Frome Festival 2010

The Frome Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary over ten days from Friday 9th until Sunday 18th July 2010.

The annual ten-day Frome Festival is Somerset's largest community festival, with more than 160 events held at various venues in and around the town.

Line-up

The festival artist in residence will be pianist Marina Nadiradze who will play three recitals by Chopin. Longleat Great Hall is the location for the first concert, the B minor Sonata on Wednesday 14 July. The second concert at St John's Church on Thursday 15 July, sees her play the first of Chopin's two piano concertos over successive nights. For this concert, she will be joined by the Amati String Quartet. The last concert in the Chopin Piano Concerto Cycle at St Andrew's Church on Friday 16 July, ends with Piano Concerto No. 2.
Seth Lakeman with support Ruarri Joseph will play the festival at the Cheese and Grain Frome on Wed 14 July, tickets are priced at £16.
Baka Beyond, Joe Brown, Chris Jagger, Praying For Rain, John Law, The Operation, Harpeth Rising, and Pink Champagne are also confirmed. The Griffin Inn and Olive Tree pubs host a week of free gigs with DJ Madapple, Julian Dawson, Poppy Pitt, Leonardo's Bicycle, Alex Taylor and the Boot Hill All Stars among the confirmed acts.

Back Before Breakfast and Redback headline the live stage at the relaunched Frome Festival Feast in its new home on the banks of the River Frome.

Comedy

Paul Merton will return the the festival to headline and perform on two nights at The Memorial Theatre. Reginald D. Hunter opens the birthday celebrations at the Cheese & Grain. Jo Caulfield, John Hegley joins forces with Frome-based charity Educating Kenyan Orphans, and Ivor Dembina are also confirmed.

Tickets

To buy tickets online click here, or telephone the Box Office on 01373 455420.

Other events

The festival also offers dozens of walks, talks, and workshops which actively involve, not only the local community, but thousands of visitors to the town. Frome Festival offers more than 190 events over ten days including:
Bath Philharmonia's Jason Thornton hosting Chopin recitals played by this year's festival artist in residence, pianist Marina Nadiradze, and Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring with bluegrass from Nashville's Harpeth Rising.

After Shakespeare, Charles Dickens contributed more words to the Englsih dictionary than any other author. His great great grandson, Gerald Dickens, fills his famous relation’s shoes at Frome's Wesley Methodist Church.

Words@FromeFestival invites Bristol-based experimental psychologist Bruce Hood, author of Supersense: Why We Believe The Unbelieveable, to explain why humans are hard-wired for religion.

Elsewhere there's art exhibitions, walks, workshops, Perennial favourites Hidden Gardens, Open Studios, Frome Green Fair, Art Car Boot Fair and the Festival Fashion Show, and many other curiosities.

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Programming

The Frome Festival operates in a similar way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in that the ideas and promotions come from various external sources. For example, the Merlin Theatre and Rook Lane Arts organise their own programme of performances and exhibitions within the festival's remit. The Literature elements, the Home project, and the Theatre in the Villages are all largely self contained aspects to the festival. The Cheese and Grain Hall, hosts some events in festival week presented by commercial promoters, who pay a contribution to the festival's overheads. Many events are run by private individuals or organisations, often underwriting the financial risks themselves.

The festival features classical, jazz, folk, film, drama and literary events, as well as exhibitions throughout the town and surrounding area, drama productions, workshops, events for children and attracts performers from all over the world.

More information will be here when available.

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