The city of Bath is gearing up for its biggest party of the year on Friday 12th May, and everyone is being invited to get involved.
Image © Bath Festivals
The city centre will be transformed into a huge stage, with hundreds of singers, poets, bands, and choirs performing in more than 30 venues across the city.
The event is part of the opening celebrations of the Bath Festival, which is marking its 75th anniversary this year.
The Party in the City will take place from 5pm, with music ringing out from Bath’s most iconic buildings, including Bath Abbey, St Michael’s Without and St Swithin’s Church.
There will also be at The Holburne Museum and Victoria Art Gallery, and pubs, bars, cafes, and shops will host live events throughout the evening.
Thousands of visitors and locals alike are expected to flock to the event, which will fill the streets with a celebration of music and culture.
There will be a stage and stalls set up in Queen Square, as well as a whole evening of entertainment in Parade Gardens and under cover at Green Park Station.
To help plan the evening, Bath Festivals has produced a flyer which includes a map of all the venues and a full programme of who is playing where. Programme details are also available on the Bath Festivals website.
Allison Herbert, Chief Executive of Bath Business Improvement District (BID), the business partnership which promotes and supports business activity in the city centre, said: “We always look forward to The Bath Festival, which every year showcases a wealth of talent in books and music.
“Bath BID is proud to sponsor Party in the City on the opening night of the festival, which will welcome visitors, and local families too, to the city’s restaurants, bars, and venues. Congratulations to The Bath Festival on its 75th anniversary!”
The Bath Festival 2023 will focus on the theme “Opening Up” this year, opening up conversations, ideas, and minds among its audiences.
The line-up includes internationally acclaimed novelist Tan Twan Eng, actor Paterson Joseph, The Great British Sewing Bee’s Esme Young, Costa First Novel award-winner Caleb Azumah Nelson, multi-award-winning Bath-based author Max Porter, violinist Esther Yoo, author of The Salt Path Raynor Winn, Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, author of breakout hit Honey & Spice Bolu Babalola, menopause expert Dr Louise Newson, and brass quintet Connaught Brass.
The music programme will feature young talent, with rising classical music stars alongside the creative free spirit of the Bath Festival Orchestra, playing in Parade Gardens at Party in the City as part of the orchestra’s residency during the opening weekend.
For the first time, the festival is offering a new flexible pricing model for tickets to make its live arts events more accessible to a wider audience.
Party in the City will feature some of Bath’s best-loved musicians and bands, including the Orchestra of Everything, Blowout Sax, The Red Bandits, Widcombe Choir, The Arkansas Jukebox Collective, and KES Soul Band.
The evening will start at Bath Abbey, where the massed ranks of the Schools’ Voices choir will be singing their own compositions. The choir is made up of young people from 12 local secondary schools working in collaboration with Bath Philharmonia.
The night will kick off in Queen Square with a set from Muw Shed, the community musical project which this year marks its tenth anniversary of developing new talent. Popular west country folkies, Folklaw will be closing the party in Queen Square on the night.
Venues will also include The Guildhall Banqueting Room and the intimate upstairs rooms at The Drawing Rooms, with high energy bands at Komedia, and some acoustic sessions at The Forum Coffee House.
For the first time, The Cork, The Bath Cider House, and Chapter 22 will also be among the venues taking part in Party in the City.
If you’re planning on attending, there will be bars open at many venues, including Queen Square, Parade Gardens, and Green Park Station.
Additionally, there will be plenty of opportunities to donate to help fund future Party in the City nights. If you plan on buying street food from one of the festival stalls, you can bring your own cutlery and plates to save waste.
For full programme details, visit: thebathfestival.org.uk.
