The Bath Festival Season and Finale Weekend Statement

Following on from our COVID-19 statement on 20 March, our team have been working hard to find alternative dates for the events that were due to take place this Spring with our Beethoven Anniversary Celebrations in March and The Bath Festival in May including The Bath Festival Finale Weekend. We thank you for your patience and are pleased to now be able to share with you our rescheduled plans.

Beethoven Anniversary Celebrations

The Complete Beethoven String Quartets have been rescheduled to spring 2021. Both the dynamic Heath Quartet and the acclaimed Carducci String Quartet will perform. All ticket holders for rescheduled events will still be able to use their existing tickets. All ticket holders will be contacted.

The Bath Festival

We have rescheduled many of our events into The Bath Festival November Weekend 2020 and The Bath Festival May 2021. Rescheduled highlights include Rachel Parris, David Lammy, Raynor Winn, Concert for the People of Bath with Bath Philharmonia and The Band of the Royal Marines and many more. From Charles Hazlewood with the Paraorchestra in The Roman Baths to a Secret Service Brainteaser with Sinclair McKay, there is something for everyone to enjoy! The full list of rescheduled and cancelled events can be seen here www.bathfestivals.org.uk/2020reschedule . All ticket holders for rescheduled events will still be able to use their existing tickets. All ticket holders will be contacted. Ticket sales for rescheduled events will reopen by 30 April.

The Bath Festival Finale Weekend

Our festival finale weekend has been postponed to 29 -30 May 2021. We are thrilled that the full line-up from 2020 has been confirmed for 2021 including Saturday headliner McFly with support from Scouting for Girls and KT Tunstall and Sunday headliner UB40 featuring Ali Campbell & Astro with support from Billy Ocean, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and Seth Lakeman. It is going to be a fantastic weekend on Bath Recreation Ground and we are already looking forward to a party next summer! The good news is ticket holders for this year’s Finale Weekend will still be able to use their tickets next year. All ticket holders will be contacted. Ticket sales will reopen for Finale Weekend by 30 April.

Flexible plans

We are sensitive to the speed of change in the pandemic and we are monitoring the situation closely. Our plans will be adjusted to fit with government guidelines, working with our venue partners on social distancing and best hygiene practices as we move through the probable gradual release of lock down to reach the 'new normal' post Covid19. We are lucky to be in an age which is becoming more digital than ever and dependent on the approach taken to the release of the lock down we are exploring options for elements of our November weekend to be enjoyed virtually. It may well be, whatever the government guidelines, that some of our audience prefer to experience an event virtually, rather than joining an audience of size in a public venue. For now, we remain optimistic and look forward to us all joining together in November celebrating books as we begin to re-connect our communities.

The Big Book Weekend

We are very excited to be involved with The Big Book Weekend on 8-10 May 2020, a three-day virtual festival that brings together the best of events from various cancelled spring arts festivals in the UK, produced in association with BBC Arts and Arts Council England. Our fantastic Big Book Weekend event (which was due to take place in May) is Ray Bradbury at 100 with Neil Gaiman and Sam Weller and it will be virtually streamed to viewers for free on Saturday 9 May at 12pm. For more information visit www.bigbookweekend.com

Back Bath Festivals!

Bath Festivals is a charity with a goal to increase and broaden community engagement to provide a vibrant arts culture for everyone. The immediate impact of drastically reduced ticket sales, sponsorship and public funding means that we need your support to ensure that Bath Festivals is here for your future. Whatever you can spare, will make a big difference. Please make a donation here: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/back-bath-festivals

This is a tricky time for us all and we look forward to coming together once again in celebration. For now, please keep safe, stay well and take care.