About Penkhull FestivalEstablished in 1966, Penkhull Festival is an annual festival of music and art, taking place in Stoke-on-Trent each September. The festival's home is the historic Domesday village of Penkhull, surrounded by the rolling countryside of the Staffordshire moorlands.
Performers in recent years have included: Apollo5 Voces8 The Swingle Singers Karen Stephenson (cello) Mimi Doulton (soprano) Olivia Jageurs (harp) Peter Black (guitar) Julien Van Mellaerts (baritone) Jocelyn Freeman (piano) National Youth Chamber Choir Simon Callaghan (piano) Huw Wiggin (saxophone) and Oliver Wass (harp) Robert Max (cello) Tippett Quartet Emma Abbate (piano) Fenella Humphreys (violin) Robert Thompson (piano) We hope you enjoy exploring the website, and look forward to welcoming you to Penkhull. Festival PresidentWe are delighted to have guitarist and Radio 3 presenter Tom McKinney as our Penkhull Festival President. Born in Penkhull, Tom has gone on to pursue a highly successful career as a performer and broadcaster. He presents Classics Live on BBC Radio 3: he also presents their live concert series throughout the country, including at Hanley's Victoria Hall.
Tom says:
"Although I moved away from Penkhull to study in Manchester when I was 18, my parents still live in the village and most of my school friends stayed in the area. That gives me a good excuse to come back at least a couple of times every month, now with my two young daughters, and returning is always a pleasure because Penkhull is such a special place. Those of us born here, or who’ve wisely moved to the village, know that it’s a charmed life to be based in this idyllic pocket on the top of the hill. Up in the clouds above the sprawling chaos of Stoke, Penkhull moves at a more relaxed pace. It’s a close community, but also an open and welcoming one, and its residents are quite rightly proud of what’s on their doorstep. So although I was certainly taken by surprise and very flattered, it was a straightforward ‘yes’ when the committee asked me to become the President of Penkhull Festival of Music and Art. And it’s now with real excitement that I look forward to being with you in September for the 2023 Festival. I want to say a huge thank you to our Artistic Director, Dr Chris Brammeld, for putting together a programme that will bring such an impressive list of musicians to St Thomas’s church. These are artists at the top of their game, and you can expect three days of sensational performances, each completely different to the next, and which continues the great legacy of this important local festival." 
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Penkhull Festival 2026This year's festival will take place over three days, from Thursday 24th to Saturday 26th September.
We have a stellar line-up of musicians to give us three fantastic evening concerts this year. In addition, Penkhull Festival is delighted to welcome back the Bedford Girls' Choir, who performed a fund-raising lunchtime concert at last year's festival. Thursday 24th September, 7.30pm Solo Guitar Recital Peter Black - guitar Peter returns to Penkhull to wow our audience with an eclectic mix of guitar music from around the world. Expert fireworks and finesse. Friday 25th September, 1.00pm Lunchtime Concert Presented by music scholars from Newcastle-under-Lyme School. Friday 25th September, 7.30pm Schubert by Candlelight and A Poet's Echo Ailish Tynan - Soprano (TBC) Abi Hyde-Smith - Cello (TBC) Jocelyn Freeman - Piano In the 50th anniversary year of Benjamin Britten's death, we will hear Britten's A Poet's Echo as the centrepiece of this concert. Saturday 26th September, 1.00pm Bedford Girls' Choir Saturday 26th September, 7.30pm Around the World in 80 Minutes: A Musical Journey The Choir of Royal Holloway Rupert Gough - musical director Tickets for all concerts will be available soon by clicking on the button below. Festival Art Exhibition
Our Creative Partners, Trent Art, present their annual art exhibition, which forms an integral part of the festival.
Festival Art Exhibition Details will be announced soon. |