Opening ceremony in Worcester
Various choral performances around beautiful Worcester
Visit The Firs - Elgar's Birthplace
Talk by Naomi Belshaw, Chair of the Three Choirs Festival
The Three Choirs Festival began in the early 18th century, rotating between the three great cathedral cities of Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford and is one of the world’s oldest and best classical choral music festivals. In 2024 the festival will be in Worcester and will feature a wonderful range of concerts including performances at Worcester Cathedral. Performances are planned to include the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Three Choirs Festival Chorus plus many guest musicians of the highest international repute.
Available Departures |
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| 26 - July - 2024 | Limited Availability | Travel Info On Request |
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Provisional Timings |
Day 1: Arrive independently at the Hilton Puckrup Hall from 15.00
This evening there will be a welcome reception, dinner with wine and talk by Naomi Belshaw, Chair of the Three Choirs Festival.
Day 2: Worcester
Our day begins with the festival’s opening ceremony which for 2024 is provisionally planned to include a celebratory procession through the city with a host of local talent and culminating in a ceremony outside the Cathedral to mark the opening of the festival. After free time for lunch (not included) we will enjoy an afternoon concert at a local venue in Worcester (venue and full concert details TBC). Free time will be given to explore Worcester independently and to pick one of the many restaurants in the town for dinner (not included). This evening we will enjoy a concert at Worcester Cathedral featuring works by Grace Evangeline Mason The Imagined Forest, Holst Hymn of Jesus, Stanford Stabat Mater and featuring the Three Choirs Festival Chorus. Late evening return to the hotel.
Day 3: The Firs and Worcester.
This morning we visit The Firs, birthplace of Sir Edward Elgar. The cottage is located in the Malvern Hills in the village of Lower Broadheath and Elgar lived here until the age of two, when the family moved into central Worcester due to his father's expanding buisness. Elgar would return to Broadheath for the summer holidays as a child and also returned again and again in later life. Although Elgar only spent the first two years of his life at the cottage he expressed to his daughter before his death in 1934 that he desired to be remembered here and the cottage was turned into the Elgar Birthplace Museum filled with memorabilia relating to the great artist. We will have time to visit the cottage, gardens and visitor centre. Transfer to Worcester for free time for lunch (not included) before we have an afternoon concert at a local venue (venue and full concert details TBC). For those staying for two nights we will return to the hotel for approximately 17.30hrs.
Optional extra night: For those wishing to stay an extra night there will be an early evening supper at Worcester Cathedral followed by a concert at the Cathedral. Late evening return to the hotel. Breakfast will be included the following morning and you will be able to depart at your leisure. Supplement for the extra night applies (£210pp in a twin/double room or £280pp for a double for sole use room).
Evening concert at Worcester Cathedral is planned to include works by Nathan James Dearden new work premiere festival commission, Judith Weir Still, Glowing, Respighi The Birds, Holst The Cloud Messenger and featuring the Three Choirs Festival Voices.
VIP - Please be aware at the time of the tour going on sale the final programme for the Three Choirs Festival is not complete and some concerts and performers may vary. Please keep checking the website for the most up to date information on concerts and concert venues.
NB: Exact order or excursions may vary according to local conditions and tour manager's discretion
Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 49 passengers.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Hilton Puckrup Hall, near Tewkesbury
The four-star Hilton Puckrup Hall, near Tewkesbury is set in 140 acres of grounds and boasts excellent facilities. Hotel facilities include a restaurant, bar, fitness centre, swimming pool, spa and steam room. Bedrooms are comfortable with en-suite bathroom, TB, telephone, wifi, safe, hairdryer and tea/coffee making facilities.
Parking: complimentary.
Hilton Puckrup Hall Hotel Website
Your Guest Speaker - Naomi Belshaw
Originally trained as an archaeologist, 15 years ago Naomi swapped her hobby in music for her career. Taking up roles across the music industry, including at PRS for Music, PRS Foundation, and WildKat PR. She has a wealth of experience within the arts, particularly in contemporary music. In 2019 Naomi set up her own consultancy to be able to offer composers and artists more formally help in their careers, drawing on her uniquely broad perspective in funding, festival curation, publishing, licensing, royalties, PR, marketing and more.
Naomi is also currently the Chair of the Three Choirs Festival, thought to be the oldest classical Festival in the world. In her spare time Naomi is a keen fan of single malt whisky hosting a blog pairing whisky with classical music and also plays violin in Progressive Rock Band The Wood Demons.
Please note that all our UK tours start and finish at the relevant hotel.
You can normally check in from 3pm onwards but hotels will always be happy to store your luggage if you arrive earlier in the day.
For full details of how to get to the hotel, directions and the nearest train station, please click on the hotel website or call our office for details. These will also be sent automatically with your confirmation.
The welcome reception and first evening dinner / talk will commence at about 6pm - full details will be sent with your joining instructions about 10 days prior to the arrival date.
Excellent and most enjoyable except for the introductory talk by Naomi. She mostly talked about herself. About the festival she was not that interesting and she said nothing about the progamme we were due to see. Cant see how she got to chair the festival The tour manager was very good
Review by Greenwood who travelled 21-July-2023
Review by Anonymous who travelled 21-July-2023
Review by Anonymous who travelled 21-July-2023
Friday night welcome was warm, with a really interesting talk from Naomi. Spacious hotel room, superb choice and quality breakfast. Concerts: Vaughan Williams Sancta Civitas raised the roof of Gloucester Cathedral, and the ORA singers did full justice to the mature treatments of the young composers of the Byrd and Weelkes pieces. excellent tour of Berkeley Castle by Eleanor, and overall our tour guide Maddie was well organised, friendly and did full justice to the Travel Editions offer. All in all a perfect tour.
Review by Clare who travelled 21-July-2023
Talk about Festival almost inaudible due to speaking too fast and dropping her voice. Speaker took questions at end but questions were inaudible and not repeated and replies were also inaudible.
Review by Hammick who travelled 21-July-2023
This is my second trip with the company and once again I found it well organised .the concerts were well chosen with a good mix of old and new music . We had good seats in the cathedral and the hotel,was in a lovely quiet rural setting . Well worth staying the extra night .
Review by Humphreys who travelled 21-July-2023
Overall excellent trip
Review by Anonymous who travelled 21-July-2023
Review by East who travelled 21-July-2023
An interesting and enjoyable experience in good company.
Review by Nix who travelled 21-July-2023
Review by Whelpdale who travelled 21-July-2023
my husband John uses a powerchair and everyone was very helpful and accommodating about his needs, the tour manager was just brilliant.
Review by Hepworth who travelled 22-July-2022
A delightful and at times moving experience. Anita was charming, helpful and on the ball. Having lived the first twenty years of my life in Malvern and being educated at one of the three cathedral schools (Worcester not Hereford) that are linked to the three cathedrals that create the Three Choirs Festival it was a delightfully nostalgic short holiday for me. Thank you for including it in your portfolio and please do so again next year.
Review by Bulman who travelled 22-July-2022
A very good visit to the three choirs festival at Hereford. Well organised with so much packed in to a short weekend. Very good coach driver and a good choice of hotel.
Review by Towler who travelled 22-July-2022
No warning of long uphill walk from Great Malvern station: no taxis. Hotel dinner 1st night not 4 star standard! Cathedral school dinner last night in Hereford was however excellent. Much more info in advance about the various concerts would have been appreciated. The one in Leominster (and trip there) was an unexpected delight Coach Driver A+
Review by Chambers who travelled 22-July-2022
Tour guide Anita was excellent. Just enough information during the coach journeys to keep us interested. Organised us well, and mostly went like clockwork. Sorted quickly and discreetly a misunderstanding over drinks during the evening reception meal. Oscar the coach driver was also excellent, pleasant, helpful and punctual. Elizabeth the tour guide in Ledbury was brilliant at coping with a large group, many of whom, being elderly, might have had hearing problems. She was informative, articulate and fun! Two niggles: it was a warm month, yet the hotel had huge, thick, winter weight duvets on the beds; also, signage was a bit confusing until we got used to it. Otherwise we had all we needed, including copious breakfasts! This was an experiment for us, being organised, as we usually book independently. We did like not having to book separate tickets for the concerts, not having to find parking, and so on. We might well try something like this again! Thank you very much.
Review by Clare who travelled 22-July-2022
The Group were very friendly. I made a friend and we shall continue meeting in the future. Eating was not so easy because of the timings of the concerts but we got better at finding restaurants as the weekend went on. Although the hotel was fine I felt the management hadn't given enough training to the dining room staff who were all young and new, regarding the covid rules and regulations. the staff were pleasant but not quick to pick up where someone needing help. to help.
Review by Anonymous who travelled 23-July-2021
The information on the website mentioned Tewkesbury Abbey and Pershore Abbey. The information on my account mentioned Gloucester. I found out the concerts ere all in Worcester from the Thee Choirs website . Apart from that It was a wonderful trip. Great to hear live singing again
Review by Anonymous who travelled 23-July-2021
Review by Polyviou who travelled 26-July-2019
We reported that our washbasin plug was not working when we got there. It was still not working when we left!!!
Review by Anonymous who travelled 26-July-2019
A very enjoyable weekend apart from the noise of a wedding party through much of Saturday night. Not your fault but it did deprive one of sleep!!
Review by Anonymous who travelled 26-July-2019
The concerts at Hereford were excellent. The Tour Manager was nice and helpful. I would recommend the tour hotel being in Hereford or the city in question (even if this compromises quality a bit), thus avoiding longish bus journeys and enabling travellers to go back to the hotel between events as there was a fair bit of waiting around in Hereford for events. A day of 9.00 am to 10.30pm is quite long to be out and about.
Review by Adam who travelled 27-July-2018
We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and would be interested in next year's trip to the Gloucester Three Choirs. The food at the hotel was excellent and the staff were very friendly. However, we were a little disappointed with our room which was on the second floor and only had a small circular window with limited opening (in very hot weather!). Also, the shower in the bathroom was very weak.
Review by who travelled 27-July-2018
Enjoyable, despite the cool and wet weather. Staff in hotel and on tour were professional and helpful. Warm welcome. Not so impressed by the events on the Sat and Sun afternoons. Might have been better to leave those times free for people to sightsee or book a festival event more to their taste.
Review by Carroll who travelled 27-July-2018
Details of the daily programme, times and venues, were not supplied which led to some uncertainty and confusion, but very enjoyable three days, thank you.
Review by Mrs Diana Holbrook who travelled 22-July-2016
The first evening wine was offered at the dinner, and no one said that we had to pay for it, so we were very surprised to be charged £20 extra on our bill even if we had not had any.
Review by Mr David Trollope who travelled 22-July-2016
Three Choirs @ Worcester next year!
Review by Mr James Hadley who travelled 22-July-2016
Review by Mrs Lindsay Sainsbury who travelled 24-July-2015
In view of the distances between your hotels and the Festival venues, may I suggest that in future, you cut out the return to the hotel for an early dinner before an evening concert. There are usually adequate dining facilities nearer to the Festival site. The hotel catering was excellent, but too rushed for comfort.
Review by Mrs Josie Wade who travelled 24-July-2015
Review by Mr Douglas Oberheim who travelled 24-July-2015
Hotel much too far from Hereford.(approx. 50 mins!!). It involved repeated long journeys to & from venues. This left no time at all to change & have dinner.
Review by Mrs Veronica Skates who travelled 24-July-2015
Trip spoiled by unecessary travel from Hereford back to hotel for dinner ths meant that we missed one of the concerts, my wife is a very poor traveller on coaches, and missed dinner on one night so that we could stay in Hereford. Surely meals could have been arranged in the Town!
Review by Mr Ernist Booth who travelled 24-July-2015
too much time spent to and from hotel to the cathedral.3-4 hours each day.
Review by Miss Josphine Butler who travelled 24-July-2015
Journey to Puckrup Hall was not easy for me. I travelled by train to Ashchurch Station where there were no taxis or buses at the station. I was able to find my way without too much trouble but an older person may not be so confident. The journey to and from Tewkesbury became quite tedious and left very little time on Saturday, and presumably for those staying Sunday night, for an enjoyable evening meal.
Review by Mrs Rosalind Rowlands who travelled 24-July-2015
The hotel was lovely but too far from Hereford. The journey time, without hold ups as the traffic was generally light was too long, and made all of Saturday a rush. I went home on Sunday because of the weather and a potential slide show in a hall in Ledbury had little appeal. The tickets, concerts, food and company were as always excellent
Review by Ms Diane Steltner who travelled 24-July-2015
Puckrup Hilton not as good as the one used for R 3rd trip; Staff were not particularly friendly and I observed the senior bar staff bordering on the surly. The arrangements for the coach were inadequate as the driver was unable to park near main entrance and a long walk was required from the part many of whom had mobility problems. Tewkesbury is quite a drive from Hereford and the travel between events became tedious, Instead of rushing back for hasty early meals, would it not be possible for participants to cater for themselves in whatever location they arrived in and perhaps coffee and sandwiches be made available upon return to the hotel at the end of the day? Out side of these considerations we had a very good trip with some musical experiences that will remain in the memory.
Review by Mr Brian Cook who travelled 24-July-2015
Review by Ms Diane Steltner who travelled 25-July-2014
This tour was marred by the very late arrival of the bus for the opening service in the cathedral. Neither Travel Editions nor the bus company seem to have taken account of the extra heavy traffic conditions on the M5 and following the break up of the schools. We arrived two thirds of the way through the service so we lost our very good seats in the nave and missed a good deal of the wonderful music. Bussing to and from from the hotel was always tense because timing was a difficulty. The hotel was too far from the festival for comfort.
Review by Miss Miranda Davies who travelled 25-July-2014
