Hundreds to take to stage for Festival of Choirs

The event sees hundreds of people take to the stage at the Villa Marina

A music festival featuring hundreds of visiting singers is set to pay tribute to its late founder who was a "wonderful ambassador" for music on the Isle of Man.

The eighth Festival of the Choirs will see over 500 people take to the stage at the Royal Hall in the Villa Marina over the weekend.

The event was founded by Geoffrey Corkish in 2010, a former politician heavily involved in the local choral community, who died last month at the age of 72.

Festival co-ordinator, Gary Corkhill, said the event's existence was "down to Geoff" and his unfaltering support for choral singing on the island.

Mr Corkhill said while it would be "with sadness" that festival took place without Mr Corkish, "the biggest tribute to Geoff would be to have a good sing over the weekend".

"He would want us to go out and enjoy ourselves singing together and creating new friendships," he said.

Festival founder Geoff Corkish died last month

Mr Corkhill said the event was founded because Mr Corkish "wanted to bring a boost to the tourist season, and to bring people to the island to come and see the Isle of Man and sing".

Mr Corkish's family, who are also involved in the event, wanted the festival to continue into the future, he continued.

This year, 14 choirs will participate in four classes, with the winners of each class competing for the overall festival trophy.

The event, which is supported by Visit Isle of Man, will see about 450 people travelling to the island, with choirs from Croatia, Wales, Yorkshire, and Cumbria, among the competitors.

The programme features gospel music, pop, barber shop, musical theatre, Manx folk and hymns.

In the foreword to the programme, written by Mr Corkish before his death, he said the event was "widely known as the friendly festival," although it was "at heart a very competitive event".

"I truly hope that both our visiting and local choirs together and our audiences will thoroughly enjoy our 2025 Isle of Man Festival of Choirs," the forward said.

The competition will start at 10:00 BST on Saturday, with the four class winners performing again on Sunday morning to compete to become the overall winner of the festival.