The RWB Arts Festival is a competitive arts festival for both children and adults that takes place annually. The Festival covers music, speech, drama, musical theatre and dance. We are affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals (BIFF) which is the umbrella body for performing arts festivals throughout the UK and beyond.
Dance
The Dance Festival takes place across both weekends of the Festival, and offers a wide range of classes: from Ballet to Tap to Modern to Cabaret, and more!
Music
The Music Festival concentrates on six different styles: including competitive classes in woodwind, brass, strings, vocal (choirs, songs from shows, modern pop songs, sacred songs and operetta), a specialist classical guitar section, piano, ensemble and junior accompanist. There are also various musical genres to be enjoyed ranging from Jazz, Folk, Blues to Rock and Musical Theatre.
Speech and Drama
The Speech and Drama section covers a wide variety of classes, from: solo acting, verse speaking, prose reading, group acting, mime, prose recitation, public speaking and Shakespeare performances.
Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre classes take place on the same weekend as Speech and Drama. This is a relatively new section for RWBAF. We offer classes for solo, duologue and group performances demonstrating a combination of singing, acting and dance where appropriate.
Highlights Concert
The festival culminates with a Highlights Concert, which will take place the February following the Festival and will showcase outstanding performers who are invited to return and perform their work with an audience of family, friends and local dignitaries.
Festival History
The festival first began in 2005 and initially concentrated on music and art only. Although it was intended to be a bi-annual event with the second festival taking place in 2007, numbers grew so significantly that, along with the ever-popular classes for Speech and Drama, the festival is now run annually.
We are continuing to grow each year thanks to the wonderful support of all those who join us in sharing their creative talents!