An exciting community initiative celebrating the 200-year anniversary of the Orpheus Mosaic discovery in Cirencester. Revel in a vibrant array of art, music, and heritage events, all leading up to one spectacular day of festivities.
Orpheus Day is coming.
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Orpheus Day
Saturday 23rd August 2025, Cirencester UK
A spectacular celebration of music, creativity, and history. The town of Cirencester bursts to life as we look to build ‘Britain’s Biggest Orpheus Choir’ for one unique day.
Join Orpheus and experience the magic
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On Saturday 23rd August 2025, Orpheus Day will welcome creatives and communities from across the nation to join us as we revel in the myth and mystery of Orpheus and allow creativity to boldly take centre stage.
The event will launch the annual Phoenix Festival which features a host of events and activities for all the family to enjoy. We kick off with our Orpheus Puppet Parade followed by the chance to be part of The Big Orpheus Choir. Following that, you can enjoy two days of live music courtesy of the Phoenix Festival.
From the creative minds that brought you “The Human Poppy” in 2018, Orpheus Day will allow singing groups, choirs and passionate vocalists from all over the UK to come and join us in performing A Song for Orpheus.
With music written by the sensational, Brit, BAFTA and Emmy award-winning Howard Goodall (The Vicar of Dibley, Blackadder) and lyrics by critically acclaimed Irish poet, Theo Dorgan, we will come together in harmony to experience the true power of an otherworldly shared musical experience.
We want your voices celebrated, loudly and proudly. So, check the details below and join in the day with us!
Sign up your choir
We’re on a mission to get as many voices from across the entire nation to join us on Orpheus Day to co-create The Big Orpheus Choir and WE NEED YOU! It doesn’t matter if you’ve been singing for decades or are a total newbie; if you’re a choir with a love for singing and sharing music, you’re welcome to join us.
To be a part of this incredible national event, simply apply below. Once signed up, you’ll receive a welcome pack to ensure you’re prepped and ready for the most sensational singing event of the year.
Cirencester Community Choir
To support us on the journey to realising our vision of forming The Big Orpheus Choir, we’re incredibly excited to launch the Cirencester Community Choir. Forget everything you know about strict choir masters, having to read complicated music and those not-so-enjoyable choir experiences you had at school. Instead, we plan to welcome as many members of the community along to relax, socialise, have a drink and sing, sing, sing, until our hearts are content.
We will learn A Song for Orpheus but also members will get to sing some feel-good classics together, to ensure that every moment is full to the brim with joy, deep connection and community spirit. If you’d like to join the choir, sign up below!
The Orpheus Puppet Parade
Saturday 23rd August 2025
Beginning in the beautiful natural setting of Cirencester’s Abbey Grounds Park, we’ll be gifted a feast for the eyes, as we bring Orpheus to life, with a mesmerising Puppet Parade.
This sensational spectacle performance, curated and designed by Russell Kirk, will bring bursts of colour and hypnotic storytelling to every corner of the festival as we’re entranced by sensational, professional spectacle theatre. To celebrate the undying spirit of community, the procession will be joined by an abundance of community members who have crafted their own puppets and contributed to the Orpheus story throughout the year. All are welcome and all can take part!
— More details coming soon
Puppet workshop
Treasure the Opheus journey
To truly bring our Orpheus Puppet Parade to life, the talented artists at New Brewery Arts will host a number of community puppet-making workshops for all the family. As depicted on the Orpheus Mosaic, the music that flowed from Orpheus’ lyre entranced all animals that heard it. In these workshops, you will bring these animals to life!
— More details coming soon
Other Project Orpheus Events
Orpheus Exhibition
19 July – 4 October
New Brewery Arts will showcase the magic of Project Orpheus by opening their exhibition space to highlight our year-long process of bringing Orpheus back into the light.
You’ll have a chance to see our huge Orpheus puppet up close, learn a little more about the power of our community workshops and connect with local artists that can give us a peek behind the magic curtain of crafting.
— More details coming soon
Brickus Orpheus
12 April – 2 November
Take a tour of the underworld in the Corinium Museum’s epic Orpheus themed trail made entirely of LEGO® bricks. Enthusiasts can walk through the museum looking for mythical people, gods, goddesses and animals all curated and built by award-winning artist Warren Elsmore. For more information, click here.
More events will be announced in the near future.
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The time has come:
Orpheus awakens
Where a symphony of authentic voices fills the air, bursts of colour awaken the senses and the buzz of creativity is felt in every moment.
It’s been 200 years since the breathtakingly beautiful Orpheus Mosaic was unearthed from our very own Barton Farm here in Cirencester.
Embracing the Orpheus Philosophy
Nature
History
Community
Music
Art
Every facet of Project Orpheus is underpinned by community, cultural exploration and creative expression. We want you to understand what drives us and how we’ve come to this spectacular place, together. Below, you’ll unearth the main pillars that are steering this project. With every curious mind considered, Project Orpheus speaks to an entire nation.
Read more
The Orpheus Mosaic has gifted us a philosophy that we aim to live by each and every day.
It’s the feeling in your chest hearing thousands of voices sing in unison. It’s connecting with history in a moment of awe that stops you in your tracks. It’s the buzz you feel in your mind and body when you unearth the inner knowing that you have limitless creative potential.
With a focus on a more creative world, an interconnected community and legacy that continues long after 2025 ends, Project Orpheus aims to encourage you and your people to see the power in a lifetime of creative expression and an abundance of appreciation for our shared heritage.
Creativity is the life force of our nation and our colourful past has brought us to where we are today.
Project Orpheus is here to remind you of that.
Nature
Inspired by the land, our biology and the earth that we come from.
Orpheus teaches us not to control and conquer our natural world but instead honour, respect and treasure it in all its glory. We’re proud to celebrate the land that protected the Orpheus story for thousands of years and celebrate the future of our world and the beauty it brings us.
Project Orpheus encourages each of us to pause, reflect and cherish the sweetness of nature.
History
Honouring the past so we can shape a bright future.
The Orpheus Mosaic was unearthed 200 years ago, bringing new life to Cirencester and reminding us of our national, culturally rich Roman history.
It brings to light our connection to a fascinating civilisation that walked the earth before us and how they’ve shaped our lives today.
However, the Orpheus Mosaic takes us even deeper into our world history, celebrating the Greek myth and highlighting storytelling that dates back several centuries before the Romans even existed.
Project Orpheus celebrates the immensity of this history and how it impacts our cultural and historical landscape.
This is so much bigger.
Community
From the littlest hearts to the wisest souls, Project Orpheus values every person.
Each of us hold the power and magic of Orpheus and we cannot wait to unearth it alongside you.
Orpheus moved mountains and found ways to connect and find connections between worlds. We are inspired by this concept of radical collaboration and that’s why community is at the core of Project Orpheus.
From the youngest members of our society to those with years of wisdom and experience, the community voice is at the centre of this project and we welcome it with open arms.
Music
Shared voices, harmonious melodies and the felt-experience of sound and melody as it pulses throughout our bodies and hearts.
Orpheus charmed men, beasts and the natural world with music. We are determined to not only celebrate the transformative power and beauty of the individual experience of listening and creating, but also wish to highlight the magic in shared musical experiences.
Project Orpheus will work to bring community voices to the fore as we sing together and unite the nation with one shared voice. We are firm believers that creativity and expression should not be reserved for the few and instead should be encouraged and cultivated within every facet of our community.
Art
We must keep making, creating and sharing our light.
Project Orpheus champions creativity as the heart of our world.
Artists the world over have been depicting the Orpheus story and immortalising it for us to enjoy and be inspired by.
Through explosions of colour, moving storytelling and unforgettable experiences that awaken the senses.
We see the persisting magic that happens when communities use their creative minds, skillful hands and precious time to craft, make and create and that’s exactly what we’ll be celebrating with Project Orpheus.
Community Collaboration at its best
Here at The Barn, we see Project Orpheus as an opportunity to relight the fire of community, develop authentic connections with communities and co-create an unforgettable experience for every person involved that will echo long into the future. Project Orpheus will bring the streets to life with magic, inspire new thoughts and revelations and pump life into the heart of this new, national, shared creative space. To make this bold vision a reality, we’ve teamed up with the best of the best.
Masters of craft, New Brewery Arts will partner with The Barn to bring their vast knowledge of artisan making, community engagement and creative empowerment to this shared celebration. Like the creatives that came before us, New Brewery Arts will be working with communities big and small to bring Orpheus to life. Our streets will be alive with creative energy, as we welcome an incredible large puppet that will leave audiences awestruck on our final day of celebration, as well as a sea of community-crafted pieces that will be born from workshops and creative gatherings on the lead-up. New Brewery Arts will also host an exhibition that will showcase every step of the journey, available after the finale event, bringing audiences a peek behind the curtain into the world of craft and Orpheus.
The Barn Theatre is incredibly proud to partner with the award-winning Corinium Museum to support us in understanding the true magnitude of the Orpheus story, our Roman history and just how special our shared heritage is. This beautiful space and magnificent team of deeply knowledgeable and passionate historians will join us in celebrating Orpheus and educating us on the archaeological wonder of the Orpheus Mosaic. Bringing numerous educational, inspirational and visually impressive offerings, we could not be more thrilled to bring the Corinium Museum on board.
Other Supporters
Project Orpheus is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to fund a years worth of events and activities for the local community.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.