Welcome to the 17th annual Ribchester Festival of Music and Art! It is especially exciting to welcome you in this, my first year as Artistic Director. I hope that some of the features that attracted me to become involved with the festival will attract you to come and join us for some or all of the four days of this year’s festival.

• Music, drama and art of high quality presented in the unbeatable beauty of the Ribble Valley, a spot that inspired the Romans to set up home
• A wide variety of entertainment, from the exciting sounds of Leyland Band to the intimacy of Elizabethan Lute songs and the glories of Handel’s Messiah, with some relaxing late-night entertainment to round it all off
• Some of the most exciting young singers and instrumentalists around, including the talented Aronowitz Ensemble (BBC New Generation Artists)
• Inspiring venues steeped in history, including Ribchester’s ancient Parish Church, St Wilfrid’s, and the intimate St Saviour’s Stydd.

If the Romans had known about the Festival they’d never have left!

Martin Bussey