New music festival for Cawston church and village

Cawston Church is co-ordinating a range of musical events in the church and village during June, and all are welcome to visit the village and take part in the festival.

Concerts in the magnificent St Agnes’ church by the Cawston Band (pictured above), Cawston Community Choir and Pot of Gold Shanty Crew provide the backbone of the month-long festival, and as well as concerts there will be singalong sessions, special church services, workshops, a disco and a musically-themed quiz night.
 
The impressive medieval church, with its excellent acoustic qualities, will host many of  the events and there will also be gatherings at the Village Hall and the Bell Inn.
 
Cawston Vicar, Rev’d Andrew Whitehead, said “Since the difficult times of COVID-19 when live music ground to a halt, we’ve been working hard in Cawston to bring back live music to the village. We’ve built a community choir from nothing, and our friends at Cawston Primary Academy have been busy bringing back a culture of singing in the school. This new music festival is the culmination of several years of effort, and we hope it will bring joy to audiences this summer.”
 
Headliners Cawston Band are one of Norfolk’s oldest and most high-profile brass bands. The Cawston and District Silver Prize Band was formed in 1886 in the village of Cawston. The band’s first rehearsal room was based above the Bell Inn in Cawston, which remained the band’s home until the 1960s. In 1998 the band moved to the St Faith’s Centre in Horsham St Faiths, which has remained the band’s rehearsal room to the present day.
 
The festival also welcomes the Pot of Gold Shanty Crew; a group of eleven musicians and friends now in their ninth year of sprinkling shanty magic over audiences from Lands End to the East Coast and points in between. 
 
Cawston’s Community Choir will also be performing as part of the festival, bringing a mixed programme of music and a range of special guest performers. The Community Choir started after the COVID lockdowns as a way to encourage the return of singing in the community.
 
The festival is being co-ordinated by the village church and seeks to raise much needed funds for the groups and venues in the village that take part. The Festival has a website www.cawstonmusic.org.uk where you will find full details of all the events and venues along with links to buy tickets. Cawston Parish Church is part of the Aylsham and District Team Ministry.
 
The photo of Cawston Band performing in Cawston Church is courtesy of Andrew Whitehead.

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