The 77th annual Highbridge Festival Of The Arts will see hundreds of performances in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge.
Here are the final results from the long-running festival which is shining a spotlight on the best up-and-coming performers from across the area.
The 2025 festival runs from Monday 10th – Saturday March 22nd at Burnham’s Princess Theatre and St John’s Church in Highbridge.
Wednesday March 12th
Burnham and Highbridge Mayor, Cllr Sharon Perry, opened the Dance Section of the Festival of The Arts on Wednesday 12 March, and welcomed dancers as young 4 to the Princess Theatre.
These young dancers were very excited as, for many, it was their first time taking part in a festival. Nervous parents, grandparents and friends watched as the children took part in solo and duet classes in all styles of dance. Lots of the dancers were commended for their dancing with one performer being awarded an honours mark – a super achievement at such a young age.
Groups of children from three primary schools also entertained the enthusiastic audience with their dances, prompting the adjudicator to say how important it was for Dance and the Arts to be embraced and celebrated in schools.
The Dance Section continues until Sunday 16 March at the Princess Theatre with daily wristbands being available for £3.
Dance results Wednesday 12 March 2025:
Class 88 Any Dance Primary Schools
1st Wicked – Worle Village Primary School
2nd= A Brand New Day – Berrow Primary School Academy
2nd= Hot Right Now – St Joseph’s & St Teresa’s School
3rd Can’t Stop The Feeling – St Joseph’s & St Teresa’s School, Wells
Class 48 Lyrical Modern Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Arwen-Elizabeth Morris
2nd= Paisley Gaines
2nd= Sofia Hall
3rd= Alaya Buck
3rd= Grace Gibbons
Class 56 Character Solo 6 years and under
1st Grace Young
2nd Isla Miller
3rd Esme Stirling
Class 51 Commercial/Street 7 – 8 years
1st Evalynne Dube
Class 47 Character Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Aleksandra Rogowska
2nd Elsie Blight
3rd Lorna Emery
Class 54 Modern Solo 6 years and under
1st Isla Miller
2nd Beatrix Smith
3rd= Holly Christiaans
3rd= Aliyah Hendry
Class 70 Cabaret Duets 8 years and under
1st Alaya Buck & Lorna Emery
Class 61 Any Dance Solo 4 years and under
1st= Willow Peasey
1st= Erin Williams
Class 44 Classical Ballet Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Lucy Poole
2nd Aleksandra Rogowska
3rd= Eliza Davies
3rd= Ralph Potter
Class 53 Classical Ballet Solo 6 years and under
1st Beatrix Smith
2nd Isla Miller
3rd Holly Christiaans
Class 49 Greek Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Matilda Bushell
Class 57 Greek Solo 6 years and under
1st Esme Stirling
Class 46 Tap Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Alaya Buck
2nd Grace Gibbons
3rd Lorna Emery
Class 45 Modern Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Aleksandra Rogowska
2nd Evelyn Pilgrim
3rd= Paisley Gaines
3rd= Alaya Buck
Class 55 Tap Solo 6 years and under
1st Isla Miller
2nd Grace Young
Class 50 National Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Suzie Mae Ashton
2nd Matilda Bushell
Class 52 Musical Theatre Solo 7 – 8 years
1st Alaya Buck (Honours)
2nd Rosie Chidgey
Class 60 Musical Theatre Solo 6 years and under
1st Grace Young
Class 71 Classical Duets 8 years and under
1st Rosie Chidgey & Alaya Buck
2nd Matilda Bushell & Esme Stirling
Tuesday March 11th
Organisers of Highbridge Festival of the Arts were delighted to welcome over eighty primary school children to the second day of the festival at The Princess Theatre.
Speech and Drama Secretary, Dawn Rose, said, “ The children were so well behaved and polite and recited their poems really well. It was a very enjoyable day.”
The children from Worle Village Primary, St Joseph’s Burnham-on-Sea, Berrow Primary, St Martin’s School, Worle and St Andrew’s in Burnham had spent many weeks learning their poems by heart and, despite some nerves, took to the stage to perform in front of an enthusiastic audience of parents and friends.
The children’s dedication and hard work was reflected in their marks with many of the medal winners being awarded honours marks. Lots of parents said how impressed they’d been with the children and what a wonderful opportunity and experience it was for them to bravely stand on the stage in a ‘proper’ theatre.
They recognised how much taking part in the festival boosted their children’s confidence. They also appreciated the feedback the children received from the adjudicator, Janine Diamond, and the encouragement she gave them to continue to develop their communication and presentation skills.
The Festival continues at The Princess Theatre from Wednesday 12 th until Sunday 16 th with five days of dance competition. General Secretary, Clare Catcheside says, “Why not come along and join the audience? Daily wristbands can be purchased at the door for £3 – you never know you may see a future West End star or Royal Ballet performer take to the stage in Burnham!”
Speech & Drama Tuesday 11 March 2025 results:
Class 11 Set Verse Speaking Year 1
1st George Burt
2nd Hazel Thorne
3rd= Adorable Adewumi
3rd= Edward
Class 10 Set Verse Speaking Reception & under
1st George Hope Sandford
Class 12 Set Verse Speaking Year 2
1st Marnie Macfarlane (Honours)
2nd Ottilie
3rd= Aria Wakely
3rd= Shelby Brooke
Class 13 Set Verse Speaking Year 3
1st Oscar Aves (Honours)
2nd Ethan (Honours)
3rd Jensen Long
Class 14 Set Verse Speaking Year 4
1st Iris Hislop
2nd Hayden Afise
Class 15 Set Verse Speaking Year 5
1st Luci (Honours)
2nd Emily (Honours)
3rd Emily Glanville
Class 16 Set Verse Speaking Year 6
1st Oscar Hedley (Honours)
2nd= Evelyn Aves (Honours)
2nd= Freya Jeffries (Honours)
3rd= Chloe Manlusco (Honours)
3rd= Megan (Honours)
Monday March 10th
The first day of this year’s Highbridge Festival of The Arts began with lots of excitement as nearly 150 local school children descended on The Princess Theatre. Festival Chair, Mary Lawrence welcomed everyone and read a message from Festival President Nigel Hess who passed on his best wishes to everyone for another successful couple of weeks.
Burnham and Highbridge Mayor, Cllr Sharon Perry, presented longtime festival supporter Fay Burston with a special medallion and congratulated Fay on becoming Honorary Vice-President of the Festival of the Arts. She then told the assembled children that she was in awe of their ability to learn their poems by heart, as she needed to refer to her notes to remember her speech! And then, without more ado the Speech & Drama Section of the festival began.
Kingfisher, Magpie and Weasel classes from St Andrew’s School competed against Puffin and Pelican classes from Burnham Infants and Russet Class from Brent Knoll Primary for The Dorothy Reaney Trophy for Choral Speech. The winners were Pelican Class with their recitation of Shockadile Crocodile! by Joseph Coelho.
After a short break the inaugural competition for the Stuart Adams Memorial Trophy for Original Poetry began with eleven children reading their poems to the adjudicator. The trophy was then presented to Storm Morgan by The President of Burnham Rotary Club, Jimmy Lynch. Adjudicator, Janine Diamond, said, “It has been wonderful to engage not only with the developing communication and performance skills of the young performers, but also with their enjoyment of the live performance experience.”
The afternoon gave secondary aged pupils from The Downs Preparatory School in Wraxall, Wellington School and Crispin School in Street the opportunity to perform scripted monologues and receive positive and constructive feedback from the adjudicator. Speech & Drama Secretary, Dawn Rose, was delighted with the standard of entries in these classes and was especially pleased that four entrants achieved Honours marks.
The day was rounded off with contributions of original short stories, poetry and a scripted play from three local writers. The adjudicator said how much she had enjoyed reading all the pieces and provided valuable feedback to all the competitors. It was a mark of the quality of their work that they all received Honours marks.
The Speech & Drama Section continues on Tuesday with nearly ninety primary school children reciting poems during the day before the Dance Section begins at 10:15am on Wednesday 12 March.
Class 27 Choral Speech – Dorothy Reaney Trophy
Winners Pelican Class, Burnham Infants School
Class 25 Stuart Adams Memorial Trophy for Original Poetry
Winner Storm Morgan
Class 34H Monologue Scripted
1st Myles Evans (Honours)
2nd= Claudia Griffiths
2nd= Jake Richardson
Class 34J Monologue Scripted
1st Beatrice McArt (Honours)
2nd Lily Lowe (Honours)
3rd= Bella Hall
3rd= Daisy Waterjohns
Class 34K Monologue Scripted
1st Anouk Van Dijk (Honours)
Class 17 Set Verse Speaking Year 7
1st Myles Evans
Class 18 Set Verse Speaking Year 8
1st Lola Tilson
Class 34I Monologue Scripted
1st Lola Tilson
Class 37O Original Short Story
1st Kim Lewis (Honours)
2nd= Neil Olsen (Honours)
2nd= Jane Lee (Honours)
Class 25O Original Poetry
1st Neil Olsen (Honours)
Class 33O Original Scripted Play
1st Neil Olsen
