Three of the best for Fest

Historic venues host finest young musical talent for village festival – and Beatrix Potter will drop in, too
Kirsty LovieKirsty Lovie
Kirsty Lovie

The highlight of this weekend’s Ribchester Music Festival comes with not one but three fabulous concerts in three superb venues, and a village-wide open air street theatre to boot!

Things get under way on Saturday with the perfect antidote to football, the Festival’s iconic lunchtime ‘Bagels and Bubbly’ concert, in the intimate medieval church St Saviour’s at Stydd.

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This atmospheric venue hosts the violin and piano duo Kirsty Lovie and Thomas Ang, from the Royal Academy of Music in London, performing pieces by Beethoven, Dvorak and Britten. Starting at 12.30pm music lovers can enjoy virtuouso talent with champers in one hand and a bagel in the other.

The headline concert is Saturday night’s recital by Ugnius Pauliukonis, a 23-year-old pianist from Lithuania who has won 
numerous national and international competitions and performed recitals all over the world. Last year, Ugnius was sole recipient of the Royal Northern College of Music’s prestigious Gold Medal Award.

The programme will include Mozart, Rachmaninov and others. The glorious setting for this concert is the 
historic 12th century St Wilfrid’s Church alongside the River Ribble. The concert starts at 7.30pm.

The Saturday late night concert is in the Village Hall and features the Nexus Guitar Duo, a highly talented collaboration from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. who have earned rave reviews on the Manchester music scene.

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They will perform pieces by Sergio Assad,and Celso Machado among others, and with a 10pm start this concert is a great way to finish the day.

On Saturday afternoon there is a special treat for younger Festivalgoers as the highlight of this year’s ‘Fringe’ festival is a street theatre ‘promenade’ entitled ‘A Walk with Miss Potter’.

In this family event, performed by members of Ribchester’s Amateur Theatrical Society, you are guided through popular locations in the village, accompanied by Beatrix Potter, meeting a host of well-known and quirky characters on the way.

The Promenade begins at 3pm and tickets are £6 for adults and £3 for children.

All concerts are priced at no more than £10 and tickets can be bought in advance by ringing the Ribchester Festival Box Office on 01254 878881 or customers can pay at the door at each concert.