Worcester International Festival of Young Singers has been very visible in our streets, at the Cathedral and in the Guildhall this week. It was very exciting to welcome so many acclaimed conductors and talented young singers to the city for the world’s newest choral festival.

Phil and I joined guests and staff of St Paul’s Hostel for a fund raising dinner earlier this week. St Paul’s kitchen is well known for good food and we were not disappointed. They produced a salmon and prawn mousse, a roast beef main course and a trio of desserts. Several of the staff live at the hostel and are kitchen volunteers or apprentices.

We had a number of international visitors to the parlour this week, including the Bishop of Arua in Uganda and his party, and a group of Korean trainee teachers of English. It was a real pleasure to chat with them all and show them around the Guildhall.

BBC Hereford and Worcester staged an outdoor broadcast with the theme, “Are we making the most of our riverside?” I am not sure what the final verdict was, but I do think the riverside has improved beyond recognition in recent years.

Dancefest treated us to performances by young dancers aged from pre-schoolers to teens. In the first dance, Goldilocks smashed the furniture when she broke in – the three bears were not amused. Many other dances were inspired by children’s stories or carnival. Dancefest can be found on both Twitter and Facebook.