It is with a very full and happy heart we celebrate and reflect upon the success of another brilliant Festival on The Close here at Rugby School. A week bursting at the seams with student talent, world-class performances, irresistible workshops delivered by industry experts and creatives, and some glorious weather!

Rugby School students, together with over 1,700 state school children, have been given unique opportunities to work with inspiring individuals in such an assorted variety of workshops, from roller-skiing around The Close to learning magic tricks at Macready Theatre, picking up instruments for the first time with Good Hope School Chinese Orchestra in the Temple Speech Room and taking part in ‘bake-off’ challenges in the school house kitchens. Our ‘STEAMFest’, proudly sponsored by CEMEX and provided by Immersive Experiences saw students from schools across Warwickshire enjoy time soaking up rainforests and wildlife in immersive planetarium domes, learning about Cancer Research UKs pioneering research, receiving life-saving training from first aid responders, and stepping into new realities with the latest virtual reality headset technology. We believe strongly in the power of creativity to fuel future growth and trust that these extraordinary experiences will pave the way for a new generation of performers, scientists, writers, engineers, designers, musicians and directors!

Throughout the course of the 5-day festival, we welcomed over 5,000 members of the public to the stunning school grounds, which were transformed into a celebration of creativity and culture with each night bringing world-class spectacles from renowned guests including comedian Paul Sinha, Symphonic Ibiza, West End’s Showstoppers, STOMP, and FLAWLESS dance troupe. Our new development of removing seating this year invited audiences to dance, laugh and sing along in our party-in-the-park programme of amazing acts for 2024. The feedback for this has been overwhelmingly positive, with one audience member saying “Excellent show, fabulous atmosphere. Lovely to see so many people enjoying themselves. Fun and safe.”

It is a wonderful thing when collaboration happens. When we bring together a huge number of kind people who offer their time, energy, and sponsorship, we cultivate a spectacular week for our community celebrating the arts. To all the artists, workshop providers, staff members, sponsors, individuals, and organisations that have supported in any way towards the production of Festival on The Close 2024, we thank you.

Dr Tim Coker, Festival Director and Amie Barton-Young, Festival Manager