Three Choirs Festival Three Choirs Festival The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme. The large-scale choral repertoire is now performed by the Festival Chorus, but the festival also features other major ensembles and international soloists. The 2011 festival took place in Worcester from 6 to 13 August. The 2012 festival in Hereford took place earlier than usual, from 21 to 28 July, to avoid clashing with the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Worcester Cathedral The former monastic library of Worcester contained a considerable number of manuscripts which are, among other libraries, now scattered over Cambridge, London (British Library), Oxford Bodleian, and the Cathedral library at Worcester of today. Remains of the priory dating from the 12th and 13th centuries can still be seen. John Bell's successor as Bishop, Nicholas Heath, was religiously much more conservative and Catholic. During the Civil War, the Cathedral was used to store arms, possibly as early as September 1642. While Worcester declared itself for Parliament, it was swiftly occupied by the Royalists, who were using the building to store