Francis Humphrys: Magic moments from 30 years of West Cork Chamber Music Festival

Festival founder Francis Humphrys has welcomed the likes of Seamus Heaney and Nicola Benedetti to Bantry. He reflects on some of his highlights through the years 

Francis Humphrys, director, West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Picture: Denis Minihane

“I’m not sure I could pull something out of my rather decrepit brain,” protests Francis Humphrys when asked to list some highlights of the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, which this year celebrates its 30th birthday.

And the response can only be: pull the other one. He may recently have posted his own 80th birthday but Humphrys still seems as sharp as ever, and has just the finishing touches to the official programme for this year’s festival, which begins on June 27 next and continues until July 6. The latest programme has 146 pages; by comparison, the edition for the first Festival back in 1995 had 56 pages - “which wasn’t bad”.