This is to announce the merging of Wotton Arts Association (WAA) into Under the Edge Arts (UTEA) with immediate effect at 31 March 2021. WAA has now ceased to exist.
This merger had been planned for some time to take place after the 50th Festival in 2020, but that was of course overtaken by events. The Committee of WAA, still chaired by Gordon Phillips who was the inspiration for all the Arts Festivals and the setting up of WAA to run them, are all getting older. Several had decided not to continue their involvement after June 2020 well before Covid appeared, and discussion with UTEA had resulted in an agreement to merge at the end of that Festival. Due to the ongoing situation with the effects of the disease on everybody’s affairs and the indefinite delay to all events, it was decided at a recent committee meeting that as even the smaller Festival planned for 2021 could not proceed we should complete the merger now. We are very grateful to UTEA for agreeing to do this.
Over the 50 years elements of the Festival have become firm favourites with our supporters, including our Celebration of St George's Day, Band on the Hill, the Art Exhibition, Turning the Tables, and New Year's Eve Concert and others. UTEA will use their best endeavours to incorporate these, and other items, in their programme of activities in future Wotton Arts Festivals, as soon as allowed and to do so for the foreseeable future.
It will not be possible to hold a Festival this year, but UTEA hope to hold a Festival Concert on September 11th, and also the New Year’s Eve Concert. Sadly, this means that our 50th Festival, which was postponed from 2020 due to Covid19, will not take place in its original planned form.
Finally, we would like to say a very big thank you to everyone who has supported, helped, encouraged or had any involvement with Wotton Arts Association and the Festival over the 50+ years of its existence. It has been very rewarding to be able to provide for Wotton under Edge and district some 49 Arts Festivals, and 19 New Year’s Eve concerts!
For all future information about Wotton Arts Festival, and of course many other events, please go to the Under the Edge Arts website – www.utea.org.uk . (You can click on this link)
This page will be displayed until the end of the next Wotton Arts Festival, and then this website will be closed.