Top line-up for festival

The Mayfield Festival of Music and the Arts is back for 2026 promising a “breathtaking array of musicians.”

Spokesman David Hathaway said: “Taking place in the beautiful and historic village of Mayfield in East Sussex, the Mayfield Festival runs from Sunday, April 26 to Sunday, May 10 and features a return by the world-famous London Community Gospel Choir on Tuesday, May 5. They sold out when appearing in Mayfield in 2024 and most of the tickets have already gone for their performance this year. Other performers of international renown that will also be appearing include Red Priest, famed for their high energy interpretations of baroque repertoire and who have a strong connection to East Sussex and wine writer Oz Clarke this year talking about his pre-wine trade days as an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

“Perhaps the most heart-warming event in the schedule is Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose on Wednesday, April 29. Written in 2013 to commemorate the opening of the museum that houses the recovered remains of King Henry VIII’s famous warship, the performance of this piece as part of the Mayfield Festival is the culmination of a recent programme of musical outreach to local primary schools by the director of music at St Dunstan’s Church, Lucy Piercy. A choir of young performers from these primary schools will join with the combined

Schola Choirs of Mayfield School, an adult choir and a jazz quintet to bring Alexander L’Estrange’s composition to life – and the composer himself will be conducting.

“As Alexander himself has said about the story of the Mary Rose, ‘ultimately, it is an uplifting one’, and it is perhaps even more uplifting that this musical commemoration has provided the catalyst for dozens of local schoolchildren to take an interest in choral singing and to develop the confidence and ability to perform with professional musicians.”

Steve Swanton, chairman of the Mayfield Festival, added: “We are privileged to welcome musicians of the calibre of Red Priest and The London Community Gospel Choir to the Mayfield Festival and are pleased, once again, to be able to provide local communities with the opportunity to attend high-quality concerts close to where they live.”

The Mayfield Festival was founded in 1970 by Kenneth Pont, who is now the festival’s life president. It is a biennial festival held in even numbered years that regularly attracts artists of international standard to perform in a village environment.

“The primary focus of the festival is classical music but it also includes events covering other musical genres and art forms. The artistic director of the Mayfield Festival is the renowned conductor, composer and academic Jeremy Summerly.”

More details on www.mayfieldfestival.co.uk.