ENGLISH art and museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer, Sir Roy Strong is to become Broadway Arts Festival's first patron.

Sir Roy lives in Herefordshire where with his late wife, he created one of Britain’s largest post-war formal gardens, the Laskett. He has a first class honours degree in history from Queen Mary College, University of London and a PhD from the Warburg Institute. He then became a research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research. He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum and was knighted in 1983. A practising Anglican, he is an altar server at Hereford Cathedral as well as being high steward of Westminster Abbey.

Sir Roy has historic connections with the Cotswolds and the surrounding area. He married his late wife Julia Trevelyan Oman at Wilmcote church near Stratford in 1971.

Commenting on the recent appointment, Broadway Arts Festival director, Sonia Woolven said: “We are delighted that Sir Roy has agreed to be our patron. He has opened the festival in previous years with some wonderful lectures and we are very pleased indeed that he is joining the team and will be opening the fourth festival in June 2016. Sir Roy’s diverse interests and wealth of experience is a fantastic asset for Broadway Arts Festival and is a perfect match, which attracts visitors from all over the world. Our vision is to keep the spirit of the Broadway colony alive and to build on it. Our aim is to put Broadway Arts on the international map, attracting artists, musicians, performers and garden lovers from around the globe to run and join workshops, exhibit, visit, engage in debate or simply come for the buzz and a break, with their families and friends.”