Padstow Arts Festival celebrates Arnold and Betjeman

3rd September 2009

The Cornish town of Padstow celebrates the life and work of two of its former residents, Malcolm Arnold and John Betjeman in a new festival from 2nd to 4th October. The composer and writer were among the leading figures in British artistic life following the Second World War and shared a commitment to communicating with the widest possible audience through their work.

Arnold, who lived in Padstow from the late 1960s until 1972, was closely involved with the musical life of the region to the extent that he was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth in 1968. Among his most famous works is the Padstow Lifeboat March.

Participants in the festival include baritone Benjamin Luxon, the Salieri String Quartet and composer and pianist John McCabe, a long-standing champion of Arnold’s music.

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