“The chance to be openly visible and promote our community on a large-scale platform matters”
BY YAIZA CANOPOLI. PHOTO THE SONGBIRDS AT PRIDE CYMRU 2018
On the 17-18 August 2019, Hand In Hand Festival – the UK and Ireland’s LGBT+ choral festival – will be be taking place for the fourth time around, this year in Cardiff.
The biennial festival celebrates LGBTQI choirs from all over the United Kingdom, with over 30 choirs attending to perform in concert.
“For many LGBT+ people, and particularly trans people, the world at present is very uncertain, and so the chance to be openly visible and promote our community on a large scale platform matters all the more,” festival director Nick McNeill told DIVA.
“We hope anyone who is interested might come along and join in the fun to help us showcase the incredible amount of LGBT+ choral talent that the UK possesses.”
McNeill adds that, “This is the first time that a trans-specific choir has taken part in the festival (our very own Cardiff Trans Singers) and, having traditionally been dominated by gay choirs, the festival this year is being co-hosted by Cardiff’s main gay, lesbian and trans choirs all collaborating on its staging.”
The three hosts are the Cardiff based women’s choir The Songbirds, The South Wales Gay Men’s Choir and Cardiff Trans Singers. The performances on the 17 August will take place inside St David’s Hall and The Cornerstone.
In the evening, the hosts will be performing a gala concert alongside the Festival Chorus and the Symphony Orchestra, followed by a grand finale.
Many of the choirs will also be performing for free on the final day of the festival at a variety of venues – The Wales Millennium Centre and the Norwegian Church being among them.
Tickets can be bought from St David’s Hall Box Office, venues are wheelchair friendly and the festival provides free access to refugees and asylum seekers.
After its closing ceremony in the Senedd Building, the festival will be handed over to Newcastle, so that preparations for Hand In Hand’s fifth instalment in 2021 may begin!
Go sing your heart out, folks.
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