Festival chairman Phil Hewitt. Video by Matt Goddard
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00:00It's the friendship, it's the encouragement, it's the confidence that you give us and the belief that you have in what we're trying to do.
00:08So we're enormously grateful to the City Council for your support right from the first moment that the festival was conceived.
00:16And I'd also like to thank our sponsors and our friends and our advertisers and our supporters.
00:21It costs a lot to produce a brochure as nice as this one. It costs a hell of a lot.
00:26And thanks to the fundraising, the advertising that we've got in this year, we've managed to do it.
00:32And I would particularly like to thank our new principal sponsor, Edward Cook.
00:38Edward, we are delighted that you're the principal sponsor.
00:42And what Edward doesn't realise is that three or four years ago, Edward sat and auditioned for this position.
00:48We were sitting by a piano and I got out a tatty copy of a Mozart duet.
00:55And I started playing at university, so it had taken me 40 years to play it as badly as I played it.
01:02Edward sat next to me, sight-read it, played it perfectly.
01:07And I felt like, you know, looking across, it was almost like Mozart was sitting next to me.
01:12I had two bottles of wine that morning.
01:16Mozart without the wing, better longevity, but it was wacky as that.
01:20So Edward, you passed that audition.
01:23And I would also like to thank Gary and the Chichester Observer.
01:26I hope you noticed yesterday, the whole of the front page of the Chichester Observer was devoted to the Festival of Chichester, plus a full page inside.
01:35Now you're not going to find many local newspapers that support their festival in the way that Gary and the Observer supports us.
01:42And Gary, that's been the case since I first nagged you about the festival 12, 13 years ago.
01:49Gary's been right behind it every step of the way, and that's been brilliant.
01:53And I must also absolutely thank our brilliant committee.
01:56Mark Elliott, our coordinator, who is a bundle of energy, is in Scotland at the moment, but he's in here in spirit.
02:03And Mark is brilliant at challenging us and making us think in different ways, and that's always good.
02:09So we owe a huge debt to Mark, but also to Simon, who is kind of the glue of the festival, aren't you?
02:16You know what we've got to do, when and when we're going to do it.
02:20You make sure we do it, you keep tabs on everything, you keep our records, you mastermind our website, it's a brilliant job.
02:27And Jen, where's Jen, who has a fabulous eye for design and is a master in the dark arts of social media.
02:45Which really helps us.
02:47And who else? Vicky.
02:50Now Vicky, the newest member of our festival committee.
02:54Rapidly, you have become indispensable.
02:57What Vicky doesn't realise is, she's never going to leave the festival.
03:01We made a mistake in letting Barry go, and now we're going to let her go.
03:05Vicky, this is a job for life, and we're so grateful for everything you do.
03:09I've got lots of jobs where I don't get paid.
03:13That's not going to change here.
03:15And finally, Anne.
03:17Like me, Anne of the Festival, right from the very, very start, the founding mother of the festival.
03:24I'll be a mother. I'm not going to be a mother. I want to be a mother.
03:31You do not help me, Jen.
03:34But she's been there right from the start, and Anne's massive family to the festival is her sheer connectedness to Chichester.
03:42And the thing I love about Anne is, if Anne agrees with me, I think I must be right.
03:47So I'd like to thank all those people.
03:50But we'd also like to thank our festival president, Kate Moss, who's on tour at the moment with the One Woman Show, so can't be here.
03:58But typically she sent us a lovely little video, which we've got on our Facebook page, wishing us all the best for tonight.
04:05And above all, I would like to thank our esteemed, magnificent festival patron, Dame Patricia Radcliffe.
04:14You've been a wonderful supporter of us, a wonderful encouragement.
04:17And I gather you're happy to say a few words, in which case we'll throw it to Miss Radcliffe.