Theatre, visual arts, comedy and cinema all feature in Shrewsbury's Summer Season, but there is also a huge amount of music. There's jazz, rock, classical - even organ music from the mighty Wurlitzer in the Buttermarket, but of all the musical events, there's one that stands out as being just that little bit different. Musicians from all over the world have been invited to play - not only in Shrewsbury, but all over the county. This event gives local musicians - bands, choirs, ensembles of all kinds - the opportunity to meet and work with an international line-up.
Even before the opening festival parade, you can see the Colorado Foothills Festival Orchestra both in Shrewsbury Market Square and at the William Brookes School, Much Wenlock. The parade will be in Shrewsbury on Saturday 25th June starting at 11.00am.
Mayor David Farmer and Town Crier Martin Wood will lead all the participants from Shrewsbury Castle to the Market Square.
Between the parade and the Gala Finale on Thursday 30th June, there will be performances in an array of venues - churches, schools, village halls - even at the Agricultural Showground. The highlights of the festival are the festive opening on the Saturday at the Music Hall, with an all-American line-up, then there's 'Rejoice!' at Shrewsbury Abbey on Monday 27th June culminating in a massed festival chorus and orchestra performance of Handel's 'Zadok the Priest'. The finale in the Music Hall features a massed band and choir performance of 'As All the Heavens Were a Bell', the piece commissioned as a tribute to the Fire Department of New York City, the heroes of 9/11. | 
