NEXT year is already promising to be an enormously exciting one for Malvern.

Not only do we have a new Elgar Festival, an ambitious project to mark the 70th anniversary of the composer's death, but now there is talk of reviving a drama festival based around the work of George Bernard Shaw.

Looking back at the Malvern Gazette files reveals what a huge event the Shaw Festival used to be for Malvern in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Not only was the great man himself a regular visitor but the festival attracted many of the biggest stage names of the time and a great deal of national press and radio coverage.

Shaw launched a number of his new plays here in Malvern and there was a real buzz about the town. Shaw may be long gone but much of his work has a timeless quality and there is no reason why a festival based around it should not again prove a big success.

The recent festivals at Malvern Theatres based around new work by the Almeida Theatre Company, with fringe events in the foyer created a marvellous atmosphere and showed that the audience is always there to support new work.

It's also important that both festivals should have elements which are accessible to the widest possible audience.

Malvern needs more festivals and focal points for tourists but it's vital that people here feel involved so they will want to help keep the events running in the future. We have too many good one-off events in Malvern when other towns manage to sustain their effort year after year.

In any case 2004 promises to be a special year for Malvern.