Hounslow Festival of Music, Speech and  Dance

        Registered Charity no: 1035333
      Affiliated to The British and International Federation of Festivals
 










The Hounslow Festival of Music, Speech and Dance is a competitive festival with classes for all ages and abilities that takes place every year.

It is affiliated to the British Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech, which had its patron (until recently) as Her Majesty the Queen, and the Hounslow Festival is one of over three hundred affiliated festivals in the United Kingdom. It started as part of the “Holidays at Home” scheme during the Second World War.

The Festival originally consisted of seven sections: Vocal and Choral, Pianoforte, Instrumental, Stage Dancing, Speech, Drama and Bell Ringing. In recent years we have not been able to run the Pianoforte, Instrumental, Drama and Bell Ringing sections.

In 2015 & 2016 we ran a separately tailored Speech section for a local Primary School as part of Hounslow Festival's outreach programme, where participants recited poems in accordance with the Festival Rules & Syllabus. Medals were awarded accordingly.

In 2016 we successfully restarted the Pianoforte section and are starting to build up numbers. Unfortunately we have not been able to run the Pianoforte section since 2018 because we have no section leader or a suitable venue with a piano.

We were also one of the first Festivals to resume in 2021 following the Covid pandemic.

We would like to re-start our Instrumental section, but require help to do this.

Stewards are required on the days of the Festival in each section to carry out the many jobs that have to be done, and any volunteers are welcomed. Equally,we also welcome any volunteers willing to become Section Leaders.

Details of classes for the Vocal & Choral, Speech & Mime, Stage Dancing, and Pianoforte sections can be found in the Syllabus located on the respective web page for each section. The festival session for Pianoforte usually takes place in June; the rest of the sections take place at different venues mostly during weekends from late September to mid-November; the exact dates and the location for each section will be found in the syllabus.

Entries are welcomed from individuals, teachers, schools and other groups. Copies of the syllabus and entry forms can be obtained from our Syllabus Secretary (Miss J. Derby) 23 Witham Road, Isleworth, Middx. TW7 4AJ.

The primary aim of the Festival is to encourage the study and performance of the arts. This is achieved by giving the opportunity for public performance of a prepared piece and providing constructive criticism in a competitive but friendly atmosphere.

Page updated 17/06/23