Visit the Heritage Centre to see the exhibition of photography by "Nonpareil", a small group of very experienced local photographers. It includes Award Winning Images from their Exhibitions and Salons that have been exhibited around the country.

​This year’s Festival will be officially opened during the Art Exhibition Preview at Marden House. The Preview evening is for Festival Friends, Artists and by Invitation only. 

The Open Art Exhibition will be on display throughout the Festival. Please consult the Festival calendar for opening times.

The Exhibition is kindly sponsored by Bevirs Law.

To start Festival week, join us for a FREE family day. There will be a 360-degree immersive Theatre Dome experience, Calne Samba Band, Clare’s Circus, a variety of activities by Calne Wordfest, Music and Art workshops throughout the day, an Art treasure hunt, Stilt walker and more! Refreshments and light lunches will be available to purchase from our cafe. Children must be supervised at all times. Kindly sponsored by The Hills Group Limited. 

This high energy two piece band tour three continents with banjo, guitar, upright bass and a truckful of songs. Their music combines elements of bluegrass, music hall, jazz, and straight up rock’n’roll, and they tell stories about the strangeness of everyday life. Mike and Katy met in New Orleans and after a Courthouse wedding, hit the road and spent their wedding night in a truck stop between Lafayette and the Atchafalaya Swamp. This is an evening and an experience not to be missed!

Under its new leader, James Green, Calne Choral Society will perform Fauré's Requiem. This popular work was begun in 1887, which was within a year of the formation of Calne Choral Society, which now is one of the oldest in England. Fauré said of his Requiem, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem", which was reflected in his not completing what he regarded as his finished work until 1901. The French theme will continue with a short set of songs by Fauré, complimented by others from his contemporaries.

A joyful celebration of what the piano has to offer, ranging from classical greats to modern hits from film and shows. The concert will be followed by tea when the pianist, Jemima Palfreyman, cordially invites audience members to 'ask her anything'. Jemima Palfreyman graduated with a BMus (Hons) from the Royal Northern College of Music and spent several years as a freelance concert pianist and workshop leader before pursuing her passion for education. Jemima teaches Piano and Music Theory at St.Mary's School, Calne and is currently completing an MA in Education with the University of Exeter.

Life Drawing session held in the main hall of Marden House surrounded by the Open Art Exhibition. Live model and a variety of lengths of poses and postures with some light 'tuition' if wanted. Please bring your own materials / drawing boards, but some will also be available.
Due to nude model, this event is for ages 16 years and older. Art students welcome!
There will be a short break for tea and biscuits.

Mark performs regularly on both the classical guitar, Renaissance lute, medieval citole, banjo and ukulele. Recitals include ‘John Dowland, Lute Songs and Solos’ at Marlborough Summer School, Benjamin Britten folk songs at Malmesbury Festival, classical guitar duets in the Wyvern Theatre, lute songs at St George’s Hall Bristol with the poet Ian McMillan and a performance of Concierto de Arenjuez with North Wiltshire Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at WOMAD, on television and on BBC radio. This is a concert not to be missed.

Sammy Till-Vattier will host an evening of singing. This concert will appeal not only to opera lovers (as he will perform some famous arias) but also those who like musicals.
Sammy is an incredible talent for his age and is definitely one to watch!
We are thrilled to welcome him to this year's Calne Music & Arts Festival.
Sammy Till-Vattier is a student in the sixth form at St.John’s, Marlborough, currently studying for his A Levels and planning to read English and Drama at university next year. Sammy has always had a love for music and theatre and from age 6 joined Stagecoach going on to perform in many productions in regional theatres and twice in showcases in the West End. 
Sammy has just attained grade 8 trombone and plays with the Aldbourne Youth Band, he sings and plays piano and guitar. 
This summer he played and sang at Mantonfest and played Jean Valjean in the production of Les Misérables at St.John’s. 
Sammy hopes to go on to become an actor/musician.
Do not miss this opportunity to see a local rising star!

Do you like to draw? Do you like to drink? Welcome to the popular Calne Drink & Draw at the Lansdowne.

There are no rules, no need for talent, just enthusiasm! With still lives set up and a clock ticking, its like speed dating art!

Some materials will be provided but please bring your own just in case!

Non-alcoholic drinks also available. Drink responsibly!

Making time for Yoga, Art, Music and all creative pursuits is proven to improve mental health. Start this year’s World Mental Health Day positively by coming together for a morning Yoga session in the main hall of Marden House surrounded by the Annual Open Art Exhibition with calming live harp music. This session is kindly run by Calne’s 11:11 Yoga Studio on a donations basis with donations going to a Mental Health Charity. This class will be a soft introduction to yoga focusing on connecting mind, body and soul through asana’s (postures) with a guided mediation at the end leaving you feeling nice and relaxed. You will be guided safely through this 1 hour practice and will be encouraged to listen to your body throughout. Please dress appropriately and bring a yoga mat if you have one. Refreshments will be available to purchase after the session.

We are delighted to welcome the Marlborough College music scholars for what is always a concert of very high quality. A number of national and international prize-winning musicians will be featured, offering a programme of exceptional variety and colour.

Amadou comes from a long family line of West African Griot percussionists and praise singers and before coming to Bristol was a full time member of L’Orchestre National du Senegal. He is much in demand on the world music scene and has appeared on BBC Radio 3 Late Junction.

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A Touki performance is a tour de force in multi-instrumental musical exultation, during which the musicians joyously switch between koras, banjos, guitars, percussion and other instruments, deploying powerful beats, driving grooves, and silky voices that leap from East to West Africa and across to America. The influences are many, and rather than remaining in any one tradition, the Touki - the musical voyage itself - is the destination.

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Following the Jazz Club tradition concert goers are invited to bring their own refreshments and drink. There will be no bar this evening.

​This choir was formed in 2000 by Sir Peter Beale, the members being all experienced local singers. Now under the direction of Peter Tims, a former chorister at Eton College, the choir performs a repertoire of songs, both sacred and secular.

Graham Coulam, stand-up comedian and host of the Hungerford Comedy Club, will compere the evening. He will introduce two well known acts from the comedy circuit: award winning Paul Ricketts and Steve Gribbin, a guitar playing satirist famous for his comedy songs. Laughter is guaranteed.

As well as musicians and artists, Calne is home to writers. 'Calne Wordfest' take words, make sentences and turn them into stories and more. Wordfest would like to invite you to come and hear them read some of their work as a late evening free event. They hope to make you laugh, cry, think or just enjoy hearing what they’ve written.

Primary schools from Calne and the surrounding villages will gather to delight the audience with popular and well-loved songs. Individual schools will perform their chosen song and the massed choir will sing two songs together in harmony. Their singing will raise the roof, and this is definitely a concert not to be missed.

This play, originally written for radio, but with plenty of scope for theatrical presentation, has tremendous vitality, using a variety of styles – prose, poetry, verse and even doggerel! The audience will hope that good will conquer evil, as Sean leaves home in search of a hidden fortune.

This concert will include unique interpretations of favourite tunes from the repertoire of contemporary jazz composers alongside their own original compositions. Enjoy the lyrical and creative interplay between three outstanding jazz musicians: Nick Sorensen (tenor saxophone), John Law (piano) and Nick Pini (bass).

Undoubtedly one of the leading harpists in the world today, Alina Bzhezhinska’s set of Solo Jazz Harp will be a highlight of this year’s Calne Music & Arts Festival. After the concert there will be a meal prepared by members of the Ukrainian community, their hosts and friends, available to purchase from the festival cafe. The concert itself will showcase one of the greatest contemporary jazz musicians from Ukraine and one of the world’s best harpists.

"Alina Bzhezhinska… a modern-day supremo, is the among the best contemporary harpists…”

Evening Standard

"…Bzhezhinska shares with Alice (Coltrane) a mastery of the jazz harp.”

★★★★★, The Times

​The Lost Trades are a vocal harmony trio with a cool Laurel Canyon vibe. Three Wiltshire based singer songwriters (Jamie R Hawkins, Phil Cooper and Tamsin Quin) were brought together by a mutual love of modern folk and roots music, and joined forces in late 2019 for a three part harmony, modern folk adventure. Performing both collectively and individually penned songs, The Lost Trades tell carefully crafted stories using an array of stringed instruments and light percussion, all lovingly stitched together with soaring vocal harmonies. A live performance involves easy interchanging of instruments, with each of the three playing guitar, bass and percussion at different points. There's always a fun intimacy to the show, with the three engaging in comfortable repartee with each other and the audience like a group of old friends.

Join us for a free late evening concert by Calne Ukelele Band "Strungout". This local band play popular songs from the 60s and 70s.This popular ukulele band are equally at home in a small setting, a garden party, a marquee, a hall or on stage.  They host regular informal acoustic group sessions at the Dumbpost Inn and perform at events several times a month.  They have played at Middlewick, Bowood, The Neeld Hall (Chippenham) and a variety of festivals as well as at pubs and clubs.

Please find Strungout Ukes on Facebook or check their website 

Gail Brown, of Tangerine Art Talks, will give a talk on the subject of 'Flowers in Art' followed by the "Meet the Artists" event, hosted by CMAF Exhibition Coordinator Genevieve Sioka, with local artists Cathy and Nick Pearce. Nick and Cathy Pearce live and work from their home studios in Netherstreet near Bromham. Nick, a potter of 20 years has an eclectic style of both domestic and more sculptural ceramics and has a passion for precision design in all his work. Cathy is a painter specialising in a wide variety of pastel techniques which she uses for her colourful landscape, still life and floral work. Together they have exhibited with Marlborough Open Studios for the past 8 years. Their gallery showroom, Gallery at Poppins is open by appointment for you to browse their current work and to discuss possible commissions.

It is a delight to welcome back the ‘Opera Anywhere’ crew to perform Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’ in the wonderful, intimate setting of Marden House. In recent years they have performed ‘Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘The Magic Flute' to an enthusiastic, full house audience. This comic opera, in two acts, and first perfomed in 1878, is a hilarious tale of love, honour and duty. Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran, falls for lowly sailor Ralph Rackstraw. However, she is torn between her true love and her father’s desire for her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the first Lord of the Admiralty.

​Calne based wildlife and travel photographers, Pam and Eddy Lane, present the best moments from their multiple Expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic over the last few years, including the wildlife, history, landscape and environment of these Polar regions. As well as award winning photographs, it will include Audio Visual and Video sequences that bring their experiences of these iconic regions to life. It will detail the many common features, but also the surprising differences between two areas that are literally Poles apart.

Choral Evensong is a gem of traditional Anglican worship. In essence, it is a service of psalms, canticles, readings, and hymns dating back to the 15th century. The Dean of Salisbury Cathedral, the very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos will lead the service and the choir of St Mary’s Church, will be joined by friends and supporters from across the town to celebrate the beginning of Festival week.