No Auditions Required: Milton Keynes Community Choirs Festival '26

Every summer, Campbell Park's Amphitheatre fills with voices. No tickets, no entry fee. Just choirs from across Milton Keynes, performing to those who flock to listen.

The Community Choirs Festival is now in its sixth year. In 2026, 13 choirs will take to the stage across the day, performing to an expected audience of over 1,000 people. From schoolchildren to older adults, the line-up spans a wide range of musical styles and community backgrounds.

Audience members sing along, dance in front of the stage, and come and go as they please. The Amphitheatre is fully step-free with accessible parking and facilities.

Behind the festival is Milton Keynes Community Choir, founded in 2008. No auditions, no pressure. Just people who love singing and want to feel part of something bigger. Musical Director Craig McLeish leads weekly rehearsals, with the choir performing at community events, charity concerts, and guest workshops throughout the year.

How it Started

The festival began during the Covid-19 pandemic as a practical response to restrictions on indoor gatherings. The outdoor format worked, and it has continued ever since.

Participation has grown steadily year on year. Choirs return and new groups ask to join each year. In 2024, the Nigerian Women's Choir were touring the UK, heard about the festival, and got in touch to take part. New choir members regularly cite the festival as the reason they joined, and Musical Directors value it as a rare chance to perform to a larger audience and learn from peers across the city.

The Big Sing

The festival's highlight is the Big Sing, where every participating choir comes together on stage to perform a single, specially commissioned piece, learned in rehearsals in the weeks beforehand.

In 2025, Craig McLeish collaborated with composer and workshop leader Eugene Skeef to create Let the Light of Love, a piece drawing on songs from South Africa. Craig is currently developing the commissioned piece for 2026.

Milton Keynes Community Foundation awarded the choir a £2,506 Sapling Grant to support the event, covering venue hire, sound equipment, insurance, marketing materials, and the commissioned piece for the Big Sing.

The festival is free and open to all.

Funding for the Community Choirs Festival '26 was made possible in part by The Arts Fund, Women's Fund, and David Locks Grassroot Fund.