Andrew Dawkins

BBC News, West Midlands

This year's Elgar Festival in Worcestershire will be the "grandest and most fun party yet", its artistic director has said.

The annual event, celebrating the life and music of the Worcestershire-born composer, starts on Saturday and runs until 1 June.

Elgar is arguably most famous for his cello concerto and Enigma Variations, including the Pomp and Circumstance marches.

He was born near Worcester on 2 June 1857 and the festival traditionally culminates with a gala concert on the weekend closest to his birthday.

This year's festival will also celebrate the work of Ian Venables, who artistic director Kenneth Woods described as "Worcester's second-greatest composer".

Venables is 70 in July and his work, which includes art songs and chamber music, is expected to feature in a number of performances across the UK and US.

He said it was an "exciting time" and that he planned a number of activities this week working with "young singers and talented composers who will be the next generation of aspiring musicians".

Like Elgar, some of Venables' work has been inspired by the countryside around Worcestershire, including his Song of the Severn.

"The very first work I composed when I moved to Worcester in 1986 was Pastorale for violin and piano," he said.

"It was inspired by one of my earliest excursions into the Worcestershire countryside to visit Elgar's grave and climb the Malvern Hills."

Since it began in 2018, the festival "has doubled in size and scale", organisers said.

It promises to bring together "world-class professional musicians and artists alongside local choirs and ensembles".

Highlights this year include the Gala Concert by the English Symphony Orchestra and the Elgar Festival Chorus at Worcester Cathedral on 31 May.

Throughout the festival, The Guildhall in Worcester will have an exhibition of Elgar memorabilia on loan from private collections.

The event will also include orchestral performances, recitals, choral events and other activities.