PSLC Festival at Freemasons Hall
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The 92nd Festival of the Public School Lodges’ Council (PSLC) was held at Freemasons’ Hall on Saturday 13th June – the first time a complete Festival has been held there. We were extremely fortunate in being granted the use of some of the finest rooms: the Grand Temple for an organ recital for non-masonic guests; the Egyptian Room (Temple 10) for our Lodge meeting; and the capacious Ante Room and Gallery Suite for our drinks reception, dinner and Summer Ball.
PSLC Festivals are normally held at one of the schools associated with our member Lodges, which are themselves Lodges meeting in London (and one in Berkhamsted) with a membership with strong connections to their respective schools. There are now 39 Lodges in the Council, including one Installed Masters’ Lodge. It was this Lodge, the Public Schools Installed Masters’ Lodge, No 9077, which hosted the Lodge meeting at our recent Festival.
During the Lodge meeting the Chairman of the PSLC, W Bro Simon Chen, took the Chair. After opening the Lodge, he welcomed our guest of honour, RW Bro Sir David Wootton, Past Deputy Grand Master. We then received an Explanation of the Tracing Board of the First Degree, delivered by nine “light blue” Brethren, each of whom was from a different PSLC Lodge. The presentation went so well that Sir David suggested that the group continue to perform together and recommended that they find an agent!
While the Lodge meeting was taking place, non-Masonic guests enjoyed an organ recital in the Grand Temple, given by W Bro Carl Jackson MVO, former Director of Music at His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, Hampton Court. As the Festival was being held on the same day as the King’s official birthday, the recital programme appropriately included Imperial March and Pomp & Circumstance No 4 by Sir Edward Elgar, and the coronation march, Crown Imperial by Sir William Walton. We are very grateful to RW Bro Charles Grace OSM, former Chairman of the PSLC, for having made the arrangements for our use of the Grand Temple and its splendid Willis organ.
In all, there were over 120 attendees, filling the Ante Room for preprandial drinks, and comfortably occupying the Gallery Suite with thirteen large round dining tables, leaving a decent space for the band and dance floor at the far end of the room. We were pleased that W Bro Terry Hall, Chairman of the Federation of School Lodges (FSL) and his wife, as well as W Bro John Hubbard, Secretary of the FSL, were able to attend as guests of the PSLC. A number of members of the women’s Masonic Orders were also present.
After a Latin Grace was given by W Bro The Rev'd Benjamin Weitzmann, the Chairman of the PSLC gave a short welcoming speech. He hoped that those attending would be able to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones within the special PSLC community. He expressed the gratitude of the PSLC Executive to the Worshipful Master and officers of the Public Schools Installed Masters’ Lodge, No 9077 for kindly permitting the Festival to be held in its name. He thanked the staff at Freemasons’ Hall for their assistance in organising the event. Particularly, he thanked RW Bro Sir David Wootton for making time to attend. He concluded by extending his best wishes to the Worshipful Master and Brethren of the Old Uppinghamian Lodge, No 4227, who would be hosting the Festival in 2027.
Those attending then enjoyed an excellent three-course dinner with some even more excellent wines and, when the band led by Stacy Harman started to play, the dance floor began to fill up with both the young and the no-so-young – all of whom appeared to enjoy themselves!
This year’s Festival was therefore an unusual but nevertheless successful and fun event, taking advantage of the catering arrangements now available at Freemasons’ Hall. Normal service will be resumed next year at Uppingham School, where the 93rd Festival of the Public School Lodges’ Council will be held on Saturday 29th May 2027.
If you would like to find out more about the PSLC, please visit our website: www.pslc.org.uk
Sergei Subotsky
Secretary, Public School Lodges’ Council
Photograph: R.W. Bro Sir David Wootton, Past Deputy Grand Master (centre) with W. Bro Simon Chen, Chairman of the Public School Lodges’ Council, W. Bro Tony Selkus, Worshipful Master of Public Schools Installed Masters' Lodge, No 9077, and the “light blue” presentation team.
This article is part of Arena Magazine Issue 61 – Summer 2026.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
Read more articles in Arena Issue 61 here.
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