HARPISTS from across the world will be performing at the sixth annual Harp on Wight International Festival next week.

This popular annual music festival kicks off with Harpcatcher, a harp-themed candlelit dinner at Michelangelo Restaurant, Ryde, on Thursday (October 24) — booking is essential.

This year, all other events will take place in Ryde Methodist Church in Garfield Road and the opening concert next Friday will feature Eira Lynn Jones, a Welsh harpist known for her passion for creativity and originality.

Next Saturday afternoon’s concert features two leading international young harpists, Claudia Lucia Lamanna, from Italy, and Mared Pugh-Evans, from Wales, while in the evening, you can listen to multi award-winning Scottish harpist, Ailie Robertson.

Other festival highlights will include a concert by Irish harpist, Grainne Hambly, next Sunday evening; a performance by Monika Stadler of Austria next Monday evening; the Sea and Sky concert next Tuesday afternoon and music from the Italian duo, Harp and Hang, to close the event that evening.

There is also a full programme of harp workshops during the festival, designed for newcomers and more experienced harp players alike; plus a talk entitled The Contemporary Harp by festival patron, Anne Denholm.

For more information, see www.harponwight.co.uk

Tickets can be booked online, or by visiting the festival box office at Ryde Methodist Church, which is open on October 25 to 29.