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Derby Arts Festival celebrates 100 years
As the Derby Arts Festival organisers gear up for 100th anniversary event, committee member Alison Haslam has been researching the origins of the festival, discovering how it has developed and changed over the years.
The spirit of the festival has always been very egalitarian –– the aim being to offer everyone the chance to perform and develop their own abilities rather than to create a competition to find the “cream of the crop”.
However, the high level of entries over the years has meant that the festival has also provided a useful spring board for local youngsters whose outstanding talents have led them on to greater things.
“Well-known household names such as actor Alan Bates and actress Clare Higgins all came through the ranks of the Derby Arts Festival in their time, alongside many other talented teenagers who have become professional musicians and teachers,” explained centenary committee member Alison Haslam, who has been busy over the past few months collating the history of the festival for its website at http://derbyartsfestival.com
Alison has traced the festival right back to its founder and first president, Lady Florence Duncombe, the woman who rallied support for the launch of a local festival.
At the turn of the last century, Lady Florence lived on the Derbyshire Staffordshire border, in a residence called Calwich Abbey, near Ellastone.
“Florence and her husband Major A C Duncombe were both forceful figures in the local community and, in 1905, she got a taste for organising when she hosted the first art exhibition for the Calwich Abbey Amateur Art Society,” explained Alison.
“The exhibition was open to all, not just members of the society, and it featured embroidery, paintings, carving and photography, with expert judges being engaged for all sections.”
On the back of this successful venture and, with one eye on the growing popularity of music festivals and the festival movement in other parts of the country, Lady Florence made enquiries about the possibility of forming an annual festival in the area.
“An inaugural meeting was called, and very well attended, in the Hall Hotel, Ashbourne, which resulted in the formation of the Dove and Churnet Valleys Choral and Instrumental Competition,” Alison continued.
“This first competition – a choirs-only event – took place on April 9, 1908, in a marquee in the grounds of the Hall Hotel, Ashbourne, and was met with great enthusiasm, with around 900 choirs taking part.
“The event also generated a huge audience and, in the evening, there was a concert provided by several of the choirs, including some vocal solos and a cello solo.”
The organisers were delighted with the response and, from that very promising start, the roots of the present Derby Arts Festival spread and continued to grow.
“Music festivals were gradually increasing in popularity around the turn of the century and, as the 1900s progressed, any town and city worth its salt had instigated one,” said Alison.
“At that time outlets for schoolchildren and other amateur musicians and singers to display their talents were quite limited, so the festivals became an excellent showcase for them to perform.”
It seems the events were welcomed by audiences, too, in an era when entertainment both inside and outside the home was somewhat limited. As a result, the Dove and Churnet Festival started to expand very rapidly, offering a wider and wider range of classes, outgrowing its earliest venues and undergoing several changes of name as it evolved over the years.
The original line-up of competitors, the choirs, were soon joined by soloists, duets, church and chapel choirs and the occasional instrumental item.
Special trains were often laid on to get competitors to and from the events, such was the level of interest.
The event suffered a little during the First World War but it hit another epoch in 1923 when it was decided to move the competition to a larger venue, the Central Hall, in East Street, Derby – a building which was later converted into a retail store by Derby Co-op.
Previously, organisers had relied on smaller venues such as Denstone College and local town halls in Ashbourne, Cheadle and Uttoxeter.
“The move to Derby paid off and it was decided the event should now be named the Derbyshire and North Staffordshire Music Festival and run for up to four days,” said Alison.
“In 1930, the event was held in the Queen’s Hall, Derby, and classes were expanded again. Campfire songs from Brownies, Guides and Life Brigade girls were included in the renditions, along with Bible and Psalm readings, a wide range of instrumental slots and, of course, the traditional singing classes.”
By 1935, the festival was developing such a strong reputation nationwide that it was starting to draw competitors from outside the region, with some travelling from as far afield as London to take part in the ever broadening range of classes.
The contest now embraced classes for folk dance, vocal, piano, violin, elocution (later drama, mime and verse speaking) and plans were afoot to extend the event over two weeks, using a variety of venues throughout the Derby area.
According to Alison, two other large organisations, the LMS Railway Temperance Union Musical Festival and the Derby Free Church Musical Festival, decided, that year, to officially join forces with the festival resulting in yet another name change to the Derby, Derbyshire and North Staffordshire Musical Festival.
The Second World War called a halt to activities but, throughout the late 1940s and 50s, the event continued to flourish.
Most schools in the area showed their support by channeling talented pupils towards the festival and entrance costs for competitors were kept very low so the event could be inclusive of all those who wanted to take part.
Local businesses and business people also lent their support in terms of sponsorship and time.
In the 1960s, the festival format was moved forward further by the involvement of two young couples. Two members of the Foulds family, (Philip Foulds and wife Jean), who owned the music shop in Iron Gate, Derby, plus John and Mona Locke, the son and daughter-in-law of Foulds’ manager James Locke, devoted many hours to making sure the festival remained a success.
“The festival, which in the 40s became known as the Derby and Derbyshire Festival, had always moved with the times and, by 1968, with the injection of newer, younger blood at the helm, it reached its peak in terms of variety,” said Alison.
“The event ran for at least a month and the classes available to entrants included art, instrumental, English folk dancing, junior choirs, vocal, ballet, speech and drama, Scottish dancing and adult choirs.
“Given the wide spread of disciplines covered, it was felt appropriate that there be a change in name and, in 1969, it became the Derby Arts Festival – Competitive.”
Then, in 1973, on the festival’s 65th anniversary, the name changed again to its current appellation – Derby Arts Festival. Classes have come and gone over the years as interest fluctuates and, according to Alison, although the English folk dancing and Scottish dancing have declined in recent years, the ballet classes are presently hitting an all-time high for popularity.
“The musical element, which was the original thrust of the festival, has always remained consistently strong,” she explained. “Considering all the many other distractions and entertainments available to youngsters these days, it is fantastic that the festival has survived all these years and that interest has been sustained among performers, audiences and the committee members who do all work behind the scenes.”
Many of those who have competed in the festival in the past also seem to develop a nostalgic affection and loyalty to the event, which draws them back to support it year after year.
Successful artist Barbara Lowe, who went on to sing at the Royal Opera House, has since returned to Derby and become a festival committee member as well as an adjudicator for the event.
Barbara’s former pupil and another former festival competitor, opera babe Karen England, is also returning to perform at this year’s special centenary celebrations.
It is this type of enthusiasm and commitment which has enabled the Derby-based event to thrive where festivals in other areas have fallen by the wayside.
“At one time, the social framework of Derby could almost be identified by those involved with the Festival,” said Alison, who was herself a former competitor.
“It brought people together and, in some ways, the purpose of the festival was always partially social, partially entertainment and partially educational.
“The aim was to increase interest in music and the arts generally by encouraging performers from all types of background to take part and to give the youngsters some useful feedback from competent adjudicators,” she added.
“The festival movement has always presented itself as an inclusive organisation and the early motto of the Federation of Music Festivals – competitors are not rivals but comrades pacing one another on the road to perfection – is still honoured in spirit today.
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