Preview: Ealing Autumn Festival 2012

Lindsey
By Lindsey Last edited 137 months ago
Preview: Ealing Autumn Festival 2012

Head west this month for a double-D sized dose of culture and community as Ealing Autumn Festival celebrates Delius and Dickens and their connections to the borough.

Composer, Frederick Delius, lived for a short time in Church Road, Hanwell in 1892. You can have a full-on day of Delius on Saturday 13 October starting with a guided walk around historic Hanwell. It finishes at St Mellitus Church where you can browse an exhibition and hear a talk about Delius. An afternoon concert in the church presents the composer's Violin Sonata in B — composed in that Hanwell visiting year of 1892 — and String Quartet from 1916. A screening of Delius biopic, Song of Summer follows, and then, in the evening West London Sinfonia perform two Delius pieces in St Barnabus Church, W5.

You can also see the Delius exhibition at Ealing Town Hall on Sunday 14 October and go to more concerts, talks and screenings throughout the festival. A celebrity recital by Julian Lloyd-Webber (vice-president of the Delius Society) opens the whole affair.

Dickens is connected to the area rather more tangentially — the 1947 film of Nicholas Nickleby was made at Ealing Studios. But in a rather brilliant coup, the film will be screened in Ealing Studios on Friday 19 October. This is a rare chance to get inside the famous studios, particularly during the BFI's two month Ealing Studios retrospective. Tickets for the film screening* are £7.

There will also be screenings of A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times and Great Expectations, plus an open-mic session where you are invited to read your favourite passage from Dickens aloud.

Ealing Autumn Festival runs from 12-27 October. Tickets for individual events starting from £5 are available here.

*the article has been updated as we have been informed that the tour of Ealing Studios cannot now take place.

Photo of Ealing in Autumn by Peter Simmons via the Londonist Flickrpool.

Last Updated 01 October 2012