Swindon Attractions

This annual nine-day festival runs from late September to early October and focuses on a different theme every year. Most years the theme centers on the music of a different culture, such as Spanish, Russian, etc., although the music itself is usually classical or traditional. Other years, the festival focuses on a specific instrument.

Whatever the theme, the festival always has daily high-quality events, which are known to be economically priced. The events include operas, orchestral, choral, chamber and organ concerts, recitals, and dance performances. An effort is also made to offer children's activities.

Most of the events take place in St Sampson's Church.

The National Monuments Record (NMR) is English Heritage's public archive. Exhibits include more than 10 million historic and modern photos, documents and other texts.

The Great Western Railway Museum and Railway Village Museum (both in Faringdon Road) in Swindon provide a fascinating insight not only into the railroads of the period between 1831 and 1948 (with models as well as original rolling stock) but also the lives and working conditions of railroadmen.