The Festival was named after the originator, Gerard Hoffnung, whose humorous cartoons of musicians in the act are somewhat better known in Britain than they are in the U.S. The Festival, which was an annual affair, assembled top-flight UK musicians and singers to perform specially prepared spoofs of the classical repertoire. These occurred in the 1950s. If you've never heard French horn virtuouso Dennis Brain play the garden hose, or a suite for tuned vaccum cleaners, not to mention the Horror-torio based on the doings in Dracula's castle, then you should seek out these recordings. Needless to say, Hoffnung Festivals inspired the creation of PDQ Bach.