A weekend of books, music,
comedy and more...
Penshurst Festival
Penshurst Festival was set up to provide a weekend of arts activities and entertainment for the region around the historic village of Penshurst in Kent. It focuses on literature and music and takes place annually in October. Sadly the Festival in October 2020 has been cancelled due to the effects of Covid19. The next Festival will take place in October 2021.
The Festival includes The Sir Philip Sidney Poetry Prize, inaugurated during the 2019 Festival. Entries for the 2020 Sir Philip Sidney Poetry Prize are now open and will close on 1 September (Adults) and 18 September (Children)
The Festival is run by the Friends of Penshurst Church and is supported by a range of partners and donors to whom we are sincerely grateful.
Tunbridge Wells International Music Festival
Penshurst Place & Gardens
Sevenoaks Bookshop
Prison Reading Groups
We would also like to thank the generous donors who helped to fund the setting up of the festival in its first year and have promised their support for its second year in 2020. They are listed at Support Us.
Charity Partner
Penshurst Festival is proud to support and raise awareness of the work of PRISON READING GROUPS (PRG), part of the charity Give a Book, which organises 51 voluntary reading groups in 39 prisons. PRG also helps parents in prison to keep in touch with their children by supporting Family Visit Days and other family reading initiatives.
Find out more about Prison Reading Groups at prisonreadinggroups.org.uk
Who's Who
David Lough
Chair, Artistic Director
Author (No More Champagne, Darling Winston) , Trustee, FOPC
Helen Winning
Festival Director
Former CEO, Hastings International Music Festival, Trustee, FOPC
Stephen Hazell Smith
Marketing
Former asset management CEO, Chairman of Trustees – FOPC
Ben Thomas
Logistics
General Manager, Penshurst Place & Gardens
James Lee
Commercial
Former CEO, Goldcrest Films; Chairman, Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Alastair Briggs
Finance
Former accountant and banker
Friends of Penshurst Church
The Friends of Penshurst Church is a registered charity which aims to raise funds to maintain, repair, protect, restore, improve and reconstruct the fabric of St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst for the benefit of the public.
