Ludlow has a long tradition of performing arts, dating especially from the 16th and 17th centuries when Ludlow Castle was the Headquarters of the Council of the Marches. One of the entertainments produced at that time was a masque later called Comus, written by the young poet John Milton. It was performed for the first time ever at Ludlow on Michaelmas Night, 1634.
To mark the 300th anniversary of this important literary event, a Historical Pageant was held at Ludlow Castle in 1934, to raise funds for Shropshire Hospitals. This included a professional production of Comus. The pageant involved many people and aroused great public interest.
In the 1950s it became apparent that there were major problems with the fabric of St Laurence’s parish church in Ludlow. As part of an ambitious fund raising programme another professional production of Comus was undertaken in the castle in 1953 and was a great success, both financially and artistically. In 1955 another production was mounted, T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, this time in the parish church. At the last night party it was the Rector of Ludlow, Bishop E.W. Sara, while thanking everyone involved, who expressed the hope that something similar would be done in 1956, adding, prophetically, ‘We might even turn it into a Ludlow Festival’.
The church restoration campaign finished in 1959, with Princess Margaret coming to Ludlow as part of the celebrations, after which a number of local people decided to start an annual festival with an open air production of a Shakespeare play in the castle as the main event.
The first Ludlow Festival production was in 1960 with a memorable production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directed by David Williams with just three supporting events.
The Festival grew rapidly and by the 1980s, there were about 25 other events being staged each year and the programme now includes classical music, well known speakers, tours, jazz and popular music.
The Festival's greatest asset is Ludlow Castle, a reviewer in 1992 called it “the Star of the show, there are few open air auditoria that combine such perfect acoustics with visual grandeur,” said Colin George. The Shakespeare production is performed on every weekday for a fortnight in Ludlow Castle and now in its 51st Season the Festival Directors are proud to carry on the tradition set in place by the first committee in 1960 with a production of Othello directed by Ben Crocker.
Since then the Festival has developed in many other ways, including the staging of a very popular finale concert which ends with a spectacular firework display in the outer bailey of the castle on the last Sunday of the Festival.
In 2003 The Queen and Prince Phillip visited Ludlow Castle and watched excerpts from the Shakespeare production The Winter’s Tale. The Royal visit to Ludlow Festival was a memorable moment in the Festival’s history.
Ludlow Festival is organised each year by an enthusiastic band of volunteers who give freely of their time and commitment. The Festival remains one of the top Arts Festivals in the country and is the only example of a Festival centred on Shakespeare’s works.