Something new at Perform in Perth
Gaelic focus on showcase’s first day
Talented youngsters are currently making last-minute preparations for this year’s Perform in Perth festival.
The annual music, speech and dance competition gets under way across the city on Monday, March 9.
For the following two weeks, children from across the region will compete in singing, musical instruments, orchestras, poetry, speech and dance in venues across the city.
And new for this year will be prepared reading, Bible reading, poetry and singing in Gaelic.
All of the Gaelic classes will be performed on the first day of the festival at the Soutar Theatre, AK Bell Library.
There are around 115 hours of performances planned over the festival Neil Copland
“Remember, all of the competitors performing over the next two weeks need your encouragement and support, so let’s do it for them, as without them there might not be a festival in the future.”
He continued: “There are around 115 hours of performances planned over the whole festival, through all three disciplines of music, speech and dance.
“We are again also very lucky to have with us some of the most respected adjudicators and accompanists from all over the UK to help us ensure that we put on a first class festival.
“Entry levels are slightly up compared to 2019, with some notable increases in the brass and percussion sections, and we are particularly excited to start the festival with almost a full day of Gaelic competitions.”
Later this year, Perform in Perth will begin the celebrations for its centenary year in 2021.
Residents are being encouraged to fish out old photographs and newspaper cuttings of their time competing in the Perform in Perth festival to make a display at next year’s festival.
Neil added: “As we approach our centenary festival, which we shall be celebrating from summer 2020, and culminating in the 2021 festival, the committee would ask you to look out any old newspaper cuttings and photographs, so that we can celebrate in style by having a display at both the 2021 festival and perhaps even in other venues across Perth and Kinross in the run-up to that year’s event.
“This event has, after all, been a major component in the cultural calendar of Perth for almost 100 years and this fact should be celebrated in every way that it can be.”
This year’s Perform in Perth programmes can now be bought for £4 from Concorde Music in Scott Street.