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 2025This year's festival will take place over three days, from Thursday 18th to Saturday 20th September 2025.
We have a stellar line-up of musicians to give us three fantastic evening concerts this year. In addition, Penkhull Festival is pleased to host the 80th Anniversary Concert of the Bedford Girls' Choir. Thursday 18th September, 7.30pm Piano Perfection Simon Callaghan - solo piano recital Friday 19th September, 7.30pm Sophisticated Saxophone Claire Tomsett-Rowe, saxophone Alistair Parnell, piano Saturday 20th September, 1.00pm 80th Anniversary Concert of the Bedford Girls' Choir Marjorie Seddon - mezzo Alison Hendricken - piano Saturday 20th September, 7.30pm Papagena All-female vocal ensemble Tickets for all concerts are now on sale. Simply click on the button below to book. 
Festival Art Exhibition
Our Creative Partners, Trent Art, present their annual art exhibition, which forms an integral part of the festival.
Harmony in Hues; landscape watercolours by two kindred spirits Trent Art Gallery will show an extensive collection of watercolour paintings and sketches by Reginald Hagger and his long standing student, friend and protégée Doris Brown. All of the work is previously unseen. |