Bollington Festival
Meet the Team
Chris Bennett
Chair
Chris has lived in Bollington all his life. He was born in Oldham Street, in September 1963, eight months before the first Festival in 1964. Both his Mum and Dad were involved in organizing Festivals down the years and Chris has many happy memories of helping out. For Chris, the Festival brings out the best in Bollington and shows what a fantastic community spirit we have. In his view, if one person, of whatever age, after seeing a Festival event, decides to pick up a musical instrument for the first time, try a new sport, get involved with a community group, or try anything new, and by doing so, has fun, and keeps an open mind as to what they can achieve, then the Festival has been a tremendous success.
Richard Gay
Vice Chair and Treasurer
Only a short while after moving to Bollington, Richard and his four year old daughter, stood outside their house to watch the 1995 Festival Parade pass. It was an inspiring event: bands, floats with children in costume, fire engines, jugglers, marching bands – a superb demonstration of the interests and passions of the people of Bollington. Jump to a party in 2018, when Richard and his wife Rosie, were introduced to Jon Beck, then Festival Chairman, and were persuaded to take on a role at the 2019 event. Richard loved the enthusiasm of the volunteers, the manner in which the event was managed by the Festival Board and the delight of the audiences.
Vera Marten
Programme Director
Born in Yorkshire, Vera is relative newcomer to Bollington. She moved here with Tim in 2018 when they sold their family home in Macclesfield, where they had lived for nearly 40 years and raised their three, now grown-up, daughters. Vera had enjoyed bits of the Bollington Festival in past years as a visitor, but didn’t discover the pleasure of being part of the Festival family until she joined the Visual Arts Team for Festival 2019. Vera was hooked and now she is looking forward to forging more friendships as she works with her fellow trustees and an army of volunteers to contribute to the next Bollington Festival and play her part to make it happen.
Rebecca Roth-Biester
Stewards and Marketing
Rebecca was lucky enough to grow up in the vicarage on Shrigley Road until the age of seven. Her Dad, Rev Peter Hunt (now retired) was Vicar of Bollington when Dr John first launched the Festival and the Vicar and the Doctor were fast friends! Having returned to Bollington after living abroad for more than 20 years, Rebecca volunteered at the last Festival, as a way to get to know people and become more embedded in the community. She is delighted to, once again, have the opportunity to give something back to the community by serving on the Board for Festival 2026.