There aren’t many places in the UK where you can experience opera inside a cave, see a hotel where Mary Queen of Scots reputedly stayed and drink the freshest mineral water available (although you might want to add an ice cube or two), yet you can do all of this in Buxton. You’d be forgiven if your mind first springs to the bottled water when you think of the town, but there’s so much more to this beautiful town on the edge of the Peak District . Next month it will welcome some of the biggest names in the worlds of Opera, music, books and jazz, along with the odd politician or two, as it hosts the Buxton International Festival from July 4 to 21.
The line up includes South African Soprano Golda Schultz, who has performed at opera houses across the globe, jazz band New Orleans Social Club and classical pianist Angela Hewitt. Giving book talks are household names such as newsreader Clive Myrie, TV presenter Rob Rinder and Manchester’s own Andy Burnham, who will appear alongside Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram. Events for the festival will take place across the town, including underground - inside Poole’s Cavern.
READ MORE: The charming canal-side café tucked away in leafy Greater Manchester suburb that's doing something a bit different If you think opera isn’t for you then think again as the festival seeks to make it more accessible to audiences and includes an adapted version of La Tragedie de Carmen by Peter Brooks, based on Georges Bizet’s famous opera. Tickets.
