The Shelley Frankenstein Festival

About Us

The Shelley Frankenstein Festival was established to celebrate the life and works of the Shelley family, some of whom lived in the Boscombe / Bournemouth area and many of whom are buried in Bournemouth.

The main Frankenstein Festival focus is 31st October - 4th November, with AUB sponsoring an academic conference for 31st Oct & 1st Nov; to be focussed in St Peter's, with keynote speakers Prof Sir Christopher Frayling and Prof Canon Elaine Graham.

Their artistic, social and political accomplishments reverberate around the world to this day. The Shelley Frankenstein Festival aims to reflect this by providing a platform people to explore these accomplishments through theatre, art, fun, philosophy and reflection.

We are an umbrella organisation consisting of representation from many different organisations. Our aim is to curate and promote work and events under the festival brand to create a festival that will help make the Shelley family relatable to a new generation on a local level and promote Boscombe and Bournemouth as a Shelley destination nationally and internationally.

We launched with a pilot festival in 2016 which contained 40+ varied events catering to a wide age range and level of interests. In 2017 we ran a self contained festival that has will help to launch our biggest festival – 2018 – the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Frankenstein..

On the evening of Weds, 31st Oct., Halloween, St Peter's will be offering a Gala Frankenstein Dinner at the Marsham Court Hotel, and this is a central part of the Festival.

On Friday, 2nd Nov., Dr James Cole will present the results of creative writing workshops with local primary-age children.
We hope for an evening performance of Dr Brad Gyori's ground-breaking play, 'Shelley's Heart'.

On Saturday, 3rd Nov., the Coda Fiddle Orchestra will present 'Spooky Music' in St Peter's Church, to be followed that evening by Nightclub Chaplaincy's 'Church for the Night', themed around Frankenstein.

On Sunday, 4th Nov., renowned violinist, Jack Maguire, will play Pagannini by Mary Shelley's tomb,
and that evening Ian Davis will lead the BU & AUB musicians in presenting a variety of 'Gothic' music, both dark & light.
There will be street theatre that weekend in Boscombe around Shelley and Frankenstein themes.
There are also ample spaces in this programme for further creative input and Frankenstein-type fun

The Shelley Frankenstein Festival are currently working with and supported significantly by:

Arts University Bournemouth

Bournemouth Council and Bournemouth Libraries Service

Bournemouth University

Creative Kids UK

St Peters Church

Shelley Theatre Trust

The Shelley Trust

Plus individual creative partners and individual as listed within their respective events.