The Three Choirs Festival returned to Hereford in 2025, welcoming audiences to celebrate the world’s longest running classical music festival.
Over 16,500 tickets were sold with 65% of the festival attendees travelling to the festival from outside Herefordshire. The festival benefits from a dedicated membership base, including the American Friends of the Three Choirs Festival, over 70 of whom travelled to Hereford, with additional international visitors attending from beyond North America.
During the week of the festival, Hereford Business Improvement District reported a total of 68,826 visitors to the city centre with an 11% increase in new visitors compared to the previous week. Every major shopping and event zone across the city experienced a sharp uptick in footfall, reflecting the impact of the festival. The data was recorded from Monday 28 July to Sunday 3 August, while the festival itself ran for eight days, from Saturday 26 July to Saturday 2 August inclusive.
The festival opened on Saturday 26 July 2025 with a special Opening Service, conducted by Geraint Bowen, Artistic Director of the Hereford Three Choirs Festival. He led the Three Choirs Festival Chorus, the Hereford Cathedral Choir, and the Flowers Band, with Peter Dyke as organist. The service was attended by the High Sheriff of Herefordshire, Helen Bowden, and Jesse Norman MP.
Across the eight days, 71 concerts and events took place, with more than 22 performances sold out. Highlights included:
- Six world premieres, notably the festival commission The Black Lake by Richard Blackford.
- A revival of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s The Atonement.
- Performances by renowned vocal groups The King’s Singers and Stile Antico in Hereford Cathedral.
- Five concerts in Hereford Cathedral by the Three Choirs Festival Chorus, which unites auditioned singers from across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. The concerts featured the festival’s resident orchestra, the Philharmonia, as well as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
- Three concerts presented by national youth ensembles, showcasing next generation artists.
- Guided walks in partnership with the Hereford Guild of Guides.
- Talks and lectures, including a performance by Alastair McGowan, narrating The Story of Babar the Elephant alongside pianist Mark Bebbington.
- 20 groups and individuals from the three counties performed on the Bandstand throughout the week.
The Three Choirs Festival was honoured to welcome Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester to Hereford on Tuesday 29 July 2025. His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester, President of the Festival, and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester attended a performance of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast at Hereford Cathedral.
The Spectator reviewed the festival, stating “Three cheers for the Three Choirs Festival,” while The Times celebrated its “fine moments and performers with gusto; an appreciative audience too.” Leading classical music website Bachtrack observed: “Three Choirs Festival’s Artistic Director Geraint Bowen presided over an efficient performance in Hereford Cathedral that highlighted the drama within the grander choruses and vivid storytelling from the soloists,” adding that it was, “certainly a performance that even the great Handel might have envisaged.”