- Sophie Ellis-Bextor to open the 60th Bedford Park Festival in Chiswick
- ‘Cats’ choreographer Gillian Lynne to be celebrated on her centenary
- New electric cars on ‘Green Days’ from Porsche and Auto West London
- Tombola prizes include Sanderson archives tour ‘fit for the King’
Sophie Ellis-Bextor is to open the 60th Bedford Park Festival & Green Days weekend – popularly known as ‘Chiswick’s favourite fortnight’. The singer, broadcaster, author and podcaster has lived in Chiswick with her family for several years and last opened the event ten years ago with a dozen other local celebrities marking the 50th Festival and Green Days.
The opening takes place at 11am on Saturday June 13th on Acton Green, opposite St Michael & All Angels Church, which runs the Festival in aid of the church and its charities.
It will include a tribute to the choreographer of Cats and Phantom of the Opera, Dame Gillian Lynne, who created both works while living in Bedford Park. Dame Gillian died in 2018 and her centenary was celebrated last month at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End and at the ArtsEd performing arts school in Chiswick, where she was a Patron. A new volume of memoir is about to be published - Gillian Lynne’s Book of Particular Cats – written with Peter Land, her husband of 38 years, who will be at the Festival opening.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor will also launch a new Art Competition for children, which will run throughout the Festival fortnight on a ‘World Cup’ theme. It will be judged by Sangeeta Weatherly of https://sansart.co.uk who will be exhibiting at the Green Days Craft Fair, the Bedford Park Summer Exhibition and Artists at Home studios weekend. The prizes will be donated by Trotters in Turnham Green Terrace.
The Art Competition replaces the Festival’s traditional fancy dress competition as part of a revamp of Green Days events for families and children. This includes two new Kids Zones, featuring activities organised by The Little Gym Chiswick and Foxes Club. They are among several new Festival partners and sponsors supporting Green Days this year, who are listed on the Partners page of the Festival website. https://www.bedfordparkfestival.org/s/11/partners
In the Electric Vehicle Zone, Porsche Centre West London returns after a year’s absence to display its exciting new Electric Cayenne mode and, after a successful Green Days launch last year, Auto West London will show two of its new electric models. Other returning partners include Chiswick’s Sipsmith distillers, who will have a stall on both days of Green Days weekend, and estate agent Frank Knight, who will sponsor the Refreshments Tent again.
The star prize in the High Roller Tombola will be a conducted tour of Sanderson’s Chiswick archives and headquarters, following in the footsteps of the King, who paid a visit to Voysey House last month. One of the King’s closest spiritual advisers, the former Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Chartres GCVO, will be the preacher at the open-air Mass on the Green at 10.30am on Sunday June 14th.
Notes to editors
Green Days Fete & Craft Fair – June 13th and 14th 2026
The Bedford Park Festival opens with the two-day Green Days Fete & Craft Fair on Acton Green, opposite St Michael & All Angels Church and Turnham Green tube station. Entry to the Green is free and the Bandstand on the Green provides a showcase for local bands, schools, dance groups and other performers. The Craft Fair on the Green displays works by 20 local designers and craftworkers alongside the usual array of stalls, refreshments and funfair.
The Festival receives great support from local businesses and individuals as partners, sponsors and donors of prizes for the High Roller Tombola and meals for two for the Win A Meal Raffle. They are listed on the Partners page of the Festival website. https://www.bedfordparkfestival.org/s/11/partners
Profits will support St Michael & All Angels Church, which runs the festival as part of its mission of arts and community outreach, and its three 2026 charities: The Upper Room, helping the needy in Shepherd’s Bush; The McCabe Educational Trust, which supports a range of health and education projects in the Holy Land; and The Mulberry Centre, celebrating its 25th anniversary supporting those affected by cancer. https://www.bedfordparkfestival.org/s/17/charities
The Bedford Park Festival – June 12th to 28th 2026
The Bedford Park Festival is one of West London’s most popular arts and community events. With concerts, talks, walks, film & theatre, art and photography exhibitions and open-air events, the Festival offers something for everyone, whatever their age. It runs from Friday June 12th to Sunday 28th 2026 with tickets on sale via TicketSource. https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/smaaa
The Festival opens on Friday June 12th with a lunchtime celebrity organ recital by international organist D’Arcy Trinkwon in St Michael & All Angels Church. It closes with the Bedford Park Festival Mass: Schubert No 3 in B flat, led by the Bedford Park Festival Orchestra and Chorus. The preacher will be Fr Kevin Morris, the vicar of St Michael & All Angels.
Read more and book tickets at www.bedfordparkfestival.org
