BANGOR INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL 2022 CHORAL FESTIVAL RETURNS FOR A ONE DAY EVENT Bangor International Choral Festival has returned, bringing choirs from around the Province and UK to Bangor to compete but also in celebration of song after two long years of no choral activity. It was an emotional but joyous day as choirs returned to the stage to perform once more and left us all with a wonderful sense of feeling that choral performance is backl Our province wide choirs were on top form as usual but we also had a fabulous choir, Cor Y Gleision, who travelled from Cardiff. A mixed choir of around 70 people who raised the venue roof with their performances in the afternoon and evening. What a glorious sound they madel Donaghadee Male Voice Choir returning to the Festival stage competed in the Male Voice Choir class and were just pipped at the post by Portadown Male Voice Choir, but what marvellous male voice renditions from both cholrs. It made for a very difficult decision from the Adjudicator, BBC Northern Ireland's Richard Yarr, a staunch supporter of the Festival and an amazing Adjudicator, giving great encouragement to all competing choirs. Open Arts Community Choir performed some beautiful pieces and as always carried the audience with them on their choral journeys. A small choral group with magnificent voices. All in all a wonderful festival to be part of and to be proud of. The Mayor, Councillor Mark Brooks, officiated both at the opening and at the Prizegiving and the Festival Committee are indebted to Sponsors, Ards and North Down Borough Council Arts Section, Melville Morgan Ltd., The Signature Works and Guillemot Café, Bangor, for their financial support. Without these businesses and indeed our volunteers, the Festival could not have been delivered. We look forward to 2023 when the Choral Festival will celebrate the 30th Anniversary and we hope to deliver a 4 day event again when our school choirs as well as adult choirs will be able to participate. Dates for this event are 26-29 April 2023. Please visit our website for further details - www.bicf.co.uk Anne B Poots Secretary B.l.C.F.
END OF YEAR REPORT BANGOR INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL 2021 As the planning stage of the 2021 Festival would nornially begin around July it was evident that the Pandemic situation would not allow for any planning to begin as it was unforeseeable what the future would be. The Committee continued to keep in contact with choirs via email with updates, however. all choirs were rehearsing by Zoom only and as April 2021 drew closer it was inevitable once more, due to rising Covid cases, restrictions and indeed lockdowns, that it was not gyoing to be possible to orgyanise and deliver the Choral Festival. Therefore, once more a decision was taken to cancel the Festival for 2021.