HUNDREDS of musicians, singers and performers are tuning up for one of the country's oldest festivals.
Some 1,150 entrants will take centre stage at this year's Mrs Sunderland Music Festival in Huddersfield next month.
The nine-day event - now in its 116th year - was named after the Brighouse-born "Queen of Song", Susan Sunderland, who hosted the first concert in 1889.
Vocalists, instrumentalists and speech and drama performers of all ages will take part in 140 classes of the festival, which runs from February 18 to 26.
Huddersfield Town Hall and St Paul's Hall, on the university campus, will host the event, which will feature individual musicians, choirs, school orchestras and bands.
The festival will begin with singing classes and go on to feature piano categories and classes of verse speaking, reading and drama.
Individuals and groups will take part in the brass, strings and woodwind sections later in the festival, before the choirs sing their way to victory in time for the grand finale, the Gala Evening Concert on Saturday, February 26.
Tickets for the concert are available from the Huddersfield Tourist Information Centre on Albion Street. All parts of the concert are open to the public. Admission costs start from £1.
