That was Speen Festival 2009
I don't know about you, but I felt an air about the village over the Festival period. Was it elation or thank God it's finally upon us and we won't have to suffer any more updates? Well tough, here's one more. I thought Speen Festival 2009 was fantastic, not just for all the great events that took place, most of which drew capacity attendance, but more than that, for the huge commitment willingly displayed by an army of people putting on events and the serried ranks of back room helpers making sure everything ran smoothly.
 
Thanks to the vast number of people who attended, many of whom provided very positive feedback, I believe the spirit and the influence of the Festival felt palpably stronger this year. We hope we have built on the past success of our predecessors and the founders of the Festival and that the endeavours of this year's committee have provided a solid platform for future Festivals. To provide feedback on the Festival, click here.
 
This year, one of our aims was to extend the reach of the Festival beyond the confines of the Festival dates through the development of SpeenFest Interactive! As a result, a new photographic group has formed as well as a fledgling science debating group. We are also hoping for a new Kate Adie or John Pilger to emerge as a result of the young news group from the Speen TV workshop, who interviewed and filmed events in the run up to the Festival. You can see the result of their work on You Tube, just type in Speen Festival Buckinghamshire in the search. We also sought to reach out to audiences beyond Speen, and events such as the Festival of Food and the Speen Big Sing! managed to achieve this triumphantly.
 
Photos
If you want to see more of me (and why not?) or even if you just want to see photos of you and your friends and a fantastic memento of Speen Festival 2009, - for just £7.50 you can pick up a DVD of over 500 images taken by Speen Festival 2009 Official Photographers, PLG Photography (www.plgphoto.com). You can get copies in Speen Stores (from 1st October) or order them directly from PLG's website.
 
We look forward to welcoming you to Speen Festival 2011 and seeing you at some of the up and coming SpeenFest Interactive! events. All future SpeenFest events will be posted on the Speen Festival website, so keep a check on it. If you have your own ideas for Festival and SpeenFest Interactive! events or indeed would like to lend a helping hand, please contact Kate Laughton at director@speenfestival.org or myself at chair@speenfestival.org, after all it is your Festival and it is you that make it work so well.

All the best
 

Jem Symondson
Chair
Speen Festival 2009 Committee