Banbury's Crocus Concert dates announced

Up to 100 students will entertain audiences each evening with a selection of musical numbers and styles at the popular charitable concerts the first of which will take place on Thursday, March 12 with the second scheduled for Thursday, June 11.

Choirs, ensembles and soloists from each school will present their choice of items for a 30-minute set and each concert will end with a grand finale of combined choirs.

The March concert will feature North Oxfordshire and Wykham Park Academies, while the June concert will feature Blessed George Napier..

Additional concerts and collections for the two causes chosen will be held at other schools, including Tudor Hall and Chenderit. All proceeds from the three concerts will be shared between

Rotary’s campaign to rid the world of polio and the Brodey Centre at the Horton Hospital.

This year the schools voted to add a local charity to the causes benefiting from the concerts. The Brodey Centre received unanimous support.

Since 1988, when Rotary clubs across the world took up the battle, the number of new cases of the disease has been reduced from thousands a year to just 29 in 2018.

Over the past seven years almost 150,000 crocus corms have been planted as a result of the partnership between Banbury Rotary Clubs, primary and secondary schools, and Cherwell District and Banbury Town councils.

These special collaborative “Crocus Concerts” are also made possible by the support of St Mary’s Church and Banbury Charities, to whom the Rotary Club members are extremely grateful.

Both concerts begin at 7pm and cost just £5 on the door with children entering for free.