First York Proms takes place today

The first York Proms event is  a sell out. The only tickets that will be available now will be returns. You can check the website here 

Artist line up details here

This Sunday, York’s Museum Garden’s will play host to a brand new picnic concert, The York Proms.

The venue is steeped in history dating back thousands of years and is a popular corner of the city centre for locals and tourists a like, so it’s very appropriate that it has a distinctly local flavour in things to excite the eyes, the ears and, of course, the tastebuds.

The York Proms was the brainchild of husband and wife team, Jonathan and Rebecca Fewtrell. Rebecca, known as Rebecca Newman, scored a number 1 classical album in 2014 after a decade in the music industry, which started out with her busking around the streets of York.

She has subsequently toured with big names like Russell Watson and appeared on national TV and radio.

Rebecca says

“In recent years I’ve performed as the headline soprano for many picnic proms concerts around the country, so it puzzled me why York didn’t have it’s own event, especially considering the history and culture that our city does such a wonderful job of nurturing.

When we realised there was no good reason we felt compelled to do something about it.” Judging by how the event is almost sold out, it appears this was a very good idea.

Rebecca was originally billed to be the headline soprano for the first event, capitalizing on the large support base she already enjoys in York, but before Christmas last year she found out she is expecting a baby in August.

Replacing her as headline is the international opera tar Natasha Marsh, although Rebecca will still be singing a couple of songs during the show, and joining Natasha will be West End leading man, Daniel Koek.

Supporting these high profile performers is a line up of fantastic local talent, who will take to the Community Stage to warm up the crowd as they arrive and take their seats.

Shortly after the gates open at 5pm, Lucy’s Pop Choir will kick off with a performance of popular favourites, followed by the York Music Centre Youth Concert Band, who will do two sets, plus a performance by Prima Vocal Ensemble. It’s a great opportunity for these local performers to demonstrate their talents to the capacity crowd.

Catering for the event is in the form of luxury picnic hampers to pre-order or freshly cooked catering on the day.

The hamper contents are provided by two fantastic local supplier; Love Cheese and The York Pie Company. Love Cheese, a special cheese and wine delicatessen based on Gillygate is providing the cheese, chutney, biscuits and alcohol for the hampers.

Harry and Phoebe took over Love Cheese in 2015 with the dream of turning a special little cheese shop into something spectacular, reaching a wider audience and introducing people to cheese from across the UK and the world.

The second supplier is The York Pie Company, with a single pie included in the Luxury Hamper option or an option purely for pie lovers. Darren, who runs The York Pie Company is passionate about creating high quality, delicious artisan pies, freshly baked every day. Customers can even join their pie club and get pies delivered to their home on a regular basis!

As well as hampers, there will be food provided on the day by a couple of special food vans that are well known already in York – vintage VW campervans known as Herbie’s Coffee and Cheezy Street.

These vehicles are regulars at the Christmas market in York, serving mulled wine at that time of year. They will be serving artisan grilled cheese sandwiches, teas, coffee and brownies, a bar, and assisted by local company Pudding and Pie, who will be serving pies with peas, gravy and roast potato. They will also have a sweet option. The pies are made locally by The Yorkshire Baker, in Malton.

To round off the evening will be a fireworks display by The Fireworkers, based in Driffield.

On top of all this there will be local volunteers and staff pulling together to ensure everyone has a great time. The event will raise valuable funds for the York Museums Trust, which manages several museums and building across the city.

One thing is for sure, The York Proms will have a character and atmosphere as unique as the beautiful city we all know and love.

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