The First Hundred Years
Packing 100 years into a page
When you have read this quick summary, you can read a much more complete history.
Our festival was founded in 1920 by a diverse group of North London musicians, led by prominent music critics, teachers and performers, supported and sponsored by internationally-renowned composers and publishers.
The new festival soon drew in 1200 or more entries a year, mainly for piano, choral and ‘elocution’ (now speech & drama) classes. Those entrants, in turn, brought along large family audiences: few families, in those pre-wireless days, had access to such high-quality music and drama at home.
Apart from a four-year break during World War II, a one-year gap in 1971 and the disruption wrought by COVID-19, the North London Festival has run continuously ever since, making 2025 its 100th season.
The outside world is now vastly altered. But any musician who has worked in a cross-section of London schools will tell you that worryingly few young children are being introduced, either at home or at school, to live-performed music of true artistic value. Some are being taught an instrument privately, and are taking grade examinations; but the key to turning a musical child into an adult who will love and promote music life-long, without necessarily entering the profession, is not the anxious isolation of the exam room but the opportunity to perform joyfully in a less formal context to family, friends and even a few appreciative strangers, whether as a soloist or supported by others in an ensemble such as a choir. It is with that in mind that we are using this new history of an old festival to help us plan the festivals of the future.
Do you have memories of the NLF?
Rosemary Cook has always been interested in history but chose to study science at school and made a career in IT. After her retirement, she studied for a Diploma in Local History and has now embarked on this history of the North London Festival, prompted not only by her own intensive involvement in NLF administration but also by the discovery of many old documents languishing in former committee-members’ attics and store-rooms and coming to light during the planning of centenary celebrations.
Rosemary would be delighted to hear from you if you have memories of past North London Festivals, and especially if you became a professional musician after taking part in the Festival as a child. Please get in touch via email: enquiriesNLF@outlook.com