Marcus Farnsworth in a green tshirt pointing to a Southwell Music Festvail promotional banner

It’s Festival Week! Essential Festival information

Southwell Music Festival 2022 starts on Wednesday 24 August, with six days of sensational live music across venues in the town. We can’t wait to welcome back audiences, meet new people and soak up that Festival atmosphere.

Visit the Festival Hub

The Festival Hub is open from Monday 22 August from 9am each day. At the Festival Hub you can:

  • Buy tickets for concerts (online booking is also available up to one hour before the performance time) – discover what’s on and buy tickets
  • Buy your souvenir programme book and browse the range of Festival merchandise
  • Festival Friends can pick up their Membership cards and buy tickets to the Sunday Friends’ Reception event
  • Meet our volunteer Festival Makers, who are here to answer your questions and help make the 2022 Festival as brilliant as ever

Remember your tickets

If you have booked tickets in advance, please remember to bring your printed tickets or if you opted for email delivery you will need to ensure that you click the link in your confirmation to download your PDF tickets – these can be presented on your phone or bring a print out if you prefer. If you are unsure about how to do this, please visit us in The Hub before the concert.

Grab a bite to eat

You may be thinking about pre or post-concert meals or where to get a drink or snack whilst in Southwell.

The Festival Marquee, located in the grounds of the Minster, will offer drinks service (no food) at certain times, and our team of volunteers has kindly put together a list of other catering options available in the town or nearby, with opening hours and contact details available to download – head to this page for further information and Marquee opening times.

The Minster Refectory will also be open each day of the Festival, closing at 7.30pm Wed – Sat and at 4pm on Sunday and Monday. Food will be served until 3pm, with the kitchen re-opening at 5pm for evening meals until 7.30pm. Tea, coffee and cake will be served all day until 7:30pm.

Don’t forget pre-concert talks

Our Festival programme this year includes three pre-concert talks. You don’t need to book for these talks, just turn up and join us for in-depth insight.

  • Martin Bussey on Seven Last Words from the Cross – Wednesday 24 August, 7pm, Southwell Minster State Chamber
  • Meet the Composer: Cheryl Frances-Hoad – Thursday 25 August, 5pm, Southwell Methodist Church
  • Martin Bussey on St Paul – Saturday 27 August, 5pm, Southwell Minster State Chamber

Support the Festival Fringe

The Festival Fringe is a selection of free performances taking place across the Festival. No booking is required, just turn up. This year the Festival Fringe is raising money for Reach Southwell, supporting people with learning disabilities.

  • Carlton Male Voice Choir – Wednesday 24 August, 2.30pm, Market Square
  • Musicians from the Minster School – Thursday 25 August, 11am, Southwell Methodist Church
  • Mirabile – Friday 26 August, 11am, Southwell Methodist Church
  • Brass on the Grass – Saturday 27 August, 2.30pm, Walled Garden at Southwell Minster
  • Katharine Dryden and Southwell String Quartet – Monday 29 August, 11am, Southwell Methodist Church
two people talking at a table in a restaurant. there is food and tea on the table

Food and Drink at this year’s festival

If you are attending this year’s Festival, you may already be thinking about pre or post-concert meals or where to get a drink or snack whilst in Southwell.

The Festival Marquee will offer drinks service (see opening times below) and our team of volunteers has kindly put together a list of other catering options available in the town or nearby, with opening hours and contact details.

Marquee opening times:

Wed – Fri: 4pm – 11pm
Sat: 12pm – 11pm
Sun: 12pm – 10pm

The Minster Refectory will also be open each day of the Festival, closing at 7.30pm Wed – Sat and at 4pm on Sunday and Monday. Food will be served until 3pm, with the kitchen re-opening at 5pm for evening meals until 7.30pm. Tea, coffee and cake will be served all day until 7:30pm.

All information is correct at the time of going to press (July 2022), we strongly advise contacting individual businesses directly to check opening times and to book a table in advance. Southwell Music Festival is not directly connected to any of these food outlets.

Download Food & Drink information (pdf)

There is still time to book tickets for this year’s Festival. Visit the What’s On page for more information.

Trumpet and Saxophone against blue background

Just Announced! Your 2022 Festival Programme

We are back with the first full-scale festival in three years, featuring over 40 unmissable live events.

From 24 – 29 August enjoy sensational live music, in indoor and outdoor locations across the town.

You’ll find choral and orchestral music, jazz and folk, music ancient, modern and everything in between!

Our resident ensembles, the Festival Voices, Sinfonia and Chamber Soloists, are at the heart of our programming, and will join forces in a performance of Mendelssohn’s dramatic oratorio, St Paul.

We welcome some stellar celebrity guests this year, including Northumbrian piper and star of the folk world Kathryn Tickell, and British pianist Martin Roscoe.

With wonders including jazz from Magpie Trio and Alice Zawadzki, and a visit from Custard the Dragon at our Family Concert, we suggest you clear your diaries for the August Bank Holiday to make the most of this packed programme!

Look out for the new Festival Guide in various outlets in Southwell. Festival Friends will receive a Festival Guide along with details about how to book your tickets.

We cannot wait for August, to share glorious music with you in the beautiful town of Southwell.

When can I book tickets?

Booking for the 2022 Southwell Music Festival opens very soon, with Festival Friends enjoying a Priority Booking period:

⭐ Platinum Friends – 23 May
⭐ Gold Friends – 6 June
⭐ Silver Friends – 13 June
⭐ Bronze Friends – 20 June
⭐ General Booking – 27 June

Now is the perfect time to join the Festival Friends to access Priority Booking. Membership starts from just £50 and your contribution goes towards supporting the Festival.

Marcus Farnsworth in Southwell Minster

Season Launch Concert – 20 May

Southwell Music Festival is back with its first full-scale festival in three years, featuring over 40 unmissable live events. From 24 – 29 August enjoy sensational live music, in indoor and outdoor locations across the town.

Discover more at our free Season Launch Concert, where Festival Artistic Director Marcus Farnsworth will share his plans for this year’s exciting line-up, plus taster performances from:

Matthew Glendening, Royal Opera House Principal Clarinet
Jamie Campbell, Principal 2nd Violin of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Festival Associate Artistic Director
Marcus Farnsworth, award-winning international baritone and Festival Artistic Director

Please book in advance – Book your free ticket online

This free-to-attend informal evening will be followed by the opportunity to buy a drink and catch up with friends and the Festival team. See you there!

More information + Book tickets

Could you be our new Festival & Artist Administrator?

Southwell Music Festival seeks an exceptionally organised part-time administrator to support the Festival Management team with artist management and general administration. This key role is fixed term between May – September 2022.

Full details, including job description, salary and how to apply can be found here. The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 2nd May 2022. Interviews will take place the following week.

Headshot of Sarah Rennix, background of Southwell Minster

Welcoming our new General Manager Sarah Rennix

We are pleased to announce that Sarah Rennix will be joining the Southwell Music Festival team as our new General Manager.

Sarah will be taking over the General Manager role from Flynn Le Brocq, who has recently joined London Mozart Players as Chief Executive.

Sarah is a passionate singer, arts producer and education specialist having read music at Durham University and recently completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Education in Arts and Cultural Settings at King’s College London.

She has managed the education programmes for a number of high-profile professional ensembles including Britten Sinfonia and The Sixteen, where she coordinated the Genesis Sixteen young artist programme and set up the Sounds Sublime Festival for emerging ensembles. Sarah is also a trustee for SANSARA Choir and the SouthWestFest. In her spare time, she enjoys a chilly morning dip in the English Channel and is finally learning what all the buttons on her camera do.

Chair of Southwell Music Festival, Thomas du Plessis said of Sarah’s appointment:

I am delighted to welcome Sarah to the position of General Manager at Southwell Music Festival. Sarah’s wealth of experience in arts administration, music and education will be invaluable to the Festival in the next stage of its evolution. I cannot wait to introduce Sarah to the special community of supporters, friends, artists and donors that Southwell Music Festival enjoys so much and am already looking forward to our next week of fantastic music in August later this year.

We look forward to welcoming Sarah to the Southwell Music Festival team very soon.

Southwell Festival Voices

Join us for A Christmas Celebration

Southwell Music Festival returns this December for a one-night-only Christmas Celebration in the exquisite surroundings of Southwell Minster.

Gather with family and friends on Monday 20 December for an evening of seasonal words and choral music performed by Southwell Festival Voices, conducted by Artistic Director Marcus Farnsworth with readings from stage and screen actor Philip Franks.

The Festival team can also reveal that the programme is set to include Benjamin Britten’s ever-popular A Ceremony of Carols to be performed with harp accompaniment.


Tickets are priced from £12 – book via our Online Box Office or call 01636 330014.

Marcus and Flynn in the Festival Marquee

Saying Farewell To Flynn Le Brocq

A huge congratulations to our General Manager Flynn Le Brocq who will be taking on the role of Chief Executive at London Mozart Players from January 2022. Sadly this does mean that Flynn will be leaving his role at Southwell Music Festival. We are now recruiting for a new General Manager to replace Flynn – find out more on our Vacancies page.

A few words from Flynn:

It has been a tremendous pleasure to see the Festival grow and flourish over the last five years. I am incredibly grateful to Marcus and Jamie for their extraordinary artistic vision and to the Festival Committee, team and volunteers for their tireless hard work. I shall sincerely miss the wonderful community atmosphere that the Festival creates and our ever loyal Friends and supporters. It will seem very odd not to spend August in the Festival Hub, although I would be surprised if I can’t be found in the Festival Marquee on many occasions to come!

And Marcus added:

I can well remember the first time I met Flynn Le Brocq. Despite his young age, my first impression was that I had met one of the most capable people on the planet, and five years on, I can confirm that I was right! We are incredibly proud of Flynn. He moves onto a major new role and this is a great achievement for him. We wish him and the London Mozart Players well in their new adventure together! That said, we are immensely sad to see him go. Flynn has given so much to the Festival in the last five years, and as an organisation, we have made considerable advances in this time, due in no small part to the wonderful work that he has done. I’m sure we’ll see Flynn in Southwell in years to come, but in the meantime, we wish him well for the next stage of his exciting journey.

Flynn will be with us until the end of the year, and to say goodbye at the annual Christmas Concert. We wish him all the best in his new role.

Online Live Stream: Festival Opera Gala

We have just announced that the Wednesday evening Festival Opera Gala will be live-streamed to the Southwell Music Festival YouTube Channel.

If you can’t visit us in person this year, this is your opportunity to experience some Festival magic in your living room. Live Stream tickets cost £5 (+ booking fee) and can be purchased via the online Box Office. >>>Buy Now<<<

Marcus Farnsworth, Alison Rose, Jessica Gillingwater, Andrew Tortise and Libby Burgess bring tragedy, comedy, pathos and melodrama from the world of opera to Southwell Minster in an irresistible programme of popular arias, duets, trios and quartets by the greatest composers.

Limited tickets are available to attend the concert in person at Southwell Minster. Buy online or visit the Festival Hub for the latest availability.

Keeping You Safe at the 2021 Festival

As venues continue to open across the country, we want to ensure that our audiences and artists feel safe at the Festival. Please find below information about the measures we are taking to ensure Covid-19 safety.

We ask that you continue to wear a face-covering in crowded areas and practise social distancing wherever possible. Concert seating remains spaced in all venues and we continue to monitor the situation closely.

The Festival Marquee will operate under the same guidance as pubs and restaurants. We will endeavour to open the sides of the marquee whenever the weather allows ensuring adequate ventilation.

If you have any queries or concerns, please visit the Festival Hub to talk to one of our team. We wish you a safe and enjoyable 2021 Festival.