Festival's roots back in 1970

WHAT we now know as Sevenoaks Summer Festival began in 1970 when Sevenoaks School upgraded its previously internal “Paean”, a series of musical events inaugurated in 1968 to celebrate the end of exams, to Paean ’70 - A Festival of Music and the Arts for Sevenoaks.

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The school hoped it would be the start “of an annual event, which should eventually benefit the whole local community”. It was, they said, “an exciting undertaking” and one that required “a great amount of energy and endurance from the participants”.

Based at the ‘top of town’ with events at the school and in St Nicholas’ Church, that first festival in 1970 had composer Michael Tippett as its patron and opened on Sunday, July 5 with a service at St Nicholas’ Church and ran until Wednesday, July 15, closing with a concert in the Aisher Hall - ‘Music of the Golden Age’ presented by a trio that included “honorary president and artistic director” Richard Hames.