With music from dance party to opera, 90s indie pop to Gilbert and Sullivan, country, jazz, all on top of the core favourite, no wonder the town was buzzing under the Shipston Proms banner in Church Street, the sign which Tim Porter and colleagues put up each June, come rain or shine. The success of this year’s Proms is a fitting tribute to departing chair Charlotte Haines whose initiatives have propelled the Proms forward over the last seven years.

On launch night, country music, cowboy hats and checked cloths came to the Townsend Hall with leading tribute Country band Country Bound performing songs by Shania Twain, Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift. Hokum and Hooch were a perfect support band with their own original material, and appeared the following week at Thirst Edition.

On day two it was the turn of an assembled choir to impress their audience at the Come and Sing event with the Stour Singers at the Methodist Church, rising to the occasion with four Handel Coronation Anthems under conductor Alex Silverman, accompanied by Harry Turnball on piano.

For what is turning out to be a Proms staple, our Ibiza on Stour dance party drew hundreds of people up to the Hub to listen to the sounds of legendary BBC radio show presenter DJ Judge Jules, strongly supported by, in order of appearance, our own fantastic DJs Rich Harvey, Harry Synge and Tim Samsara. A laser show and screens radiated colourful images behind the DJs, as a pulsating sea of glowsticks were waved by the crowd.

In a change of key and pace, the renowned Longborough Youth Chorus came to the Scout Hut to rehearse for their up- and-coming Dido and Aneas event at the end of July. Nothing put them off their stride, not even when a cockerel from the allotment provided unexpected backing vocals!

Music Teacher Helen Porter has nurtured the talents of many young people over the years. One former piano student was 24-year-old Hector Banks who played songs by John Legend, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber.

Another opportunity to see the skills of young musicians is at our longest running and one of our most popular events, the Young Musicians Concert, inspired by former teacher Phyllida Gardner and run by Helen Porter in St. Martin’s Church in Barcheston. Seven-year-old Nikil Lotey, a current pupil of Helen, played skilfully on keyboard and then duetted with his six year old sister Amelia, which shows you are never too young to learn.

And the music kept coming, including sea shanties at the Black Horse, jazz at Cherington with the immensely talented U3a band The Pavilionaires, blues, swing and ragtime at The George Inn, Lower Brailes, and Astwood Operatic Society performing Gilbert and Sullivan songs for the first time outside Droitwich in the Townsend Hall.

Final night was busy as ever. First up were the Shipston Introducing winners, duo Mimi Roberts from Oddington and Chipping Norton based Jamie Webb and afterwards soloist Jay Mac from Banbury. Then we had the amazing one-man band Thom Kirkpatrick, followed by the hugely popular The Reggulites from Birmingham. Finally onstage, the return of showstoppers Rick Parfitt Junior and his band. They produced a spectacular and effortless show and Rick had the audience in the palm of his hand singing and dancing to all the hits.
A huge thank you to all our sponsors and supporting businesses, especially our 2025 headline sponsor Ryse 3D. So many people helped to make this a wonderful community event. Laken from the Coach and Horses, who stepped in with the bar at the last moment, deserves a special mention!

Thank you too, to everyone who stayed to sweep up after the Final Night, that was such a great surprise and so much appreciated at the end of a long day.

The Proms Music Festival 2026 will 19th June to 4th July 2026 depending on whether we have enough committee members. There are now a few vacancies including the position of Chair. Please get in touch if you’d like to help, or with feedback, on our Facebook page, website www.shipstonproms.org or better still in person! We look forward to hearing from you!