Two of the country’s most sought-after singers, celebrated soprano Claire Rutter and acclaimed baritone Stephen Gadd, are performing in the Opera Gala on Sunday 7^th July during Buxton Festival. The Gala, which will be attended by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, will feature orchestral music, arias and scenes from the much loved operas of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet and Rossini. The internationally renowned singers are joined by the Northern Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Barlow.

Claire (pictured above) received outstanding reviews for her performance in English National Opera’s new production of Lucrezia Borgia. 

Tickets for the Gala and other events during the Festival are available from the Opera House Box Office telephone +44 (0)845 127 2190 or at www.buxtonfestival.co.uk.  For more information about the Festival please click here.

Entries for the Buxton Festival Fringe have closed and no fewer than 170 acts have signed up for this year. The Fringe, which runs from July 3-21, is one of Britain’s biggest and holds a key position between the Brighton Fringe in May and the massive Edinburgh Fringe in August.

With its friendly reputation Buxton is an attractive destination for performers from near and far, and this year even more artists are appearing from far flung parts. In Laughrica, African comedian Daliso Chapondo claims that ‘Westerners are insane but to be perfectly honest Africans are even crazier’, Africa Entsha from Soweto bring inspirational harmonies and fabulous and dance in Golden Voices of the Township, and a there is a return of regular visitor, soprano Margaret Ferguson, Africa’s Lady of Song.

The Fringe welcomes two performers from Brazil; pianist Emma Souza Lima offers a rare opportunity to hear both traditional European classical composers and modern music from Brazil, while Palabras Latinas story-teller Anamaria Lines and Midlands/Mexican troubadour Mike Payton promise a mesmerising blend of story, music and dance in Souvenirs. Sparkling French company La Petite Famille explore love and friendship in the musical Tomorrow’s Dawn, and there is also a Touch of the Dutch - singer-songwriters Elrieke and Poldy come from Holland.

@VisitBuxton

Buxton's first tram, 'Wonder of the Peak' is becoming a familiar, colourful sight around the town as it conducts its hourly guided tours from 10am each day.  Each tour commences from the gates of the Pavilion Gardens (next to the Opera House).  Tickets can be purchased from the driver and cost £5 per passenger.  The tour includes the following highlights:  Opera House (also for The Square, Pavilion Gardens and Old Hall Hotel), Turner Memorial (for the Crescent, St. Ann's Well, Pump Room and shopping at Cavendish Arcade and Spring Gardens), The Dome (for the university and Palace Hotel), Buxton Museum and Art Gallery (also for the Market Place), Scriveners bookshop (for Higher Buxton shops, the Green Man Gallery and St. Anne's Church) and Poole's Cavern (also for Grinlow Woods, Buxton Country Park and Go Ape). 

 www.discoverbuxton.co.uk

Netta Christie of Discover Buxton said, "The Wonder's wanderings have begun!  We're delighted to be able to take so many people, visitors and locals alike, and show them the delights of Buxton."  As well as the main tour the tram is also offering a Tasty Buxton Pudding Tour on Wednesdays at 2pm starting on 1st May.  This slightly shorter tour ends with a Buxton Pudding and tea or coffee at Hargreaves Tea Rooms and costs £10 per person.  For information about special well dressing tours please see our well dressing page. 

The programme for this year’s Buxton Festival has been announced, with a great line-up of opera, music, literature, family and free events as well as some unexpected surprises. The 17 day festival takes place from the 5^th to the 21^st July.

The Festival’s opera productions are a Double Bill of two sparkling French romances, Saint-Saens’ La Princesse Jaune and Gounod’s La Colombe and La finta giardiniera, the story of a couple reunited a year after apparent death, written by Mozart at the age of 17. There are also a number of visiting opera performances – the acclaimed Grange Park Opera with Fortunio, Music Theatre Wales with the UK premiere of Sciarrino’s modern classic The Killing Flower, and La Serenissima with Vivaldi’s Ottone in villa. There’s also a rare opportunity to experience all three of Benjamin Britten’s haunting Church Parables in the unique setting of St John’s Church and an Opera Gala concert starring celebrated singers Claire Rutter and Stephen Gadd.

In the Music series, there’s a packed programme of concerts by renowned ensembles and soloists including piano duo Worbey & Farrell, the Prince of Wales’ official harpist Claire Jones, singers James Gilchrist, Kate Ladner and Anne Sophie Duprels, pianists Pascal and Ami Rogé, and celebrated ensembles The Sacconi Quartet and The Fibonacci Sequence. There’s also a number of concerts featuring up-and-coming talent from the Festival’s Young Artists Programme, and late-night jazz from actor John Standing, The Alex Yellowlees Hot Club Jazz Quartet and Ronnie Scott’s house band The James Pearson Trio, featuring violinist and vocalist Lizzie Ball.

Buxton Festival Fringe is all set for another great summer with over 130 entries already lined up! And with some time left until the final deadline of April 21, there is still room for more.

The quality and diversity of the entries also bodes well.  It ranges from the return of Sunderland's duffel-coated standup, Danny Pensive, to a Music Festival at St Peter’s Church in Fairfield and former Award-winner Mark Gwynne Jones’ Spoken Word show, Just for a Moment. In theatre, there are shows investigating Osama Bin Laden and Jack Ruby, and Gerundagula Productions bring us Vienna, a tale of obsession featuring an Ultravox fan. The Green Man Art Gallery find out It’s Not Easy Being Green, there’s a Food and Drink Festival in the Octagon and Anna Beecher returns to Buxton with an intriguing audio piece: put on some headphones and head into the park!

Fringe chair Stephanie Billen comments, 'We're excited that the Fringe is as strong as ever in 2013.  This year we have a Fringe for Free section on the website that highlights all the events going on that won’t cost a penny, so see what takes your fancy amongst those events and view the rest of the programme as it builds up on our website http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk'

Congratulations to Buxton Town Team for organising an amazing Spring Fair on 6th May.  Even the weather was perfect!  Let's hope it becomes an annual event...

Buxton Food and Drink Festival will take place in Pavilion Gardens on Friday 12th July from 4pm until 11pm.  There will be over 25 stalls serving up delicious foods from around the world along with local beers and plenty of street entertainment.  Outdoor seating will be available.  The event is free to attend.

For more information please visit www.buxtonfooddrinkfestival.co.uk

A commemorative framed photograph of Malcolm Fraser, whose plans for an opera festival played a major role in the regeneration of Buxton Opera House, has been unveiled at the theatre. In 1976, Malcolm, on a family outing to Buxton, spotted the run-down Opera House showing the film Jaws. Malcolm, a lecturer in opera at the Royal Northern College of Music, had a vision of this building as the home of an annual opera festival. With the help of a friend, Welsh National Opera conductor Anthony Hose, he set about putting his dream into action. Their plans added a dimension of national interest to the local project.  An appeal was launched in 1978 and attracted encouraging support.

 In 1979, the first Buxton Festival was staged with Malcolm as Artistic Director, a role that he held for ten successful years. The nationally renowned July event continues to go from strength to strength with a programme of opera, music and a growing literary series.

 Members of the Festival and Opera House Board and Festival Friends met on the Dress Circle landing on March 15^th 2013 to unveil the commemorative photograph.

From Saturday 23rd March until Sunday 21st April there are some fantastic activities for children taking place at Buxton's Pavilion Arts Centre and Opera House.  As well as a wide range of productions from The Wind in the Willows to Spot's Birthday Party, there will be drama workshops, a Shakespeare Comedy workshop, art workshops (including puppet making and creating gigantic 3D insects), James Campbell's Comedy 4 Kids and even a roller rave in Pavilion Gardens Octagon (skates provided!).  

For more information and to book visit www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk or telephone 0845 127 2190 or 01298 72190.

Saturday 13th April at 7.30pm at Trinity Church, Hardwick Mount, Buxton SK17 6PR.  Tickets £10.  Box office: 01904 613000

In the blood of a flea, wrapped in a bundle of French silk, the plague arrives in the Derbyshire village of Eyam, and with it comes a devastating decision.  As the entire community chooses the bold path of sacrifice, they begin to march to a different drum... Beginning in the 17th century the play follows a thread through history to the present day, picking up accounts of others who have dared to break the boundaries of self-interest.

Buxton's first tram, 'Wonder of the Peak', was launched on Saturday 2nd March 2013 at a naming ceremony and blessing when water from St. Ann's Well was liberally sprinkled across the tram's cab!  Daily guided tours from Pavilion Gardens to Poole's Cavern will happen every hour from 10am from 21st March until October.  Tickets can be purchased from the driver at the terminus and cost £5 per passenger.  The tour will include the following highlights:  Opera House (also for The Square, Pavilion Gardens and Old Hall Hotel), Turner Memorial (for the Crescent, St. Ann's Well, Pump Room and shopping at Cavendish Arcade and Spring Gardens), The Dome (for the university and Palace Hotel), Buxton Museum and Art Gallery (also for the Market Place), Scriveners bookshop (for Higher Buxton shops, the Green Man Gallery and St. Anne's Church) and Poole's Cavern (also for Grinlow Woods, Buxton Country Park and Go Ape).

To find out more go to www.discoverbuxton.co.uk

Transition Buxton is running textiles workshops on Thursday evenings at The Railway Hotel in Buxton from 7.30pm - 9.30pm.  The first four sessions will cover Hand Sewn Patchwork (28th February), Knitting, Crochet, Darning and other repairs (7th March), Rag Rugs (14th March) and Revamp and Repair (21st March).  You can pick and choose which sessions you attend but places are limited so booking is essential.  To book call 07769 627133 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  On Thursday 4th April (during the Easter holidays) there will be a Fun Accessories session from 1.30pm - 3.30pm for kids accompanied by adults where you can make accessories out of scraps and waste packaging.  For more information about this event please call Janet on +44 (0)1298 71041. 

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery is offering children some great activities this February half term.  On Tuesday 19th February Winter Stories will enable you to turn your favourite bits from traditional tales into pop-up cards and paper sculptures.  If you would enjoy investigating Derby Porcelain and painting your own mug then the workshops on Wednesday 20th February are for you.  Finally on Friday 22nd February it is time to celebrate the birds of the Peaks by making masks, fluttering birds on sticks and origami birds at Raven Day.  For more information please click here.

On Wednesday 20th February 2013 The Green Man Gallery in the High Street will be hosting an Art Jam for kids of all ages.  Drop into the gallery any time between 11.30am and 5.30pm for a day of art activities and fun including printing, badge making and a drawing machine.  Telephone +44 (0)1298 77401 for more details.