The Tilford Bach Festival was first held in 1952, following the creation of the Tilford Bach Society the same year. The Society and Festival were founded by Denys Darlow (1921-2015). It continues today with the 63rd Festival in June 2015: the Festival is run by the Tilford Bach Society
The Festival is held at All Saints Church Tilford, near Farnham, Surrey, GU10 2DD .
For the first two decades, performances at the Festival drew heavily on local musicians, amateurs as well as teachers and professionals; from the 1970s onwards, however, 'historically informed performance' came to dominate more and more, and amateur involvement gradually died out. Today the festival is an entirely professional event and specialises in performances of Baroque music using authentic instruments and orchestration. Many of the leading Baroque musicians and singers have played at Tilford.
Denys Darlow retired as Director following the 50th Festival in 2002; the current Music Director is the violinist Adrian Butterfield.
The Tilford Bach Society also runs monthly concerts in Farnham from September to April.