From ‘halting beginnings’ TAL Festival remains anchored in the town

LAUNCHING this year’s TAL Festival at Thame Museum on Friday, Festival Manager, Steve Bannister, spoke of how the festival has developed from its inception in 2010, with just 15 events, to this year’s festival, with over 40 taking place thoughout the town.

Festival supporters and sponsors were shown a video of the highlights of the past eight festival, from, what Steve called – ‘its halting beginnings’ to last year – eight festivals, 328 events and 21,000 visitors!

The TAL team, L to R – Yvonne Maxwell, Steve Bannister, Luise and Brian Pattinson

A festival ‘beyond the size of the town’

Steve recalled that first TAL Festival which included a then unknown Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. This year, tickets for Lucy’s talk Lady Mary – about the world’s most famous devorce between Henry Vlll and Catherine of Aragon, told through the eyes of their daughter, Princess Mary, sold out in 23 hours after a queue formed around Thame townhall.  Steve spoke of how the festival had ‘….grown into something quite beyond the size of our town’, where people like BBC, publishers and the media now approach them, and how the team work all year to bring a diverse selection of interesting people to talk at the festival.

Festival additions – Art Crawl and Visitor Hub

As the festival expands, it has been adding things and changing. Last year, an Art Crawl was introduced for the first time and this year it will be even bigger with 23 different artists ‘doing their thing’ in venues across the town. LINK HERE for details. For the first time, this year, on the Saturday, October 20, there will be a ‘Visitor Hub’ sponsored by Patrician Press, in The James Figg’s Stables building, where visitors can take the weight of their feet, enjoy tea, coffee, beer, wine and food all day, and listen to poetry, join in discussions etc.

TAL remains ‘ anchored in the town’

Steve concluded that the continued success of the TAL Festival, he believed, was because: “We remain anchored in Thame; with the community of Thame; with the organisations of Thame. The fact that people come from far and wide is incidental, but the festival primarily is for the people of Thame and its wider surrounds.”

“But,” he continued: “Our success is due in no small part, to you, the people in the room; our supporters and sponsors, who have all stuck with us. And this year we have sold more tickets than ever – 80% in the first 10 days of them going on sale – 3,000 up to today, and 4,500 if we sell them all.”

Next year?

Next year promises to be a very special one for Thame’s TAL Festival, about which Steve gave little away, except to say: “Boy, do we have some ideas for festival 10 next year!”

See you there!