Polesden Lacey Festival puts a smile back on the faces of disappointed sports fans!

This year’s Polesden Lacey Festival was blessed with gloriously sunny conditions all weekend, with over 3000 happy festival-goers arriving with picnics, chairs, hats and wigs galore!

The Festival kicked off on Friday night with The Chicago Blues Brothers Show wowing the audience with their energetic performance both on and off the stage!  The show was packed with over 35 unforgettable classics of the era, including all the major songs from both films. Many in the audience came suitably dressed for the occasion in dark glasses and black trilby hats with everyone really getting down and boogying the night away!

The biggest night of the Festival was Saturday night, with well over 1000 people in the audience coming to see tribute bands ZU2 and Born to be Jovi in support.  Many arrived donning wigs and Bono style hats and the atmosphere was electric.  Both bands were a huge hit but especially ZU2 as at times it was like watching U2 in the flesh, but with a sprinkle of the bands’ own magic. The special effects and lighting really added to the performance and the audience sang along to hits such as 'Beautfiul Day', 'The Streets have no name' and 'Vertigo'….to name but a few!

Sunday afternoon was much more of a family affair when Polesden Lacey welcomed back the Polesden Lacey Family Concert with Surrey resident and BBC newsreader Nicholas Owen  narrating the children’s story, Prokofiev’s 'Peter and the Wolf'.  Jonathan Butcher, director of the North Downs Orchestra was both conductor and compere for the afternoon. Children came with Teddy Bears of all description, there was an audience sing-along of The Teddy Bear’s picnic and a prize for the best dressed teddy bear. The Family concert was a huge success and will definitely firmly feature in the Festival line-up for many years to come.

The final event of the Festival was the July 4 classical extravaganza and fireworks finale with the Polesden Lacey Festival orchestra and Jonathan Butcher returning to the stage after a few hours break following their lunchtime concert.  The audience came and soaked up the sun, the beautiful setting and the atmosphere whilst enjoying their picnics!  The programme was very much a celebration of music from 'across the pond' in commemoration of American Independence Day and included Will Sousa’s stirring march Stars & Stripes, a medley from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s heart wrenching musical South Pacific, the Hoe-Down from Copland’s energetic ballet Rodeo, songs by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter and lots more…..as darkness fell, the evening was topped off with an amazing fireworks display over the skyline at Polesden Lacey – suitable for any July 4 celebration!