Celebrating its 25th anniversary year, St. David's Cathedral Festival was established in 1979 by the then cathedral organist, Sir Nicholas Jackson, Bt., as the St. David's Cathedral Bach Festival.

Spanning from the Saturday before the late spring Bank Holiday, to the Sunday after it, from its outset the festival sought to combine concerts and services in the outstanding setting of the cathedral, situated in the glorious countryside of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

In its early days, budgetary constraints necessitated many of the concerts being given by friends and colleagues of the cathedral's musical staff, as well as other talented locals.

As the festival has established itself, so has it been possible to increase the variety and scope of performances, and now the festival regularly hosts artists of national and international standing, while at the same time giving more than 100 locals the opportunity to participate at the highest level, through membership of the hugely successful Festival Chorus.

Festival events this year include the following:

Saturday, May 29 - BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Mark Eager, trombone; Grant Llewellyn, conductor (7 pm).

Sunday, May 30 - Choral Eucharist, preacher the Bishop of St. David's (11.15 am); Choral Evensong (6 pm); Carlo Curley, organ (8 pm).

Monday, May 31 - Deian Rowlands (harp) and Nicola Phillips (flute) at Llanrhian Church (12 noon); BBC National Chorus of Wales, David Goode, organ; Adrian Partington, conductor (7 pm).

Tuesday, June 1 - Pre-concert talk, with Pascal Rogè and Geraint Lewis (6 pm); Pascal Rogè, piano, with the London Mozart Players Chamber Ensemble (8 pm); The Dyfed Choir, Rachmaninov Vespers (10.15 pm).

Wednesday, June 2 - Masterclass for young people, with Crispian Steele-Perkins (11 am); Choral Evensong, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 (4 pm); Crispian Steele-Perkins, trumpet (8 pm).

Thursday, June 3 - Young Musician of Dyfed, Jocelyn Freeman, piano (5 pm); St. David's Cathedral Choir, Charivari Agrèable Sinfonie, Timothy Noon, conductor (8 pm); Stephen Farr, organ, Briggs Symphony: Missa pro defunctis (world première) (10.15 pm).

Friday, June 4 - Choral Evensong, Chapel Choir at Whitchurch (6 pm); Zum, intoxicating tango music (8 pm).

Saturday, June 5 - Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Timothy Noon, conductor, Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony (7 pm).

Sunday, June 6 - Choral Mattins, preacher the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford (11.15 am); Choral Evensong (6 pm).

Wine and coffee will be available in the Cathedral Hall after the evening concerts, together with a selling exhibition by the Pembrokeshire Craftsmen's Circle.

For further information, 'phone the festival office on 01437 720271; advanced postal bookings - 01437 720804; box office (from May 24, 10 am - 5 pm) - 01437 721204; or visit the website on http://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk">www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk