Scores of Cornishmen of all ages will be providing a "musical taster” of the feast to come in this year’s Cornwall International Male Choral Festival at a concert in Falmouth on Saturday, February 25.

As choirs around the world prepare to converge on Cornwall for the festival, a host of Cornish talent will be performing at Falmouth’s All Saints’ Church at 7.30pm on Saturday to raise money for the biennial festival, which runs from April 27 to May 1 and is now in its 16th year and one of the largest of its kind in the world.

“Our pre-festival concerts always create a bit of a buzz ahead of the international event itself and provide a memorable showcase for our home-grown talent,” said festival director, Rob Elliott. “The festival happens every two years so this early concert is a great way to build up the excitement and, since we are a charity, to do a bit of fund-raising too.”

The Celtic Ensemble, Eight in a Bar and Cornwall Boys Choirs will all be performing on Saturday with tickets costing £8 (under 16s free) available on the door.

This concert is the precursor for the eighth biennial Cornwall International Male Choral Festival (CIMCF) - which will see 60 choirs of all ages and nationalities performing 50 concerts, competitions and celebrations in 40 venues across Cornwall.

Singers, their entourages and countless visitors will be heading this way from Australia and America, Russia and across Europe, Wales, Scotland, England and, of course, Cornwall itself.

Over the long weekend 2,000 singers will be entertaining an estimated 45,000 people in theatres, churches, tourist attractions and castles from Bude to Land’s End and Porthleven to Saltash.

Information and tickets for the festival can be found at hallforcornwall.org.uk or cimvcf.org.uk.