Thoughts are already starting to turn to next year’s events and one of the biggest is the Three Choirs Festival. One of the oldest classical musical festivals in the world, it comes to Gloucester one year in three as we share the Festival with Worcester and Hereford. The relatively high ticket prices and the slightly highbrow nature of music has meant historically that many people in Gloucester have had little engagement with the Three Choirs. This is something the current organisers are very much alive to and are working with Marketing Gloucester to develop an inclusive programme of events around it.

Music needs to be at the heart of Gloucester’s cultural revival
Gloucester’s music scene probably doesn’t get the recognition it deserves – whether it is the Cajun and Zydeco Festival held each January at the Guildhall, which brings people from all around the world, or the Blues Festival, which brings many of our city centre pubs to life in the summer, and is organised on a shoestring. Gloucester Guildhall attracts some class acts for such a small venue – including Robert Plant, Lily Allen and Charlotte Church. There is a real clamour in the city for a larger live music venue to bring even bigger names to the city.

Gloucester Academy of Music, based in Barbican House on Commercial Road, does a marvellous job in providing professional musical tuition to young and old. Music has also been weaved into the History Festival programme now, thanks to the current Mayor of Gloucester Sebastian Field.

The city has musical connections ranging from Hubert Parry (composer of Jerusalem) and John Stafford Smith (who wrote the music for Star-Spangled Banner) to Mary-Jess Leaverland (winner of the Chinese version of the X-Factor) and Nathan Sykes (formerly of The Wanted).

With Gloucester’s cultural revival starting to gather pace, music clearly needs to be at the heart of it.