Peter Jones, MD, Tyneside A Capella
“We were so pleased that we were able to come over and take part in such a lovely festival and sing for the lovely people of Northern Ireland. It has been a dream of ours for a long time and now a lovely memory. Thank you all for the wonderful support and hospitality and also inviting us to sing on the Friday evening show. I'm so pleased the shoppers enjoyed our little performance - we had a ball (and so did the Mayor!). It was a pleasure and privilege to meet you all and share our love of music with like-minded people and I'm sure we will return in the future.”
Mayo Male Voice Choir, Mayo, Ireland
“Well done to you and committee on the festival. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be back!”
Alderman Marion Smith, Ards and North Down Borough Council
“Well done to the Festival Committee for delivering such a successful Choral Festival”
Kat Dearing, Affinity Show Choir, Stockport, Cheshire
“Thank you so much for a fantastic festival we loved every minute of it”.
Vocal Point, Dublin
“On behalf of all 4 singers in Vocal Point, I'd like to thank you for a wonderful weekend in Bangor! We thoroughly enjoyed the day, meeting and listening to the different choirs and, of course, we were blown away to get such a great reception from the audience and the judges!! We weren't expecting that at all. We took on so many competition categories to challenge ourselves and it really helped us to grow as an ensemble and as a team and we now feel very motivated and encouraged to keep singing together. We were so impressed with your organisation of the weekend - after 25 years, you're obviously a well- oiled team!! Congratulations, by the way! It seemed to us that your love for and enjoyment of singing has created such a warm, welcoming atmosphere amongst all of the 'competing' choirs. We now have to turn our attention to the International Choral Festival in Mayo at the end of the month, which we can approach with renewed confidence after our amazing weekend in Bangor. Once again, thank you from all of us in Vocal Point and hope to see you next year!!
Lisburn Harmony, Lisburn, Northern Ireland
“We just want to say a great big thanks from every one of us at Lisburn Harmony Ladies Choir. We were just enthralled by the buzz there was about the festival and of course winning the Ladies class and the Rose Bowl was a huge achievement for us and with Harmony Too winning the Sacred class it’s safe to say we are on cloud nine!”
Open Arts Community Choir, Belfast
“Just a wee note to say a huge thanks to you and your dedicated team for another wonderful choral festival! We always enjoy competing in Bangor, and this year was no exception - of course winning the Open Choral class was just the cherry on the top! Thank you again for looking after us all and for your close attention to detail as always”.
Edwin Gray, MD, Miskelly Chorale, Killinchy, Co Down
“It was a pleasure to be at and take part in the Festival Anniversary Concert - we really enjoyed it”.
Claire Buchanan, MD, Bangor Grammar Chamber Choir – winners of Marine Court Shield for best overall Festival performance.
“Thank you also for welcoming us so warmly to the festival last week. It’s not everywhere that you are welcomed with open arms, so we are grateful for your warmth and encouragement towards us. The adjudication from Greg was accurate and perceptive and I was glad to hear the things we can improve on”.
Andrew Walker, MD, Affinity Show Choir, Stockport, Cheshire
“We’ve had the best of times this weekend, and I’m sure that all of the ladies in the choir (from founding members to some of our newest recruits) have felt that it was a wonderful, uplifting experience all round. Thank you so much Anne, for your part in the organisation.... It really makes a massive difference to our preparations when you’re able to get all the information you need quickly, accurately and efficiently. Please pass our thanks onto all the volunteers/committee for their efforts and warm welcome, and we wish you all the very best with your future events. I’m confident that for many of our members this has now become a major highlight of their singing experiences so far, and I don’t think we’ll have any trouble at all in convincing the choir to return to Bangor again in the future to partake in such terrific hospitality!”
Carolyn McCabe, Festivals Vice President – British International Festivals Federation
“The concert was most enjoyable and it was lovely to hear such superb choirs from across the water. I am sure you are all exhausted but feeling good after such an excellent festival.”