Community
The Guild Returns This Weekend
New ‘Have a Go’ Class Added
Dancers, singers and musicians across the island will be growing weak-kneed and sweaty-palmed as they nervously gear up for the biggest creative event in the Manx calendar: The Guild returns this weekend. And yes, that was a reference to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’.
The action gets underway at the Villa Marina from Saturday, 27 April to Saturday, 4 May with eight full days of competition packed with all genres of music, speech, drama, and dance.
There’ll even be performances at St Thomas’ Church in the shadow of the incredible Gaia art installation.
New for this year is the Sheffield Medal, designed by Jenny Kissack, which will give the winner of the Sheffield Plate competition – the top award for children’s singing – a permanent memento to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
The Manx Music, Speech, and Dance Festival is one of the oldest running events in the Island at 132 years old but takes strides to stay fresh and relevant by adding new classes into the mix, including, in recent years, categories in drag, stand-up comedy, and news reading.
This year, they’ve introduced a ‘have a go’ class for those who have never competed before but have harboured a desire to get on stage. There’s also a similar version for reception-age children called Little Stars.
Festival chairman Anne Clarke said: ‘There is something for everyone to come along to see and enjoy. With an all-day ticket costing only £5 and free entry for children you can just pop in and out throughout the daytime or evening to see your favourite classes.’
For more information about the festival, click here. No, sorry, here.
And you can get tickets here.
