The Shifnal Festival was an annual Music, Arts and Culture

Festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

held in the market town of

Shifnal Shifnal () is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 motorway and A5 (road), A5 road ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

History

Little is known about the origins of the festival. A book published in 1904 by Harold Sadler suggests the festival was a local event held in the grounds of Aston Hall to the east of the town. Aston Hall was at the time owned by Colonel Howard-McClean. Sadler's book marks the festival as being The Hadley Orpheus Choir's first competitive success.

Revival

Research carried out as part of the Shifnal Town Plan in 2008 suggested residents of the town were interested in staging a festival of arts, culture and entertainment. A committee was formed of volunteers and a date was announced for the first modern Shifnal festival in September 2010. The committee secured funding from the town council and applied for a series of grants from a number of sources.
The Shifnal Festival should not be confused with

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

, a

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

that was held until 2017 at the nearby

Weston Park Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located north-west of Wolverhampton, and east of Telford, close to the border with Shropshire ...

(although the Weston Park address is classed as "Nr Shifnal").

Format

The festival aimed itself at all age groups and claimed to provide something for everyone. Typically incorporated into the programme were: *Live Music. *An art exhibition which featured pieces my local artists. A theme was often given for the pieces to conform to. *A photographic exhibition, which was often themed and formed part of a competition. *A form of drama or performing arts show. *Dance workshops or classes. *Craft workshops and fairs. *A spirituality element such as choral singing or religion based art. *Spoken word and poetry events. *A Film event. *A family fun day. *Fringe events organised by local businesses and groups.

Awards

In 2010 the Festival was Commended by the Action for Market Town Awards. The award is displayed on the Festival's website

Festivals

2010 Festival

17–26 September 2010.

2011 Festival

13–25 September 2011.

2012 Festival

4–7 October 2012.https://twitter.com/shifnal_fest/status/169817742248120320/photo/1
The 2012 festival took on a

victoriana Victoriana is a term used to refer to material culture related to the Victorian period (1837–1901). It often refers to decorative objects, but can also describe a variety of artifacts from the era including graphic design, publications, ph ...

theme and included a vintage fair.
At the close of the festival, the organising committee disbanded due to lack of funding to continue with the annual running of the festival.

References

{{reflist Festivals in Shropshire Shifnal