Three Choirs Festival

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Musical festival for the performance of sacred music given since 1724 by the choirs of the cathedrals of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “Three Choirs Festival” mean?

Musical festival for the performance of sacred music given since 1724 by the choirs of the cathedrals of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford.

Is “Three Choirs Festival” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.