Nominate ‘heroes’ for Festival tickets

ORGANISERS of the Henley Festival are giving away 50 pairs of day tickets to reward “heroes” from the coronavirus pandemic.

Residents are being asked to nominate anyone who has made a difference over the last 18 months.

Winners will receive a pair of tickets for Sunday, September 19, which is the closing night of the five-day festival.

The floating stage will celebrate the greatest hits of Abba, Queen and the Bee Gees, with West End stars being accompanied by a full symphony for Don’t Stop Me Now.

Jo Bausor, the festival’s chief executive, said: “We were chatting as a team about how we could give something back to Henley. It has been such an awful 18 months, but there have been so many people that have stepped up and helped in big and little ways.

“What we wanted to do was give people a party and that is what we will be doing on the Sunday. We came up with the idea of making 50 pairs of tickets available to the Sunday night show, which will be a great big party.

“It is a good old sing-along and it will be the perfect way to forget about the last year. It is the sort of closing night we thought people would want, but it is still a quality show.

“We are asking people to nominate anyone they feel needs a party. It could be your neighbour, the postman or your niece. It could be for anything at all.

“We are really interested to hear those stories and we would love to feature some of them on our website or on our blog. People should be recognised for the little things that have made a big difference during the pandemic. 

“It only needs to be a paragraph but if they feel they want to tell us a bigger story then that’s fine too.”

Wednesday’s headline act is Madness, while James Blunt and Sophie Ellis-Bextor take to the floating stage on Thursday and Friday respectively.

There will be a disco-themed evening on Saturday, featuring Kathy Sledge from Sister Sledge.

There are comedy performances across the five nights and guests can enjoy a vintage fun fair, jazz performances, and an art gallery.

To nominate a “hero”, contact jo@henley-festival.co.uk and for more information, visit www.henleyfestival.co.uk