They're a highlight of the summer in Medway, in picturesque surroundings. This year’s Rochester Castle Concerts will play to thousands, culminating in the Proms with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra this weekend.

After Rudimental and Example kickstart things tonight, following them is Craig David on Thursday, July 11, who stepped in for a return to Rochester after Jess Glynne had to pull out.

Craig - who has sold 15 million albums worldwide, has had multi Brit Award and Grammy Nominations and is an Ivor Novello Award winner with massive hits including 7 Days, Following My Intuition and The Time, wowed the crowds at the castle back in 2017. He returns to the county next month for the Neverworld festival.

Joining him is 24-year-old Scottish singer and songwriter Nina Nesbitt. She has had two Top 40 singles, and her single Stay Out peaked at No.21 in the UK chart in 2013.

On Friday, July 12, it will be time to party as the Soul Party concert will take over. It will be headlined by legend George McCrae, singer of the smash hit Rock Your Baby, who will be joined by the disco group Odyssey and Heather Small, formerly of M People.

New York-based Odyssey are best known for their 1977 hit Native New Yorker, plus dance and soul hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, while Heather Small was the lead singer of M People, whose hits included Moving On Up, and her released her debut solo album Proud, in 2000. She was also a contestant on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.

The final night is a Proms finale, which will be filled with flag-waving, promenaders, ready for an evening of classics.

On Saturday, July 13 will see the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, special guests, the world’s most successful music theatre group, Collabro, and soprano Laura Wright, one of the biggest selling classical artists this decade. The Kent Rock Choir will also be performing as will NChant, the Senior Girls’ Choir from Rochester Grammar School.

Former Britain’s Got Talent winners Collabro come to the castle as part of the Proms finale night on Saturday, July 13, fresh from the release of their fourth studio album Road to the Royal Albert Hall. Coming four years after they won the ITV talent show, the group - Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matt Pagan and Thomas J. Redgrave.

Thomas Redgrave will star as the Prince in Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs at the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, this Christmas.

DETAILS

The Rochester Castle Concerts run until Saturday, July 13. For tickets visit thecastleconcerts.co.uk or call 01634 338338.

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