St Edmundsbury Cathedral announce Summer Fair and Summer Concert

On July 8, St Edmundsbury Cathedral will host their Summer Fair and Gloria! A Summer Concert with the combined choirs of the Cathedral. 

The Summer Fair is free to attend and will start at noon.

It will feature Morris dancing from Bury Fair (at 12.15pm and 1.30pm), an indoor market, a BBQ from the Cathedral restaurant Pilgrims’ Kitchen, family craft activities, face painting, a family treasure hunt, LEGO activities, tower climbs and much more. 

The indoor market will be housed in the cathedral cloisters and feature local stall holders. All the stalls are local sellers with a variety of products on offer, from jewellery, artisan spirits, gifts and more.

Family activities will be available to keep the children busy, including crafts, face painting and a family treasure hunt which will lead participants through the cathedral grounds into the Abbey Gardens and back in a quest to discover the answers to some local history-based questions. A prize will be awarded to the winning treasure hunters! 

For budding builders and engineers, LEGO building sessions will be available from noon to 2pm. Sessions are free and all are welcome with their imaginations!

A very special opportunity to climb the Cathedral Tower will also be on offer during the Summer Fair.

Affordable individual and family tickets will be on sale for those wishing to take the opportunity to scale the 202 steps of the Millennium Tower and experience the unrivalled views of the Abbey Gardens and beyond.

With prices just £3 for individuals and £10 per family, tower climbs will be available at noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. Children must be 10 years old or over and accompanied by an adult. 

James Stark, events manager at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, said: “We’re excited to welcome the community to the cathedral for these events. It’s the first time we’ve hosted a Summer Fair for a long time, so we’re looking forward to bringing something fresh to our event offering. We encourage visitors to bring a picnic blanket and make a day of it.”

In the evening of the same day, Gloria! A Summer Concert will showcase the talent of the St Edmundsbury Cathedral musicians.

The combined choirs of the cathedral, which includes St Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir, St Edmundsbury Singers and the Cathedral Youth Choir, will perform a programme of music for a summer’s evening.

Music will include Handel’s Zadok the Priest, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Purcel’s Abdelazer Suite. The cathedral’s singers will be accompanied by guest orchestra, the Churchgate Sinfonia.

The cathedral’s director of music, Timothy Parsons, said” “For the first time since the pandemic, the combined choirs of St Edmundsbury Cathedral are coming together to present a joyful and uplifting selection of music. This summer concert continues the spirit of national celebration for the Coronation, featuring the famous anthem Zadok the Priest as performed during the service in Westminster Abbey.

“We are excited to be collaborating on this concert with the Churchgate Sinfonia whose orchestral playing will add much excitement and colour to the choirs’ voices.”

Tickets for Gloria! A Summer Concert start at £8 and are available online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gloria-a-summer-concert-tickets-598340511577.