ABERGAVENNY’S Festival of Cycling which kicks off on Friday night will not prevent audiences reaching the town’s castle for its traditional open air theatre performances this week.

Although Friday night’s performance of The Three Musketeers co-incides with the town centre races, access to the Castle Street car park will be possible via Angel Pitch and the car park will be open to the public.

The annual visit of Illyria - one of the county’s foremost outdoor theatre companies, is one of the major fundraising events of the year for A4B - the voluntary group which supports the town’s Borough Theatre.

Equity compliant Illyria has entertained audiences across the globe and picked up four international ‘Best Performance’ awards in the process and returns to Abergavenny this week with four exciting new productions.

This year’s three day festival starts today (Wednesday) with a matinee performance of ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ which boasts Paul Daniels as its magic consultant.

The afternoon of magic is followed by an evening show of Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ with the evening of August 6 bringing a performance of the satirical Gilbert and Sullivan operetta ‘Iolanthe’ which pokes fun at love and the class system.

The ever popular company’s stay in Abergavenny ends with the performance of the swash-buckling‘Three Musketeers’ on August 7.

Tickets are available from the theatre box office on 01873 850805 or on the gate before the shows.