Isle of Man Tourism is proud to host its third Festival of Choirs, which will take place from Friday 18th until Sunday 20th October 2013. From its inception in 2010 the Festival has quickly established itself and is now recognised as a serious, yet friendly, musical competition of stature and attracts choirs from around the UK and Ireland and wherever choral singing is enjoyed and celebrated.
The competition will be held in the Royal Hall in the Villa Marina. This venue is indeed a pride of the community and a phenomenal place to sing and has attracted excellent audience to support the festival.
The weekend will begin on the Friday evening with the popular ‘Welcome Evening’ where choristers can meet, eat, drink, sing and get to know each other in the Villa Marina Arcade before the competition begins.
The Festival will be divided into three separate sections of ladies’, male and mixed voice choirs, with the first two in each section receiving prizes of £500 and £200 respectively. Each choir will be called on to perform four contrasting pieces of their own choice, one of which must be unaccompanied. Winners of each class go through to the final with the overall winning choir scooping an additional prize of £1,500.
Geoff Corkish MBE, MHK, Political Member for the Department of Economic Development with responsibility for Tourism, said:
‘Our Festival has been very well received since its inception and well supported by our local choirs and already we are receiving enquiries from the UK.
‘Although competition remains at the heart of the Festival, it is aimed at supporting and nurturing the continuance of choirs and choral groups. We also hope that choristers who bring family and friends will have ample opportunity to see our Island while others sing. It provides a superb opportunity for Island Choirs to meet with choirs from around the UK.’
The registration fee is £25.00 per choir and the form can be downloaded from the website www.visitisleofman.com/whatson/festivals/choirfestival.xml. The closing date for entries is Wednesday 31st July 2013. For more information please contact the Tourism Events team on 644644 or email specialevents@gov.im.
