Records relating to the Bath Assembly/Bath Festival/Bath International Festival
Reference Number
BC/13/7
Level of Description
Section
Title
Records relating to the Bath Assembly/Bath Festival/Bath International Festival
Date
1948-1994
Description
Bath has held music, drama and arts festivals of different types and various titles since 1930. Management, organisation and financing of the events, and the role played by Bath City Council and B&NES, has varied considerably over time.
In 1948, the City Council set up Bath Assembly Ltd., a Company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. It was established in order to 'take over, carry on and develop the work of the Bath Assembly which has recently been commenced by the Spa Committee of Bath City Council'. The company was managed by a council consisting of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, one member from each of the Education, Finance and General Purposes, Library and Art Gallery Committees; all the members of the Spa Committee; and seven persons to be elected annually by the council. The event held in 1948 was known as the 'Bath Assembly', and was organised by an impresario, Ian Hunter. Similar Assemblies were held each year from 1949 to 1953, but organised directly by the Council's Spa Director.
In 1954, the Council decided to bring management of the events under direct Council control, through the Spa Committee of the Council and a Festival Society Committee. The Bath Assembly Ltd. effectively ceased to have any role, and no Annual General Meetings were held after 1955, although the company was not formally wound up until 1960. Bath Festival Society Ltd., another company limited by guarantee, was incorporated in 1961, but the name Bath Festival Society was used before the formal creation of the company.
The event held in 1955 was called the 'Bath May Festival'. No event was held in 1956 or 1957, and from 1958 to 1987 events were known as the 'Bath Festival'. From 1990 to 1993, reflecting changes in their focus, they became known as 'Bath International Festival', with a change of name again in 1994 to Bath International Music Festival. From the early 1970s, the festival was complemented by a 'Fringe' of varied activities, and by the Bath Contemporary Art Fair. A permanent office with staff was set up in 1962.
The Bath Festival Society Ltd. was formally dissolved in 1997, although it had ceased to be active three of four years before this. It was replaced by the Bath Festivals Trust, set up in July 1993, with a remit to expand the festival in different directions and establish a literature festival. The first Literature Festival was held in 1995. The Bath Festivals trust is currently funded by grants from Arts Council England and supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
Related material: 1. A number of the files relating to the work of the Spa Committee contain material on the Bath Assembly, the Bath Assembly Ltd., and the Bath Festival Society Ltd. (ref. BC/13/1/80-85) 2. From the early 1960s, the Bath Assembly was under the management of the Bath Festival Society Ltd., and had its own administration, separate from the Council. All the operational records of the organisation, and the minutes of its committees, were held at its offices, and were inherited by the Bath Festivals Trust when it was set up in 1993. Many of these records were deposited in the Record Office in 1995; they date mainly from the 1960s, but include some press cuttings from 1935, and programmes from 1939. They are catalogued as 0380. 3. Programmes for 1950 and 1953 can be found at 0385/3 and 0200/2 respectively 4. Photograph albums of the visits to Bath Assemblies of Princess Margaret (1948) and the Duchess of Gloucester (1951) can be found at BC/9/4/4/8 and BC/9/4/4/10 respectively.
