THE annual Simonsbath Festival is well underway, once again bringing world class music and speakers to Exmoor.

Events are held at 6.30 pm in the intimate setting of St Luke’s Church, Simonsbath, with its excellent acoustics.

Last week, the acclaimed violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen performed with pianist Cordelia Williams, while Baroness Harding, currently serving as Senior Steward of the Jockey Club, talked about her equestrian career.

A real coup for Exmoor was lined up on Tuesday (May 12) with Dr Xavier Bray, director of the Wallace Collection, lecturing on the first major retrospective of the paintings of the famous war time Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who stayed in the Exmoor Forest Inn and played polo regularly at Dunster in the early 1900s.

Other highlights this year include classical guitarist Ollie Clark, West Buckland School Choir, the Simonsbath Spring Fling at Emmetts, on Exmoor, which is a one-off small country fair, and Ben Goldsmith ‘one of the most passionate rewinding champions’.

And, helping to bring the festival to a close on Saturday, May 30, Chivenor Military Ladies’ Choir (Military Wives with Gareth Malone) will be performing.

There is also a joint church service for the Exmoor Society and the festival on Sunday, May 17.

As well as providing financial support for St Luke’s Church by hiring it as a venue, the Simonsbath Festival also uses profits to underwrite its ‘Music in Schools’ Programme.

The programme centres on the ‘Songs from the Exmoor Forest’ project, which aims to revive interest in, and knowledge of, the traditional music and songs of Exmoor.

It is led by Paul Wilson, of Wren Music, a folk and community arts organisation, and is all-important for Exmoor school-aged children at a time when many of the arts have been axed from school curriculums.

More information, including how to purchase tickets, can be found on the festival website.