Though its history as a spa town is slowly but surely being eclipsed by its more contemporary identity as a festival town, a sense of wellbeing rests over Cheltenham. It's still possible to draw spa water from the Pitville Pump Room, and wherever you want to go in town you'll probably have to walk through (or at least past) a park to get there. The town is surrounded by hills on all sides, so you don't have to travel far to enjoy a refreshing country walk.
Although small and embedded in its natural surroundings, Cheltenham nonetheless has a metropolitan feel. You're not hard pressed to find bars, breweries and coffee roasteries. On the other hand, as the UK's best-preserved regency town, you'll also feel like you're moving through a little slice of times gone by, enhanced by the presence of cobblers' shops and 19thcentury architecture.
July sees the town put on a classical music festival like no other. Since 1945, Cheltenham Music Festival has been celebrating classical music through a rich and diverse programme. The event spaces are often unexpected, and the programming team makes a conscious effort to offset the time-tested greats with contemporary pieces that you may not have come across before.
Where else can you listen to a string quartet in a Grade I listed Regency building in the morning and then a classical music DJ set over a pint at a craft brewery in the evening? We speak to a few of the locals about life in Cheltenham, and the magic of Cheltenham Music Festival.
Theo Freyne is the owner of DEYA Brewery Taproom, an independent brewery in Cheltenham. Their taproom was the venue for the MIXTAPE concert during Cheltenham Music Festival in 2023, which featured performances from vocal ensemble the Carice Singers, 2022 BBC Young Musician Jordan Ashman, string quartet Manchester Collective and DJ NikNak
deyabrewing.com/pages/about
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