Looking back, it was “an outrageous venture for a small town”, says Jock Gallagher, the original festival director of the first ever Bewdley Festival.

Mr Gallagher has a “can-do” attitude to getting things done, and without him the first festival probably wouldn’t have happened.

Bewdley Town Council called a town meeting in February 1988 and 60 people showed up to give their support for an arts festival. A committee of volunteers was formed and they set about organising a festival for the following October.

At the time, Mr Gallagher was head of network radio at BBC Pebble Mill and was able to arrange for radio shows to be recorded at venues in Bewdley including Any Questions for Radio 4; Folk on 2 for Radio 2 and a recital by Capricorn for Radio 3. They were all free entry too.

These provided the bedrock of the festival and Mr Gallagher was able to use his contacts to attract artists like Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Laurie Lee.

Other events included jazz with Monty Sunshine; a school’s concert; Rich Pickings, a collection of words and music celebrating autumn; two performances by the Bewdley Players, and a concert featuring the Bewdley Choral Society which featured a new piece by local composer Graham Price.

There were art workshops and exhibitions including displays along Severnside North. A schools poetry competition was a great success, attracting many entries.

There were two acts each evening and the venues included St Anne’s Church, Bewdley High School and St George’s Hall.

Despite having the week’s festival all shaped in his mind, Mr Gallagher made the mistake of booking acts from Saturday to Saturday inclusive, necessitating the slogan ‘8 days in October’. It kicked off on October 14, 1988 with a Gala Dinner featuring Roger McGough at Spring Grove House.

In all, this first festival was an act of huge bravery by the committee.

Funding was difficult and although local sponsors were found, without the BBC programmes, there would not have been financing for the festival to get under way. Over the years, audiences gradually built up and the Festival Society organised fund-raising events.

The aim of the first festival was to survive and run a second festival the following year as a prelude to building a theatre in the town.

No-one dared to think as far ahead as a 25th festival!