Buxton International Festival

Buxton International Festival is the Peak District’s star-studded summer celebration of opera, music, jazz and books offering more than 160 events in the town's famous Frank Matcham Opera House and surrounding venues. Buxton boasts numerous five star reviews every year and has been listed as a must-visit festival by both The Times and The Sunday Times. The festival’s production of Handel’s Il Trionfo del tempo e del disinganno performed by the Early Opera Company in 2024 was nominated for an International Opera Award.

Early music has always featured at Buxton and last year's highlights included Vache Baroque’s production of Charpentier's La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers; Apollo’s Cabinet in A Birthday Party for a King (music at the court of Frederick the Great); The English Concert with Paula Murrihy, with a programme of some of Handel’s greatest opera arias plus Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso; and the Portrait Players with The New Lyre, songs by 17^th century women including Strozzi and Leonarda.