Ryedale Festival: BBC Big Band set to entertain at Scarborough Spa to celebrate 40th year

The festival, which hosted an online alternative version during the pandemic, has returned to in-person concerts and welcomes a whole range of artists across a range of venues, including Jess Gillam, Abel Selaocoe, Carolyn Sampson, as well as Poet Laureate Simon Armitage – and many more.

The festival is set to pop up in landmark Yorkshire locations including: Scarborough Spa, Pickering Parish Church, St Peter’s Church, Norton, Duncombe Park, Milton Rooms, Malton and Ampleforth Abbey.

Concerts will be around one hours long with no intervals and will have a reduced capacity due to Covid restrictions.

Christopher Glynn, Ryedale Festival's Artistic Director, said: “We’ve brought together a wonderful programme of British-based artists which is both vibrant and diverse.

The formats of our concerts have changed but the core elements are what they have always been: great music, beautiful Ryedale locations, and audiences.

"Because for performers like me, after the experience of the past year, one thing seems clearer than ever before: we don't make music for an audience; we make music with the audience.”

Ryedale Festival's Summer Music Programme:

Birdsall Double Concert, Birdsall House, July 19.

Simon Armitage: Magnetic Field, Milton Rooms, Malton, July 20.

Cubaroque, All Saints' Church, Hovingham, July 21.

Violins of the OAE, Hovingham Hall, July 21.

Jess Gillam Ensemble, St Peter's Church, Norton, July 22.

Abel Selaocoe & Benjamin Powell, Birdsall House, July 22.

Sirocco, Milton Rooms, Malton, July 23.

BBC Big Band & Tina May, Grand Hall, Scarborough Spa, July 24.

Isata Kanneh-Mason, Duncombe Park, July 25.

Lucy Beckett: Contrasting Histories, St Michael's Church, Malton, July 27.

Kathryn Tickell and Amy Thatcher, Milton Rooms, Malton, July 27.

Coco Tomita & Simon Callaghan, Duncombe Park, July 28.

Tenebrae: Renaissance Glories, Ampleforth Abbey, July 29.

Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux: Young Artist Day, All Saints' Church, Hovingham, July 30.

Mishka Rushdie Momen: Young Artist Day, All Saints' Church, Hovingham, July 30.

Final Concer: Solem Quartet & Friends, Hovingham Hall, July 31.

Geoff Potter, Chair of Ryedale Festival said: “Our loyal supporters will be richly rewarded with a much anticipated return to live performance in an imaginative and creative programme shaped by the unique circumstances of summer 2021.”

To book tickets and find out more visit Ryedale Festival's website.