THE Three Choirs Festival whirrs into action tomorrow (Friday) with the community choral event The Gathering Wave in Hereford Cathedral.

There are dozens of concerts and events to win your attention over the next 10 days, with plenty of free entertainment taking place throughout the city.

The organisers have strived to make it impossible for residents to overlook the fact that there is an international festival taking place on their doorstep - many of whom have opened up their homes to guests in the desperate call for overnight accommodation.

Hereford City Council has funded a series of recitals to take place outside, in the proximity of the Elgar statue on the Cathedral Close, beginning at 12.45 and lasting for an hour. Hazel Davis and her quartet, Serenading Strings, will start the ball rolling on Tuesday, followed by The Border Waites on Wednesday and young harpist Bronwyn Wilkins on Thursday.

There are two events specifically aimed at family audiences.

The first is Prokovfiev's Peter and the Wolf which takes place in Hereford Cathedral on Tuesday at 11am, narrated by Lucy Bowen with Peter Dyke on the organ.

The second is a family concert and violinists' workshop, both of which will take place in Holy Trinity Church, Whitecross, on Wednesday. The concert is at 11am and the workshop is at 2.30pm.

The festival programme and tickets are available online at www.3choirs.org; with the festival fringe details at www.hereford3choirsfringe.org.uk. You can also call into the box office in the Zimmerman Building on Church Street or call 01432 275932.