Budleigh Music Festival

18/07/2026

❤️

SATURDAY SUPPORTER - Budleigh Music Festival
On Thursday 25 June 2026, volunteers from Exmouth RNLI attended the opening event at the renowned Budleigh Music Festival. The RNLI charity benefit event was held at St. Peter’s Church. The concert was organised in memory of local man, Matthew Upham, who lost his life at sea on Christmas Day 2025.

Matthew was a dear friend and supporter of the festival, and the special concert was an opportunity to honour his life, bringing together close friends and exceptional artists in support of the work of the RNLI.

The concert featured Soprano Sky Ingram, Saxophonist Huw Wiggin, Palm Court music from Rebecca Smith and her trio, and award-winning composer and pianist Mark Chait.

The RNLI’s Chief Executive, Peter Sparkes, also attended the event, along with regional RNLI staff and volunteer crew members from Exmouth’s lifeboat station, some of whom were on duty on Christmas Day 2025. Peter Sparkes spoke about the events of that day, thanking the RNLI crews and other emergency services, as well as the Budleigh community and the Festival committee for their support.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the RNLI. In addition, more than £1600 was generously donated by concert goers on the night – a level of support shown by the audience and the community by which the RNLI volunteers and staff in attendance were truly humbled.

To the Budleigh Music Festival committee and everyone who attended, it's a huge and heartfelt thank you from us all. 🙏

Photo credit : RNLI/Ken Clayton

10/07/2026

A wonderful thank you to end the Festival on

This week we had the pleasure of handing over a cheque for £543.45 to Launchpad, raised through our Community Music events at Wesley’s Café Gardens during this year’s Festival.

Over the course of the Festival, talented performers gave their time freely at Temple Gardens, and the generosity of everyone who dropped a coin in the bucket added up to something really special. Launchpad does wonderful work in the community, and we’re so pleased this year’s Community Music sessions could support them.

Pictured: Kate Somerby and Bill Cain, with Julie and Carole from Wesley’s.

Thank you to everyone who came along, listened, and gave.

BMF2026

06/07/2026

A wonderful performance ❤️

High fives all round! We had a fantastic time performing Aardman in Concert at Budleigh Music Festival this weekend. It was a joy to share the stage with Wallace, Gromit and The Farmer from Mossy Bottom Farm! A huge thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a memorable event.

05/07/2026

And that’s a wrap on BMF 2026. What a way to finish.

Wolf Hall in Concert brought our festival finale to life in the most extraordinary way, Debbie Wiseman’s atmospheric score performed live by the Locrian Ensemble, Grace Davidson’s voice filling St Peter’s Church, and Anton Lesser weaving Hilary Mantel’s unforgettable words through it all. The audience showed their huge appreciation, and then Anton Lesser and Debbie Wiseman signing CDs rounded off a perfect evening.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for what has been a truly special ten days. We’ll be back. 25 June to 3 July 2027.

LiveMusic BMF2026

04/07/2026

Taking his well-deserved bow at St Peter’s Church, Julian Trevelyan brought our the morning to a close with a recital of real elegance and depth. Liszt, Debussy, Brahms and Nicholas Marshall, played with the poise and assurance of an artist entirely at home on the concert platform.

A wonderful way to begin our final day.

04/07/2026

Our final day, and what a way to finish. 

At 11.00am, pianist Julian Trevelyan, prize winner at the Leeds International Piano Competition and regular soloist with leading UK orchestras, performs works by Liszt, Debussy, Brahms and our own Nicholas Marshall. 
Tickets: £12, £10. 

Then tonight at 7.30pm, Wolf Hall in Concert brings our 2026 festival to a close in the most fitting way possible: a tribute to Budleigh Salterton’s own Dame Hilary Mantel. Composer Debbie Wiseman performs her atmospheric score live with the Locrian Ensemble, joined by soprano Grace Davidson, the voice of the original TV soundtrack, and actor Anton Lesser, who portrayed Sir Thomas More. Mantel’s words woven through music, in the town she called home. BSL interpreted. Tickets: £38, £33, £28, £10. St Peter’s Church. 

Plus: Free live music fills the garden at Wesley’s Cafe, Temple Methodist Church, daily from 10.30am to 3.30pm. Your final chance for free music in a fabulous outdoor setting. 

budleighmusicfestival.co.uk/how-to-book/ 

03/07/2026

Last night’s Crescent Collective debut at St Peter’s Church was everything we hoped it would be and more.

Jason Thornton conducted with an energy and precision that drew every ounce of drama from the programme, and young Australian cellist James Morley was simply breathtaking in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. His expressive depth and sheer command of one of the great British works left the audience lost for words.
Then the evening expanded into the cosmos. Holst’s Planets Suite, performed live against Adrian Wyard’s stunning sequence of real NASA imagery, was a genuinely thrilling spectacle. Classical music reimagined in the most extraordinary way.

What a night to remember. Welcome to the world, Crescent Collective.

BMF2026 CrescentCollective

03/07/2026

03/07/2026

This is exactly what Budleigh Music Festival is all about. Seeing Newton Poppleford Primary School’s choir and Year 2 pupils experience live orchestral music for the first time, instruments up close, Wallace and Gromit on the big screen, and the magic of a real concert hall around them. Moments like these matter. Thank you for sharing this with us, and for the kindest words. We hope to see those young musicians again very soon.

03/07/2026

A big thank you to Budleigh Music Festival for inviting us at Launchpad and Wesley’s to go and sit in on the relaxed concert at the Public Hall. The band were amazing! Our trainees had a blast, and we can’t wait for more music in the garden this week! 🎤🌞😊