6 Best Performing Arts in Bath and the Cotswolds, England

The 10-day Literature Festival in October brings world-renowned authors, actors, and critics to Cheltenham for hundreds of readings, lectures, and other events.

Held over a week in late April and early May, the Cheltenham Jazz Festival presents noted musicians from around the world.

The late-Victorian Everyman Theatre is an intimate venue for opera, dance, concerts, and plays. The interior is the work of Frank Matcham, a famed architect of English theaters and music halls. There's a varied program of events throughout the year in the Main House while the Irving Studio Theatre, a smaller, more intimate venue, often stages more unusual productions. If you are visiting Cheltenham around Christmas and the New Year, try and get tickets for the annual pantomime, a family-friendly tradition that will have you rolling with laughter at familiar fairytale characters. You can often catch pre– or post–West End productions here as well, at a fraction of big-city prices.

For information on the town's ambitious lineup of festivals, contact the Festivals Box Office via phone from Tuesday to Friday.

Cheltenham's famous Music Festival, held over 10 days in early July, highlights new compositions, often conducted by the composers themselves, plus a wide variety of choral and instrumental classical pieces.

For five days in early June, the Science Festival attracts leading scientists and writers to Cheltenham.