"The [Ventura Music] Festival feature[s] nationally known singers, instrumentalists, ensembles, and chamber orchestras performing in historic, architecturally unique settings in downtown Ventura, as well as lively pre-concert conversations with the artists...The Festival has grown into one of the signature events in the community, attracting 6000 patrons during the first 10 days in the month of May....The festival setting allows for great variety to be combined with an exploration of a particular moment in history. Each season, a theme is chosen, which becomes a focus of Festival programs. Concert talks, lectures and interviews center around the theme, as do partnerships with other organizations."—Description by festival