August What's On

Step inside Chester Cathedral this summer for a Kaleidoscope of colour and world-record model railway.

This August two major installations representing colour, creativity, motion and innovation will open at Chester Cathedral. Making Tracks IV by Pete Waterman OBE and the Railnuts, and Your Kaleidoscope – which comprises two works by British artist Liz West.

By popular demand, Making Tracks returns for a fourth year in Chester. Hot on the heels of winning the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest portable model railway, Pete and the Railnuts set about creating an all-new installation for the Cathedral, which represents Watford Junction on the West Coast Main Line. Also back for 2024 is the opportunity for visitors to control the trains on the model railway themselves! Making Tracks will be at the Cathedral from 1-31 August. It will operate Monday-Friday from 10am-5pm and Saturdays from 10am-4pm. Please note it is closed Sundays and 16 August.

In addition, Chester Cathedral is proud to bring Liz West back to the city with Your Kaleidoscope, which features two of the artist’s works – Presence and Hymn to the Big Wheel. People may recall West’s stunning Our Colour Reflection which occupied the Cathedral Chapter House in 2018. Liz West is a British artist (b.1985) who graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2007. West’s broad body of work encompasses wall-based artwork, sculpture, and site-specific installations. She creates vivid environments that mix luminous colour and radiant light, provoking a heightened sensory awareness in the viewer through her works.

Presence will transform the South Transept, taking the form of a tunnel, created from hundreds of iridescent dichroic panels creating a kaleidoscopic artery down the centre of the transept. One side of the tunnel features cool colours ranging from purples through to greens and blues and on the other will be warm corals, pinks and yellows. Meanwhile, Hymm to the Big Wheel is an immersive sculptural work exploring the illusion and physicality of colour and natural light in space. Consisting of a multi-coloured octagon nestled within a larger octagonal shape, this work encourages the viewer to reposition and align themselves to differing colour-ways to see a changing scope of colours mixing before their eyes. Your Kaleidoscope is open 1-31 August during normal Cathedral hours.

Making Tracks and Your Kaleidoscope are included in our summer entry fee. To guarantee swift entry prebook your entry here. No booking required for Sundays when entry is free, however Making Tracks is not in operation on Sundays.

This August will also see the return of summer evening organ recital series taking place every Thursday in August at 6.45pm. This years series includes an exciting Battle of the Organs on 22 August with our Cathedral organists Philip Rushforth, Alexander Lanigan-Palotai, Daniel Mathieson and Graham Eccles. They will combine forces for a light-hearted, one-off organ skirmish, jam-packed with musical variety and virtuosity. The Cathedral will take delivery of two digital organs and the Cathedral’s small chamber organ will all combine for the concert. These ‘young pretenders’ will go up against Chester’s Grand Organ on its home turf. Dating from 1876, the Grand Organ has 4864 pipes and has been played virtually every day for nearly a century and a half. This is a fundraising event with all proceeds going towards the organ appeal for repairing and maintaining our magnificent organ. Book tickets for the summer series and Battle of the Organs here.

On 2 and 3 August experience the extraordinary play Incidents in the Life of an Anglican Slave. It is a story of resistance and resilience, inspired by a 1723 letter from an anonymous enslaved Virginian to thearchbishop of London. Written and performed by London-based writer and researcher Desirée-Baptiste, Incidents,a one hour poem-play, is a haunting exploration of slave literacy, slave laws, resistance, and religion. Followed by a Q&A with the writer. Book your FREE ticket here.