“a brilliant, beautiful, unique, and lovely festival”
Medieval Music in the Dales is England’s festival of medieval music. Totally unique, it’s a glorious three-day extravaganza dedicated solely to enjoying medieval music.
The setting is absolutely stunning – magnificent Bolton Castle built in 1399 by the noble Scrope family and still in the ownership of their descendants to this day.
Over the weekend, the Castle comes to life with music in every corner. It’s true living history and a chance to make this incredible setting your home for the weekend – or just for the day.
Whether you want to play, dance, learn or simply sit back and soak up the wonderful sounds, this is for you.
Every year, Medieval Music in the Dales hosts a curated selection of superlative musicians in concert. Six daytime concerts in St Oswald’s Church, two early evening concerts in Queen Mary’s Chamber are all included in the Festival Pass. There are also two evening concerts that are separately ticketed.
We usually have at least twenty workshops at the Festival – vocal, instrumental, dance… all included in the Festival Pass, as are at least four talks. Plus every year at least one Study Day – a whole-day workshop focusing on a key element of the year’s theme – this is ticketed separately.
ATTENDING THE FESTIVAL – THE BASICS
Medieval Music in the Dales usually takes place over the Friday Saturday and Sunday of the second weekend in September. It’s possible to attend for one, two or three days – and you might like to combine the Festival with the Study Day, which takes place on the Thursday, making it a four day stay.
You need a Festival Pass to attend the Festival. However, you can buy tickets to evening concerts or to the Study Day independently of the Festival Pass, and this may be a way to get a taster of what it’s all about.
The full programme for each year’s festival usually goes online in January, so you can see exactly what’s happening that year. The Box Office usually opens to Friends of MMitD for early bird booking in March, and to everyone else in April.
