The Elgar Festival

The Worcestershire-based Elgar Festival will return for its May events this year (23 – 31 May 2026) with a joyful week of concerts, conversations, events and exhibitions celebrating the life and music of Britain’s greatest composer.

Tickets go on sale on Monday 9 February 2026.

The music of the festival’s namesake will be the centrepiece of a busy programme of 27 events across 15 different venues, from Saturday 23 May until Sunday 31 May with 3 pre-festival events in the preceding fortnight. The full breadth of Elgar’s work will be showcased, including songs, miniatures, chamber music and choral anthems alongside his most beloved orchestral masterpieces.

This year’s festival will bring together world-class professional musicians and artists alongside local choirs and ensembles placing the music of Worcester’s most famous son alongside that of his contemporaries and some of today’s leading composers and arrangers.

Highlights this year will include:

• Enigma Reimagined on Saturday 23 May at Malvern Cube, directed by Malvern-based multi-disciplinary artist Nakisha Swatton; this exciting new collaboration for 2026 will see Nakisha work with local amateur and professional musicians in the run up to the festival to explore and create new musical portraits inspired by Elgar’s Enigma Variations, culminating in a performance of a new contemporary multi-instrumental suite;

• An evening with Elgar Festival Patron Julian Lloyd Webber and his wife Jiaxin on Sunday 24 May in Great Malvern; in celebration of his 75^th birthday, Julian and fellow cellist Jiaxin will perform in a fascinating ‘double sided’ programme, as well as offering the audience a rare chance to quiz both Lloyd Webbers about playing with musical icons from Yehudi Menuhin to Elton John;

• An English Symphony Orchestra concert at Worcester Cathedral on Friday 29 May, entitled ‘Reaching for the Stars’, celebrating three of British music’s greatest tone poems, Bax’s masterpiece, Tintagel; Elgar’s Falstaff and Holst’s suite The Planets;

• The annual Gala Concert on Saturday 30 May at Worcester Cathedral with a performance by the outstanding violist Rosalind Ventris performing Elgar’s cello Concerto in the viola version approved by Elgar himself, alongside works by festival featured composer Thea Musgrave and Elgar’s symphony/cantata The Black Knight featuring the Elgar Festival Chorus.

Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director of the festival said: “Every year, on the weekend closest to the date of his birth, we celebrate the life and music of Britain’s greatest composer, Sir Edward Elgar, with an immersive, accessible and engaging week of concerts, exhibits, talks, films and more. Our motto is ‘Elgar for Everyone’, from relaxed concerts to family events, free performances in iconic building and walks on the Malvern Hills, to world-class performances by our resident orchestra, the English Symphony Orchestra in Worcester Cathedral. There’s also plenty of opportunity to take part – Come and Play Elgar, join the Elgar Festival Chorus, be coached in our Young Strings Masterclass or enter our renowned young Composer Competition – the Elgar Festival has something for everybody in our community.

“Our featured composer this year is 97-year-old icon of British music, Thea Musgrave, whose music abounds in colour, emotion, drama and impact. We hear Elgar’s last major orchestral work, the beloved Cello Concerto, alongside his first, The Black Knight. As always we welcome some of the best musicians in the world to Worcester for the week, including Robert Hollingworth and I Fagiolini, oboist Nicholas Daniel, pianist and composer Huw Watkins alongside classic FM presenter Zeb Soanes, world renowned Elgar record producer Andrew Keener and many more. I can’t wait to give that first upbeat – please join us!”

Set in the composer’s hometown and surrounding areas over the week closest to Elgar’s birthday on 2^nd June, the festival is an annual celebration of Elgar’s music spanning symphonic and string orchestra concerts by the resident English Symphony Orchestra, along with chamber concerts, choral concerts, recitals, workshops, masterclasses, street performances, a young composers competition, exhibits, tours and talks.

Since its inauguration in 2018, when it was a Critic’s Pick in both The Guardian and The Times, the festival has doubled in size and scale and continues to grow annually through an innovative development programme of appealing and accessible events, working with hundreds of both internationally renowned professional artists and amateur musicians and performers of all ages to ensure Elgar really is for everyone.

For further information and to purchase tickets please visit www.elgarfestival.org