A UNIQUE music festival celebrating the inspirational power of Dartmoor’s natural beauty has hit a sweet note with those who have attended.

The first ever Dartmoor Resonance Festival has seen a diverse range of musical events across Dartmoor’s communities including in Tavistock, Okehampton, Princetown, Postbridge, Clearbrook and Ashburton. The core idea behind the festival is that all the music should have a Dartmoor connection, covering a wide range of genres including classical, choral, folk, and jazz.

In Okehampton, Fairplace Church hosted a day of workshops for fiddle players of all abilities using tunes from fiddler William Andrew of Sheepstor. The workshops were led by Wren Music tutors Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll. The event was followed by ‘Gothic Dartmoor’, a concert at the Charter Hall celebrating the spooky reputation of the moors.

The festival opened in Tavistock’s St Eustachius’ Church with ‘Impressions of Dartmoor’, a concert designed to give a flavour of the festivities ahead.

The concert finale took place in Princetown’s St Michael and All Angels Church, with choirs from Devonport, Okehampton and West Dartmoor performing songs from the Napoleonic era with instrumental accompaniment. The festival was organised by the Dartmoor Society.

Pictures by James Bird.