Hundreds of musicians will come together to form the orchestra that will open this year’s Bermuda Festival.

A media release said that the opening ceremony for the annual festival — which mounts musical concerts and dramatic productions over five weeks — will feature an orchestra of roughly 300 instrumentalists performing on the steps of City Hall on Church Street on Friday between 12.30pm and 1pm.

“This will be the largest orchestra to ever play in Bermuda,” said the release.

“The massed orchestra will consist of members of the English Chamber Orchestra outreach ensemble and local Bermudian instrumentalists who participated in the Festival outreach workshops that were offered earlier this week.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for local musicians to play alongside professionals in an orchestral setting.

“This collaborative musical effort will represent the official opening of the 40th Bermuda Festival.” Bermuda Festival Chairman Ian Davidson said: “As 2015 marks the ruby anniversary of the Bermuda Festival it is only fitting that we mark our commencement with the largest orchestra ever to perform on the Island.”

The official opening ceremony will also feature a specially commissioned fanfare by Major Dwight Robinson, the director of music for the Bermuda Regiment.

The piece, which will be played by Dwight Robinson, Matthew Ross, Kent Hayward and Lorna McDonald, will herald the arrival and departure of the Festival’s patrons, Governor George Fergusson and Margaret Fergusson.

Karen Pollard, the Bermuda Festival’s artistic director, said: “Dwight Robinson’s piece is called Reach Out. It is an extremely fitting title as the massed orchestra will be composed of musicians who participated in the Bermuda Festival outreach programme.” She added: “The official opening of the 2015 Bermuda Festival is very much about including our local musicians.”

If the weather is inclement, go to the Bermuda Festival Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BermudaFestival for updates. Members of the public who watch the opening ceremony and wish to post photos or videos, are asked to use the Festival’s hashtag: #BermudaFestival40th or tag the Bermuda Festival in posts at: Facebook: @BermudaFestival; Twitter: @BDAFestival; Instagram: @BermudaFestival. Alternatively, post them directly to the Bermuda Festival’s pages at: https://www.facebook.com/BermudaFestival; https://twitter.com/bdafestival; http://instagram.com/bermudafestival.