NORMANDY Tour JULY 2026

MUSIC CENTRE VISIT TO NORMANDY, 17 - 21 JULY 2026

We can now announce that our next tour will be to Lisieux, France. We hope to be joined there by a group from Heilbronn Musikschule, Stockport’s German twin town, and our hosts when we visited in 2019 and 2024. The final cost is expected it to be no more than £650. We want as many pupils as possible to be given the opportunity to travel on this educational visit so the trip is open to any member of our music centre groups, including Stockport Schools’ Brass Bands and Stockport Youth Orchestra, who will be in year 6 or above when we travel. Once we know what instruments and voices are coming, we will then select appropriate music and arrange our tour group/band(s). Rehearsals will be spread across the school year, from October 2025 right up to our departure. These will likely be on Thursdays and include some weekends and we will publish the dates as soon as they are confirmed. 

We are to stay at the accommodation centre Hermitage Saint Therese, situated in central Lisieux next to the breath-taking Basilica of Saint Therese. A warm welcome awaits at this lovely centre, which features 2 - 4 people bedded, en-suite rooms, a beautiful chapel for indoor activities and various outside areas for games. We will be giving three concerts as part of the local music festival and jointly with our friends from Heilbronn. The excursions are likely to be a trip to the D-Day landing beaches, Central Lisieux and the Market of Trouville, but also a chance to try one of the aerial trekking courses at Ouilly Loisirs!

If you would like your son/daughter to attend then please complete the Microsoft form by 13 June using the link below:

 https://forms.office.com/e/M9KpyfcKhk

Assuming we have sufficient numbers, we will then confirm the visit with the tour company and set up payment plans for parents.

The tour company require a £120 non-refundable deposit per pupil, therefore we are asking for the deposit to be returned to the Music Service no later than 20 June 2025. Payment can be taken over the phone. The payment schedule requires us to pay a minimum 50% of the cost by no later than March 2026 and the final payment is made one month prior to travel, so we can do monthly payments of £50 after the initial deposit if that helps with your planning and budgeting, and if you are wishing to go but cannot provide the full £120 deposit by 13 June, we can look at spreading this cost slightly, with two payments of £60 across June and July.