- What: A festival of music, opera, and other performing arts founded by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.
- When: Last two weeks of June
- Where: Snape Maltings, seven acres of restored Victorian buildings near the Alde Estuary near the Suffolk Coast
- Admission: Various ticket prices
- Telephone +44 (0)1728 687 100
- Website
- Getting there
Music Near the Coast That Inspired It
In 1948, British composer Benjamin Britten; tenor Peter Pears, his companion and collaborator, and Eric Crozier, Britten's frequent librettist, founded the Aldeburgh festival as a home for their touring opera company, the English Opera Group.The aim of the Aldeburgh festival was to produce fresh interpretations of classic repertoire as well as to rediscover forgotten works. Now more than 60 years old, the festival develops long term relationships with established musicians and younger artists. It attracts audiences and artists from all over the world.
Snape Maltings
The Maltings at Snape is a collection of Victorian buildings, barns and workshops beside the Alde estuary, near the Suffolk Coast. Covering seven acres, the site has restaurants, shops, galleries, guided walks and river trips along the Alde.The concert hall occupies what had been one of the largest barley "maltings" in East Anglia, used for malting grain until 1965. It is now one of the most important arts venues in the East of England, with a concert hall conversion by Arup Associates, leading British designers.
