wantage summer festival 2009

The Wantage Summer Festival is now in it’s 14th year and has become a fixture in the cultural calendar.   The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the people of Wantage, Grove and the surrounding villages. Over the years we have worked hard to offer a balance of local interest events and activities, with musical and dramatic performances, photography, dance, local interest walks, talks, exhibitions, arts and crafts.  Rock in the Park is one of the highlights and is held over a weekend, organised by the Youth Project - The Sweatbox.

Our excellent Museum has pulled out the stops with a plethora of events to tempt everyone.  There’s gallery talks, storytime for children, displays, music, craft and more.  As we become more aware of the fragility of our environment, this has been embraced by the Museum with butterfly talks and walks, a family friendly event involving bugs and creepy-crawlies, a talk on the Letcombe Brook project to name but a few. 

The festival is organised on a low-cost, volunteer basis, with financial support in the form of grants from the Wantage Town Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council.  This year we have also received funding from Research Sites Restoration Ltd (formerly UKAEA) which has been used to sponsor events at the Museum.  We are extremely grateful to have these grants and sponsorships as the Festival does not have any other income and would not survive without them.

The official Festival opening by the Mayor of Wantage, is on Saturday 6th June 2009, at 11.00 on the VC forecourt (in front of the Bear Hotel).  The excellent Wantage Silver Band will be playing, and we will also be entertained by the Icknield Way Morris Men (who celebrate their 50th anniversary this year).  Hopefully Stagelights may come along in costume as well – they did last year and caused quite a stir in their black dominatrix costumes! 

Any last minute changes to the programme will appear on this website (unforeseen circumstances occasionally arise)

Julia Reynolds
Festival Chairman April 2009

Download Summer Festival Programme 2009

Photo shows local folk band The Shady Grove String Band playing at The Vale and Downland Museum during the Wantage Summer Festival June, 2008