This week the annual Wycombe Arts Festival kicks off its 50th anniversary programme in St Andrew’s Church, in Hatters Lane, with the talented young wind performers from Wycombe Music Centre presenting an evening of chamber music.

Sadly I cannot be there as I shall be en route to Antwerp for work, but I know that, like many of the events of the festival, it will continue the tradition of offering opportunities to young performers from the area to show the breadth and depth of talent we have in abundance in Wycombe.

A sizeable proportion of the events on offer serve to prove yet again that our excellent local schools are encouraging creative and artistic talent in the young people of the area. But there are also artists, speakers and performers from further afield.

John Beaumont and his team of volunteers have once again gathered together a wonderful selection of talent to compile a truly rich and eclectic mix of events.

There really is something for everyone. I am delighted to have the opportunity of joining the talented young choir from the Jackie Palmer Stage School as narrator when they perform Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood at St Lawrence’s Church, West Wycombe on the evening of May 31.

I shall also be in the audience on May 21, the first night of WYSPAS’ production of Godspell, which has been one of my favourite musicals ever since 1971 when I first saw it in London.

Whether your interests embrace local history, music in any of its forms, drama, crafts, poetry or dance – there is something for you. There is even a demonstration of flour milling at the Pan Mill on The Rye (water permitting!).

So I urge you all to help celebrate this anniversary in style by delving into the brochure and seeing what event grabs your imagination.

In an age when the practicalities of earning a living can dominate our lives to the exclusion of everything else, this festival serves to remind us that it is the music, drama, literature and art that we create and share that separates us from the animal world from which we have evolved.

That is why I am a passionate advocate for the arts having a place in education at a time when there are political and commercial pressures to reduce the time spent in schools on the arts and drama.