Royston Arts Festival 2020 starts this evening – and this year’s online affair will have events, exhibitions, workshops and more.

Due to the coronavirus, it’s the first online arts festival for the town – and at the launch event at 7pm, the full 10-day festival programme will be announced.

Carl Filby, chair of Creative Royston which organises the festival, said that he “hoped there would be plenty of entertainment for all ages which could be safely enjoyed at home without fear of contravening government guidelines on COVID-19.”

There will be at least one special event each day on top of a range of exhibitions, workshops, poetry and literary items.

Highlights include Liverpool poet Roger McGough, who has kindly written a children’s poem for the festival – which also has a message for adults as well – and for music fans, Musicfest has commissioned five original concerts each to be aired for the first time on a different night.

You can view the Royston Tapestry for the first time online, and if you enjoy reading there are a range of book reviews with enough recommendations to keep you going for the next six months at least!

Royston Picture Palace has a range of film recommendations and will be making some available online and also hopes to have its first live film screening for six months on the penultimate day, Saturday, September 26 – government restrictions permitting.

Corvus Amateur Dramatic Society will be performing a cabaret evening and also hosting a talk by TV screenwriter Nick Warburton, whose credits include Eastenders and Holby City.

The key to enjoying the festival is to make sure you attend the opening night, in just a few short hours, at 7pm for more events to be revealed and the times you can see them.

www.creativeroyston.org is the place to be!