Tickets: £3 Children under 16 free (but please do book a free ticket so we can be sure you get a seat!)

Over 200 children from local schools will spend a joyful day singing with professional musicians from Ex Cathedra and then perform what they have learnt in a concert at 6pm in the fabulous surroundings of Dorchester Abbey.
Do book a ticket to what will be the most life-affirming concert of the Festival!

Schools have already pre-booked the workshop.  If your school would like to be involved in future Festivals with events like this, then do get in touch!

In 2004 Rebecca Ledgard, from Ex Cathedra and Ula Weber , a teacher in a large primary school in Sandwell worked together to put singing at the heart of the school community. This was the beginning of Singing Playgrounds. Since then  the team has expanded to include others who are passionate about this child-led project, bringing together their vast range of skills and experience in the education, performance and community music worlds.

They have implemented the project in over 1000 primary schools across the UK, and travelled to Singapore, Uganda, Thailand, New Zealand, Belgium and China.

They have led many training events and conference presentations, as well as Singing Playgrounds celebration-performances. Highlights include 2000 children in a park in Derby, a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, and the global inaugural One Young Voice summit on stage with Desmond Tutu. Singing Playgrounds was the first flagship project for Sing Up and was awarded Best Musical Initiative by Music and Education Drama Awards 2014. Since 2020 they have expanded resources for schools to include audio-visual materials available online. This supports schools in continuing the programme after visits, and allows Schools unable to afford to bringthem in to benefit from the programme digitally.

20 years in, every new school visit continues to be exciting! They have maintained the true essence of the project: children smiling, singing and playing together.