Southwell Music Festival

Southwell Music Festival An annual classical, jazz and folk music festival in Southwell, Nottinghamshire.
2026 Festival: 28-31 August
Tickets on sale from Monday 18 May.

Classical music festival in Southwell, Notts

Share your thoughts about Southwell Music Festival 2026 💜🎶Whether you attended one concert, joined us for a free event, ...
03/09/2026

Share your thoughts about Southwell Music Festival 2026 💜🎶

Whether you attended one concert, joined us for a free event, or enjoyed several performances across the Festival weekend, we’d love to hear from you.

Our 2026 Audience Survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete, and your feedback really does matter. Your views and experiences help us understand what you enjoyed and can help shape future Southwell Music Festivals.

Thank you for being part of this year’s Festival, we’d really appreciate you taking a few minutes to share your thoughts with us.

👆 Complete our 2026 Audience Survey via the link in our bio and Stories.

https://forms.gle/x6d7VNBfkNaTNGb19

Saturday & Sunday at Southwell Music Festival 2026 💜🎶Just a little glimpse at two incredible days of music, performances...
03/09/2026

Saturday & Sunday at Southwell Music Festival 2026 💜🎶

Just a little glimpse at two incredible days of music, performances and Festival moments from across the weekend.

It was wonderful to see Southwell filled with music once again, with so many familiar faces and new ones joining us throughout the Festival.

And this is only the beginning of the photos! 📸

We’re so excited to share more beautiful images captured by , alongside plenty of behind the scenes moments from across the Festival, over the coming weeks and months.

For now, here are just a few of our favourites from Saturday and Sunday. 💜

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A five-star review for Southwell Music Festival 2026!What a wonderful way to round off this year’s Festival.We’re ...
01/09/2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A five-star review for Southwell Music Festival 2026!

What a wonderful way to round off this year’s Festival.

We’re delighted to see this fantastic review from William Ruff at ReviewsGate, reflecting on four days of music, performances, conversations and Festival atmosphere here in Southwell.

Describing Southwell Music Festival as a place where “past, present and future come together in exciting ways”, William celebrates not only the performances across the weekend, but the Festival’s commitment to new music, nurturing emerging talent and creating space for important conversations about the future of music and the Arts.

There’s wonderful recognition for our Festival Apprentice musicians, Festival Voices and Sinfonia, Artist in Residence Isata Kanneh-Mason, A Night at the Opera and Sunday evening’s deeply moving Brahms’ German Requiem, alongside the incredible variety, energy, warmth and friendship that make the Festival what it is. 🎶💜

And perhaps the perfect way to sum up this year’s Festival:

“Southwell 2026: delivering excellence today and inspiring hope for the future.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A huge thank you to William Ruff and ReviewsGate for joining us and capturing so much of what made Southwell Music Festival 2026 so special.

Read the full review here 👇

www.reviewsgate.co.uk/all-reviews/southwell-music-festival-2026

Photography - Tom Platinum Morley

Wow… what a weekend! 🎶💜Southwell Music Festival 2026 has come to an end, and what an incredible four days it has been.To...
01/09/2026

Wow… what a weekend! 🎶💜

Southwell Music Festival 2026 has come to an end, and what an incredible four days it has been.

To everyone who joined us, whether you came to a concert, enjoyed the Musical Picnic, joined us for a talk, sang with us, tried something new or spent the whole weekend soaking up the Festival atmosphere, thank you.

Seeing Southwell filled with music, busy venues, familiar faces and so many new ones has been incredibly special.

A huge thank you also goes to our wonderful artists, volunteers, supporters, sponsors, venues and everyone working behind the scenes who helped bring this year’s Festival to life. We simply couldn’t do it without you.

And finally, to our audiences, thank you for choosing to spend your August Bank Holiday with us and for continuing to support live music here in Southwell.

What a weekend. 💜

We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

See you next year!!

Day 4: It’s Festival Monday! 🎶We might have reached the final day of Southwell Music Festival 2026, but we’re not finish...
31/08/2026

Day 4: It’s Festival Monday! 🎶

We might have reached the final day of Southwell Music Festival 2026, but we’re not finished yet!

There’s plenty to enjoy this Bank Holiday Monday, including the free Nottingham Young Musicians of the Year, live music from Halictus Jazz Ensemble, our Come & Sing Performance: Works by Mendelssohn, and the Bank Holiday Organ Recital with Jonathan Allsopp.

With several free events throughout the day, you can simply turn up, enjoy the music and make the most of one final day of Festival atmosphere here in Southwell. 💜

Thank you to everyone who has joined us across the weekend so far – let’s make the final day a good one!

🎟 Find out more at
www.southwellmusicfestival.com

Day 3: It’s Festival Sunday! 🎶We’re heading into another full day of music across Southwell, with classical, folk, free ...
30/08/2026

Day 3: It’s Festival Sunday! 🎶

We’re heading into another full day of music across Southwell, with classical, folk, free events and one of the Festival’s major concerts still to come.

Today you can join us for the Festival Eucharist, enjoy free live music at Music for Ceramics in Southwell, hear Isata Kanneh-Mason in recital, discover something different with Festival Folk: Gavin Fairhall Lever, or join us for Festival Evensong.

Later, delve a little deeper with Festival Talk: Exploring Brahms Requiem, before Festival Voices and Festival Sinfonia come together for Brahms: A German Requiem in the Minster Nave.

Another brilliant Festival day awaits. 💜

🎟 There’s still time to join us – visit the Festival Hub or book at www.southwellmusicfestival.com

Day 2: It’s Festival Saturday! 🎶☀️And what a day we have ahead of us…From early morning music in the Chapter House to ja...
29/08/2026

Day 2: It’s Festival Saturday! 🎶☀️

And what a day we have ahead of us…

From early morning music in the Chapter House to jazz, opera, our Musical Picnic and even a late-night journey into medieval Armenian-inspired sounds, there’s something happening throughout Southwell today.

Look out for Surround Sounds: The Leaves of Southwell, our free Masterclass, One and All – A Relaxed Concert, the Musical Picnic, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Pete Horsfall Quartet, Isata in conversation with Marcus Farnsworth, A Night at the Opera! and Live and Late: Modern Meets Medieval with the Fred Thomas Trio.

Some events are even free or Pay What You Can, so if you’re in Southwell today, come and get involved. 💜

🎟 Still need tickets? Visit the Festival Hub or head to www.southwellmusicfestival.com

Have a wonderful Festival Saturday!

Please note: that the festival talk is in the library not chapter house 🙌🏼

DAY 1: It’s Festival Friday! 🎶Southwell Music Festival 2026 officially begins today, and we have a whole host of perform...
28/08/2026

DAY 1: It’s Festival Friday! 🎶

Southwell Music Festival 2026 officially begins today, and we have a whole host of performances and events to enjoy as we kick off four very special days of music in Southwell.

From Surround Sounds: The Leaves of Southwell and our Festival Chamber Soloists, to the free Young Musicians Showcase and our Festival Talk with John Gilhooly CBE.

Then this evening, we welcome Isata Kanneh-Mason and the Festival Sinfonia to the Minster Nave, before finishing the first day with Festival Voices: Sun, Moon and Stars in the atmospheric Minster Quire. ✨

If you haven’t got your tickets yet, it’s not too late!

🎟 Visit the Festival Hub at Trebeck Hall or head to www.southwellmusicfestival.com

Here’s to Festival Friday! 💜

Following the success of last year’s event, One and All – A Relaxed Concert returns to Southwell Music Festival this Aug...
27/08/2026

Following the success of last year’s event, One and All – A Relaxed Concert returns to Southwell Music Festival this August.

Presented by Carris Jones, with pianist Libby Burgess and members of the Festival Voices and Festival Sinfonia, expect a vibrant and welcoming morning of live music in Southwell Minster.

This concert is open to everyone, but has been specially designed for those who may feel more comfortable in a relaxed performance environment, including families with young children, neurodiverse audience members, and people with sensory or communication impairments or learning disabilities.

There’s a relaxed attitude to noise and movement, and you’re free to move in and out of the Minster whenever you need to.

No need to worry about sitting perfectly still or staying quiet. Come along, get comfortable and enjoy the music in the way that works for you.

📍 Southwell Minster (Crossing)
🗓 Saturday 29 August 2026
⏰ 11:15am – 12pm

🎟 Find out more and book at www.southwellmusicfestival.com

Musicians in rehearsal at Southwell Music Festival 2025. Photo by Tom Platinum Morley.

26/08/2026

Newark and Sherwood’s official tourism site is now live!

Plan your perfect day trip, weekend away or longer staycation with Visit Newark and Sherwood – the go-to guide for discovering things to do, places to see, events and where to stay.

Watch this video to see what a perfect weekend in in the district could look like.

www.visitnewarkandsherwood.co.uk

Proud sponsors of Southwell Music Festival!

Address

Southwell
NG250HD

Telephone

+441636330014

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Southwell Music Festival posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to Southwell Music Festival:

Shortcuts

Share

Category