St. Wystan’s Church and Repton School

This year’s Repton Festival boasted an exciting and wide range of curated activities, talks, concerts and events with plenty to appeal to everyone, and it certainly delivered!

A free ‘Paddock Pass’ gave access through the ancient Arch of the Augustinian Priory where the Vikings of Middle England showed what daily life would have involved and gave carefully choreographed combat displays in an area once occupied by Vikings over a thousand years ago. 

Close by, Vijay Verma read Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes” in The Grubber – the school tuck shop – where chocolate truffle-making and painting in the style of famous artists delighted children, who could also try circus skills and join a percussion workshop, in a family-friendly festival.

World renowned harp-guitarist and film-maker Jason Carter gave a magical, almost mystical concert in the Parish Church to open the festival on Friday evening and the Ravens Drama Group from Repton Primary kept up the performance aspect on Saturday with a delightful, abridged “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in a sell-out show. Later in the day, acclaimed local actor Joanna Hands gave a rehearsed reading performance of “Graggers on Your Eggs”, selected letters of Repton Schoolboy Roald Dahl to his mother from nearly a hundred years ago, featuring local landmarks, fire and flooding in the village (‘Graggers’ was then Repton School slang meaning Congratulations).

Local M.P. Samantha Niblett was introduced and interviewed by BBC Radio Derby’s Ian Skye in her first public appearance since being elected, before she headed to Rosie Holt’s hilarious stand-up comedy set “That’s Politainment…”. With Rude Shakespeare, an audience with Oscar winning film-maker John Stephenson, walking tours of the beautiful buildings, gardens and grounds, talks by creative and crime writers, local craft brewers and wine importers, specialist gardening experts and authors, there was a feast of active entertainment opportunities to suit everyone.

There was also an actual feast… . The ancient, stone Tithe Barn, adjacent to The 

Arch, was transformed into the magical Secret Garden designed and created by Carl and Mandy Avery of Parkside Home & Garden, featuring a large pond, a skyscraper bug hotel and hundreds of trees, flowering plants and bushes, beautifully lit to pick out the shades and contours of the living design.

The Secret Garden. Photos courtesy of the creators Carl and Mandy Avery

A ‘tea menu’ curated by tea expert James Pogson of Northern Tea Merchants and a classic sweet and savoury afternoon tea selection prepared by The Pantry Event Catering would have been a quintessentially english experience alone but this enriching and memorable event was enhanced by two nationally respected gardening experts moving around the tables to answer questions and offer advice.

The Repton Festival has become a truly delightful, gloriously surprising and thoroughly enjoyable occasion and many in the local and wider area will look forward to whatever imaginative and engaging events are developed in the future.

Graggers on the Repton Festival!