The social scene was an important part of the festival; some cricketers formed the Canterbury Old Stagers to provide entertainment in the evenings of the Cricket Week and they claim to be the oldest extant amateur dramatic company in the world.
Frederick Ponsonby (later Earl of Bessborough) to perform during Kent's annual Canterbury Cricket Week.
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One of the earliest Old Stagers was the Kent and England cricketer Alfred Mynn who first appeared in 1847 and then regularly until his death in 1861.
During 1842, Taylor, together with his Cambridge friends Frederick Ponsonby (Earl of Bessborough), Charles G. Taylor and William Bolland, formed the Old Stagers, which is recognised as the oldest amateur drama society still performing.