The annual City of London summer festival returns with a host of events in some of the capital's grandest settings.

Each summer the City of London Festival brings the City's unique buildings and outdoor spaces to life with an extensive artistic programme of music, visual arts, film, walks and talks, much of it free to the public. Inaugurated in 1962 to revitalise the cultural life of the City, it has established itself as one of the UK's leading arts events.

The City of London Festival was founded in 1962 as an independent trust supported equally by the business community, the City of London Corporation, and the general public, with the aim of revitalising the cultural life of the City. Since then it has become established as one of the UK's leading arts events, widely broadcast by the BBC and much written about in the press.

For three weeks each midsummer, the Festival animates the unique buildings and outdoor spaces of the City with an extensive artistic programme ranging across many kinds of music, visual arts, film, walks and talks: more than 50 ticketed performances and over 100 free events outdoors. In recent years its international character has been reinforced in its ongoing 'Trading Places' theme, linking the City culturally and commercially with its historic partners overseas.

The Festival also delivers a year-round programme of arts projects in schools and community groups in the City of London and its surrounding boroughs. The creative energies of the education programme's participants generate a unique element of the Festival season: projects culminate in public performances and exhibitions during the Festival each summer.

Festival performances range from large-scale orchestral concerts in St Paul's Cathedral to intimate chamber recitals in the City's beautiful but hidden livery halls, and from innovative aerial acrobatics to jazz bands in the Guildhall Yard. The Festival is proud of its commitment to commissioning and programming new work alongside more well-known repertoire; and of promoting new and emerging artists as well as renowned international performers.

City of London Festival prepared an innovative, eclectic programme of music, dance, spoken word and theatre at the City of London Festival, now under the direction of Paul Gudgin. Gudgin, who brought major growth to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in his 8 year tenure as Festival Director, promises to animate the Square Mile in exciting new ways from 22 June to 17 July, giving the 52-year-old City of London Festival a new lease of life.

Highlights will include world-class symphonic concerts in St Paul's Cathedral, intimate recitals in livery halls, unique street performances in the City's gardens and squares, plus a ground-breaking new pop-up venue, to be revealed. Festival favourites, the London Symphony Orchestra, will return to St Paul's Cathedral to perform Bruckner’s Symphony No.9 and the Penderecki Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, conducted by Daniel Harding (3 July). The Academy of St Martin in the Fields will be joined by award-winning actor Simon Callow for a theatrical exploration of Beethoven, at the Lord Mayor's Residence, Mansion House (30 June). Meanwhile in the Seoul in the City series, the City will be animated by Korean artists including conductor Myung-whun Chung.

For the full programme of events visit www.colf.org