2020 LOCKDOWN

The 2020 festival was due to open in mid April. On the 9th of March I made the decision to cancel the festival as it was clear that even if we were able to open, everyone would be preoccupied with covid. If we had to cancel last minute we would have lost a lot of money in terms of hire costs for example a grand piano for a live version of the The Brothers Quay.

On March the 26th the UK went into the first Lockdown

So in consultation with the team we decided to developed an online programme. We reimagined the festival online. I was able to pay every one for their time for a few months and then with support from the arts council emergency funding I was able to pay everyone until the end of the year. We were the film festival to go online. What followed as we all know was a year of uncertainty, fear and isolation. The final stage of the roadmap out of lockdown, which removed almost all legal restrictions on social contact, took place on July 19, 2021. The legal requirement to self-isolate after a positive test for COVID-19 was lifted on February 24, 2022. All remaining coronavirus-related legal restrictions in England were revoked on March 18, 2022. In 2025 I noticed the perspex barrier at my doctors finally was removed. The phycological costs of the lockdowns are only now emerging.

Terry Smith, Director of Strangelove