Looking forward to next year’s festival
The organisers of Perform in Perth music competition have said they are already looking ahead to next year’s festival, after cancelling this year’s event halfway through.
The fortnight of music, speech and dance was curtailed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
President Neil Copland said the decision was taken to keep the talented youngsters safe, adding he appreciated many would-be contestants would have been left disappointed by the move.
In a statement, Mr Copland said:
“This decision was taken after receiving medical advice, conducting a detailed review of Scottish Government guidance, and in light of the number of notified withdrawals from week two classes already received over the last few days.
“It was taken in an attempt to protect our performers, and the wider communities across Perth and Kinross – and beyond – and try to reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread even further in this area due to large numbers of young people gathering together over the next few days.
“We have had a number of supportive messages back from parents, teachers, adjudicators, accompanists and volunteer stewards for taking this very difficult decision so early, but the committee was unanimous that this was the right decision under the current rapidly-changing situation surrounding this issue.
“The committee would like to thank everyone for their support for Perform in Perth 2020, and we look forward to seeing all our competitors return for our centenary festival in March 2021.”
• Pic: Andrew Mitchell.