Canterbury Festival

CANTERBURY FESTIVAL

For the past 6 years Kent College have been the Headline Sponsor of the Canterbury Festival. With a shared passion for musical and academic excellence, Kent College has enabled the Festival to develop emerging artists, showcase the very best in performance, deliver community participatory projects and provide opportunities for young people to explore and develop their creative talent.

The Kent College Lecture has proven to be a highlight of the Festival’s Talks programme. Expert speakers have included award-winning architect Ptolemy Dean, the BBC ‘s Sky at Night presenter Chris Lintott, author and physicist Jim Al-Khalili and Springwatch presenter Megan McCubbin. These engaging events have provided a unique opportunity for both general audiences and Kent College students to hear directly from and engage with experts in their fields. Pupils were invited to attend all events and take part in exclusive Q&A sessions.

The Great Hall is a huge hit with artists and audiences alike, who provide glowing feedback on its contemporary design, satisfying acoustics and excellent accessibility and welcomes national and international acts including Gabrielle, Ruby Turner, Matt Ford and the Chris Ingham Trio, Barbara Dickson and Nick Holland as well as classical ensembles Classico Latino, the Sacconi Quartet and Festival Chamber Orchestra; flamenco virtuoso Eduardo Niebla; theatre and performance companies Bumper Blyton, Graffiti Classics and Mig Kimpton; as well as a series of speakers including Kadie Kanneh-Mason.

In addition to live public events, the Great Hall also plays a crucial part in the Festival’s digital activities – hosting the Young Musicians’ Bursary Competition Final. Supporting young musicians is so important and the role that facilities such as the Great Hall play in their career development, by providing an international standard performance space .

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