.”
More details at http://www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk/wellingtons-25th-anniversary-festival/
