THE Countess of Wessex visited the Farnham Maltings on Tuesday to attend a performance of this year’s ’Farnham Festival - New Music For Young People’.

Her Royal Highness joined a sell-out crowd and other local dignitaries for a joyous performance of ’You Raise Me Up’ by pupils of The Ridgeway and The Abbey schools, Luminosa Young Voices and Farnham Junior Youth Choir, and afterwards met the young performers backstage.

This year’s Farnham Festival has offered more than a thousand young people across the Farnham area new performance and musical opportunities through an incredibly diverse programme of six concerts, including new work commissioned especially for the occasion.

Having begun on Monday, March 19, the festival closes with an evening of jazz tonight (Thursday) at which local schools, colleges and groups will showcase their favourite pieces. Tickets are available from the Maltings.

* See next week’s Herald for a full report and pictures of Farnham Festival 2018.