RIPON International Festival's opening concert by Kathryn Tickell and her five-piece band, Superfolkus, is already a sell-out boding well for the rest of this annual North Yorkshire celebration of music by world-class performers.

During the rest of the opening weekend, the Carnival Band, well-known as Maddy Prior’s support band, serves up humour and music from Renaissance to rock ‘n' roll at Masham Town Hall (September 3) and in the afternoon Lempen Puppets present The Fisherman and the Pearl plus a morning workshop at Ripon Leisure Centre.

The acclaimed Aquarelle Guitar Quartet plays popular classics and film music from Frida, Il Postino and the hit tune Motorcycle Diaries (September 4). The quartet is to appear later next month in the Classic FM Live All-Star Gala Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Artistic director and conductor, Janusz Piotrowicz, has chosen two thrilling orchestral concerts.

The Royal Northern Sinfonia plays Weber’s Overture Oberon, Bruch’s Violin Concerto, with soloist the Russian-born Alexander Sitkovetsky, a recipient of the Lincoln Center New York Emerging Artists Award, and Schubert’s mighty Symphony no 9, aptly called The Great (Cathedral, September 10).

The grand finale at the Royal Hall on September 17 will be performed by the London Mozart Players, whose leader, Ruth Rogers, is among the finest of the younger generation of violinists and has led orchestras under the baton of Lorin Maazel and Sir Colin Davis.

The programme consists of Mendelssohn’s Italian’ Symphony, Mozart’s entrancing Oboe Concerto, with virtuoso Daniel Bates, and Beethoven’s challenging 7th Symphony with its furiously energetic finale.

Saxophone wizard, Huw Wiggin, brings his major-prizewinning Ferio Saxophone Quartet to Felixkirk Church in a programme of Tchaikovsy, Elgar, Grieg, Pergolesi, Donizetti and Rossini (September 14) and, with a different programme of haunting and atmospheric European music, to Pateley Bridge (September 15).

Music at Markenfield Hall has for many years been a popular feature of the festival. Afternoon and evening concerts by the distinguished flute, viola and cello trio, Sound Collective, take place in the medieval great hall (September 7).

An outstanding young ensemble, prizewinners of European competitions, the Busch Piano Trio, plays Haydn, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky at St John’s Church Sharow (September 8).

Fewston Church, attached to the award-winning Washburn Heritage Centre, is the location for a concert by globe-touring Duo Diez, violin and guitar, of Spanish and Latin American favourites (September 9) while Joglaresa, the dynamic ensemble which combines intoxicating elements of medieval, Middle Eastern, flamenco and Celtic music is at Helperby Millennium Hall (September 11).

Red-hot baroque Red Priest presents Gypsy Baroque Fantasy (September 13) and the following Friday there is a beguiling staging by Box Tale Soup of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bishop Monkton.

As public sector grants have greatly diminished, sponsorship and the Festival Friends are the lifeblood of the festival. Lead sponsor Ripon Select Foods has been on board since the start in 1998, and festival directors are immensely grateful to them and other sponsors including The Thackray Quest, Lithgow Perkins LLP, Barclays and Booths for their generosity and recognition of the value of the festival in taking the name of Ripon around the world.

Booking: Ripon 01765 605508; Harrogate Theatre 01423 502116 and online at www.riponinternationalfestival.com.