[2] Beginning in the 1980s, the festival was held in the gardens of Iford Manor, a house dating from the 15th or 16th centuries, about 2 miles southwest of Bradford-on-Avon.
The festival is run by Iford Arts Limited, a registered charity set up in 2002.
[3][4] Opera productions are small-scale,[5] the cloisters at Iford Manor having a seating capacity of 90.
[6] At Belcombe Court, operas take place in a specially commissioned geodesic dome[7] for an audience of 240.
[7] The festival's founder was Judy Eglington,[8] the artistic director of Iford Arts.