Presteigne Festival

27-31August 2026

Now in its 44th year, the internationally renowned Presteigne Festival will once again bring together an outstanding roster of world-class musicians, composers, artists and writers to Radnorshire’s cultural capital for five amazing days of music, ideas and imagination over the August Bank Holiday.

In 2026, the Festival will take something of a new direction, celebrating the remarkable contribution of women composers from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Festival marks three remarkable milestones: the 75th birthday of celebrated choral and vocal composer Cecilia McDowall, and the 70th birthdays of highly respected British composer Sally Beamish and the Presteigne Festival’s founding Artistic Director, Adrian Williams. We will also welcome Michael Zev Gordon as composer-in-residence and shine a spotlight on Mathilde Wantenaar, one of the Netherlands’ most exciting emerging composers.

As always, new music features prominently throughout the Festival, with a rich selection of new and recent works from some of today’s most exciting voices – Michael Berkeley, Cameron Biles‑Liddell, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Lillie Harris, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Gabriel Jackson, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Robert Peate, Electra Perivolaris, Lynne Plowman, Emma-Ruth Richards, Claire Victoria Roberts, Natalie Roe and Daniel Soley.

The music programme also offers timeless classics from Bartók, Beethoven, Britten, Elgar, Ravel, Schumann and Stravinsky’s masterpiece L’histoire du soldat which features in a semi-staged version.

All in all, a fresh mix of voices and styles, showcasing the creativity, innovation and diversity that define today’s classical music landscape.

Beyond concert performances, the programme will again offer a vibrant mix of arts events. Highlights include a three-film retrospective of New Zealand director Jane Campion introduced by Jo Comino, talks from, among others, Sioned Davies, Carwyn Graves and Katy Hamilton, a Bat walk and storytelling for children. The Festival also continues its partnership with Presteigne ‘Open Studios’, offering visitors the chance to engage with the town’s thriving community of artists and makers.

Artists appearing at the Festival include HearAndNow Collective, Amsterdam, violinist Fenella Humphreys, pianists Clare Hammond and Jâms Coleman, singers James Gilchrist (tenor), Rowan Pierce (soprano), narrator Jonathan Gunthorpe, Ben Goldscheider (horn), Imogen Whitehead (flugelhorn), cellist Rainer Crosett, Sally Pryce (harp), guitarist Eva Victoria Schockmel, the Choir of King’s College, London under Joseph Fort and the Presteigne Festival Orchestra and Ensemble conducted by artistic director, George Vass.

General Booking (online and by telephone) opens on Tuesday 19 May, the full programme will be available on the Festival’s website at the end of April.

 01544 267800 – presteignefestival.com