Entertainment in the Abbey Gardens during the Bury St Edmunds Festival

A STAR of musical comedy is just one of the acts to perform at an annual arts festival.

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This May’s Bury St Edmunds Festival will feature an eclectic mix of contemporary and classical music, street theatre, film and comedy - including Tim Minchin.

The left field comic and musician, famous for his break out show Dark Side, will close the festival as he performs in the Fat Cat Comedy Special on the Sunday May 27, at 8pm.

Festival venues will include the award-winning Apex concert hall, St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the Abbey Gardens.

Nick Wells, festival manager said: “It is great for me to announce the launch of the festival and I thank everyone who makes the festival happen every year, including the staff in all the venues who keep it going.

“The Olympics is coming this year and we thought, how can we reflect this in the festival? There are quite a few events with musicians from around the world playing, including a choir made up of 1000 kids from schools from all over St Edmundsbury who will be singing songs from five continents.”

The 11-day festival will run from Thursday, May 17 to Sunday, May 27, and will feature outdoor concerts, jazz, folk and walks.

BBC Radio 3 will be recording Britten Sinfonia’s performance during the Festival as part of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Encore concert series.

The final weekend of the Festival will have a party atmosphere with open-air concerts in the Abbey Gardens including an ABBA and Robbie Williams tribute night.

There will also be a Greene King Real Beer and Food Festival showcasing local produce, Shakespeare in the Streets exploring the town’s secrets, and a film season of biopics at the Abbeygate Picturehouse.

A topical “Not so Silent Movies” event will run with improvised music at The Apex.

The Festival brochure is now widely available and can be viewed as an e-magazine on the Festival website at www.buryfestival.co.uk. Keep up to speed with all the latest news and behind the scenes action by following the Festival on Twitter.

Tickets for all Festival events go on sale from February 27, at the Festival Box Office in The Apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds. They can be booked online at www.buryfestival.co.uk, by calling 01284 758000 or email bookings@theapex.co.uk