This year the Salisbury International Arts Festival runs from 21 May to 5 June. Cathedral festival highlights include:

‘Noontime Stories’, Saturday 22 May to Saturday 5 June, 12.00pm daily

Throughout the Festival - prepare to be entertained, surprised and enthralled by stories told by professional and community storytellers. Free event in the Cathedral Cloisters.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Saturday 22 May, 7.30pm

Violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Beethoven’s violin concerto and Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony in the Cathedral. Tickets £35 - £10.50.

Festival Eucharist, Sunday 23 May, 10.30am - 11.30am

The Revd Canon Dr Jane Shaw, Dean of Divinity, Chaplain and Fellow New College Oxford will be preaching at this service.

Monteverdi Vespers, Wednesday 26 May, 7.30pm

A liturgical performance by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Choir of the Enlightenment, conducted by Robert Howarth. Canon Precentor Jeremy Davies is the officiant. Tickets £30 - £10.50.

‘Stones’, Saturday 29 May, 11.00am

A free short taster version of the Orto-Da theatre company’s show ‘If the stones could talk, what would they say?’ takes place at the Cathedral (West End Doors). Tickets £13 for the actual show at Salisbury Playhouse later this evening at 8.00pm.

Stan’s Café, ‘Of all the People in all the World’, Thursday 27 May to Monday 31 May, 7.15am - 6.15pm daily

Imagine turning a corner in the Cathedral and being faced with a hill of rice representing the proportion of the population which has Nokia phones and, next to that, a small mound representing those who have clean drinking water. Over a few days, a team of performers carefully weigh out quantities of rice to represent a host of human data.

Startling piles of rice create an ever-changing landscape in the Cathedral. Free event.

The Russian Patriarchate Choir by Candlelight, Friday 4 June at 8pm

A performance featuring Russian Orthodox music from the sixteenth century to today, including some of Rachmaninov’s Vespers.</>

Tickets £27.50, £24.50, £20 and £10.50. The Refectory will be open from 6pm for private dining (call 01722 555 175 to book a table).

Closing Concert - Saturday 5 June, 7.00pm - 10.30pm

The ‘Party in The Close’ is the climax of the Salisbury International Arts Festival with live music, street performers, a BBQ with refreshments supplied by Milburns Refectory, stalls, workshops, strolling street artists and choreographed fireworks.

Tickets in advance £17.50, £10.50 (under 16’s), free for under 5’s, family ticket £45. Full price tickets available on the door. No parking in The Close.

For all ticketed festival events, please call 0845 241 9651 or visit www.salisburyfestival.co.uk.