As already remarked the opening of the Festival was different this year, with a shorter service in the Cathedral after processions through the city centre had converged on it.
Dr Foster would have recognised the weather, and after gathering at the Kyneburgh tower (a newish landmark I hadn’t previously noticed) we dodged the raindrops to find somewhere to sing Vaughan Williams’ setting of the Gloucestershire Wassail. We lighted on the entrance of a closed-down discount shop (rather a lot of Gloucester city centre is like this) which afforded us some shelter and stopped the music from turning to pulp.
Together with the Flowers Band and a group singing Ukrainian songs, we picked our way through the puddles to the Cathedral, processed in and took our places on the staging for the opening service. Our anthem was Vaughan Williams’ O Clap Your Hands (a reprise for those of us who sang it last year). The Te Deum was Holst’s Festival setting which I’d never sung or even heard of before, a little to my surprise; although Te Deums are not sung so often now Mattins is a rarity, I’ve done a fair few different ones.