Bury St Edmunds Festival runs from 17-27 May, 2011 and is renowned for tempting top musicians to perform at the heart of Suffolk each spring, attracting enthusiastic audiences from across East Anglia.

The festival making the most of its historic market town setting with atmospheric venues ranging from our award-winning apex to St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the glorious Abbey Gardens.

The Festival is based here at the apex, which has won acclaim for its superb acoustics and BBC Radio 3 will be using the 500-seat venue to record Britten Sinfonia performing during the Festival as part of the Royal Philharmonic Society?s Encore concert series.

Festival Manager, Nick Wells, has put together a packed 11-day Festival programme with the usual lively and challenging mix of contemporary and classical music, outdoor concerts, jazz, folk, film, walks, street theatre and much more. (see Festival highlights below).

There?s also another Greene King Real Beer and Food Festival showcasing local produce, more Shakespeare in the Streets exploring the town?s secrets, and a film season of biopics at the Abbeygate Picturehouse plus the topical Not so Silent Movies with improvised music at the apex.

The final weekend of the Festival will have a party atmosphere with open-air concerts in the Abbey Gardens including an ABBA and Robbie Williams tribute night, and a glamorous finale featuring Clare Teal and the BBC Big Band celebrating the classic songs of legendary jazz divas.

The Festival brochure is widely available and can also be viewed as an e-magazine on the Festival website at www.buryfestival.co.uk. Keep up to speed with all the latest news and behind the scenes action by following the Festival on Twitter.

Tickets for all Festival events go on sale from the Festival Box Office in the apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds. They can be booked online at www.buryfestival.co.uk, by calling 01284 758000 or email bookings@theapex.co.uk

Festival highlights include:
Gala concerts: Britten Sinfonia players return as a small ensemble in a concert to be recorded for BBC Radio 3?s Encore series (20 May) , and one of the world?s greatest choral ensembles, The Sixteen, perform Renaissance music at St Edmundsbury Cathedral (21 May).

New music fusions: the award-winning Sinfonia Viva orchestra make their Festival debut with a concert culminating in a new work by Tunde Jegede for orchestra, cello, African percussion and a solo contemporary African dancer (25 May).

Hot jazz: Saxophonist Andy Sheppard and his new Trio Libero (21 May)are changing perceptions of British jazz, West African kora player Ballake Sissoko joins cellist Vincent Segal (17 May) to perform from France?s jazz album of the year, while jazz piano player Roberto Fonseca updates Cuba?s musical lineage with exciting new grooves (26 May).

Multi-cultural folk: Imagined Village perform a new work written for the Cultural Olympiad by sitar player Sheema Mukherjee plus solos from star ?villagers? Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, and Jackie Oates, with Andy Gangadeen on drums, and John Kalsi on percussion (24 May) , while acoustic folk band Cloudstreet bring songs from Australia (18 May).

Renowned performers: Virtuosic Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova explores the influence of gypsy music with cellist Matthew Barley and jazz pianist Julian Joseph (22 May), international pianist Imogen Cooper links Haydn and Beethoven sonatas (19 May) , and guitarist John Williams teams up with Richard Harvey for a ?world tour? of music from the 14th century to the present day (23 May).

Strength in numbers: multi-instrument ensembles: Cellophony (eight cellos) (23 May), Royal Academy Harp Ensemble (six harps) (18 May), Consortium 5 (five recorders) (24 May), Bones Apart (four trombones) (21 May) and the Katona Twins (2 guitars)(22 May) ? creating a teamwork theme to echo the Olympics.

Lively lunchtimes and coffee concerts: classic concerti for violins from the International Baroque Players(20 May), leading piano duo Piano 4 Hands pay tribute to Debussy (24 May), and string quartets from the Honeymead Ensemble led by violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen (26 May),

Singers and songwriters: St Mary?s Church will resound to David Fanshawe?s African Sanctus performed by Voice Squad (26 May), the Cathedral Choir celebrates 350 years of the Book of Common Prayer (20 May), the St Edmundsbury Consort perform Purcell Late Night in the Quire, and Bury Bach Choir celebrate the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee with uplifting English music (26 May).

Top brass: a return visit from the stars of the film Brassed Off, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band (19 May).

Festival films: the season includes five-piece band Jazz at the Movies (18 May) play familiar soundtrack tunes, while the Abbeygate Picturehouse is featuring a season of biopics.

Family fun: the fairytale Hansel & Gretel (26 May) is brought to life by the London Touring Theatre in the perfect setting of Nowton Park, which is also the venue for a Nettle Appreciation Day (20 May) while free street theatre in the Abbey Gardens will once again be a popular part of the festival.

Plus themed walks, talks, art exhibitions, organ recitals, workshops and much more?.