Final preparations are under way for the 2006 Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts, which takes place from August 24-29. The festival will promote over 30 events, of which 16 are concerts, with other plans including talks, children's events, composers in conversation, exhibitions, a poetry reading and a guided walk.

Bookings are reported to be better than ever this year, with almost 50% of all tickets already sold. The 2006 festival has a truly international flavour - musical themes include a survey of Baltic music with important works by Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür and this year's world-renowned Latvian composer-in-residence, Peteris Vasks. Another important birthday in 2006 is the 50th of Adrian Williams, founding light and first artistic director of the Presteigne Festival - he is represented by five important works. The festival also marks the 30th anniversary of Benjamin Britten's death with performances of the complete Canticles, two of the string quartets, the Suite for Harp and the ever-popular Serenade for tenor, horn and string orchestra.

Despite continually widening its artistic range, the festival always makes a point of programming great music from the past and this year will be no different with pieces from composers including J S Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Fauré, Finzi, Haydn, Mozart, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Vivaldi.

The artist list for the 2006 festival is particularly striking, with many top international performers. This includes Anthony Marwood (violin), Vertavo String Quartet (from Norway), Andrew Carwood (tenor), Gemma Rosefield (cello), Nicola Eimer (piano), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola), Lithuanian pianist Evelina Puzaite, Michael Bundy (baritone), Sally Pryce (harp), Evgeny Chebykin (horn), Ilid Jones (oboe), Thomas Oxley (bassoon), the Joyful Company of Singers under Peter Broadbent and the renowned Presteigne Festival Orchestra - hand-picked from some of the UK's finest young professionals under the direction of George Vass, the festival's artistic director.

Well-known for its continued promotion of contemporary music, regularly nominated and in 2003 shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award, the festival has once again commissioned new music from a wide variety of today's talented composers. James Francis Brown has written a new piece for string trio and string orchestra, Huw Watkins and Adrian Williams have supplied solo harp pieces and Thomas Hyde has written a set of short Nocturnes for solo piano. There is also the premiere of a new song from Geraint Lewis and a further song-cycle from John Joubert, based on his earlier contribution to the Garland for Presteigne. Other living British composers represented include Richard Rodney Bennett, David Matthews, Cecilia McDowall, Paul Patterson, Julian Phillips, Giles Swayne and Judith Weir. For a free brochure call 01544 267800.