International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival Frank Matcham-designed 900-seat Buxton Opera House. Beginning in 2014, the main stage has been the 1,100-seat Royal Hall in Harrogate, another Matcham-designed theatre. These performances are nearly always accompanied by the "National Festival Orchestra". A review of a 2010 performance noted, "The music was up to [the Festival's] usual high standard, with the orchestra (leader, Sally Robinson) ... giving a superb and sprightly reading of the Overture and score throughout." The Festival also hosts dozens of performances and fringe activities in smaller venues. In Buxton, these included the 360-seat Pavilion Arts Centre. In Harrogate, some fringe performances have been held
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival of the Festival is a competition among amateur G&S performing troupes from Britain and around the world. Over the course of the Festival, on weeknights, "the best non-professional groups from the UK and overseas compete for the International Champions title." The day of performance for each amateur group is hectic, with move-in to the theatre at 9 a.m., lighting call at 11 a.m., their one and only tech-dress rehearsal (with the Festival orchestra) in the afternoon, the performance in the evening, and move-out immediately afterwards. A professional adjudicator critiques each amateur performance immediately after the curtain falls. The adjudicator then