Planning for next year’s festival is underway and chairman Dave Bradley is very excited about the future. “We had a very successful Festival in 2017 with lots of local schools taking part and several schools from Scarborough and Ryedale. Our National Choir Day in April attracted fourteen adult choirs from across the north of England (the largest number so far) and the standard of singing was exceptional. Next year we are looking to introduce reading classes for senior citizens and some non-competitive improvised dance classes for young people. We are also using one venue over more days than usual, so that we can attract larger audience numbers during the competition days. The Whitby Spa and Pavilion staff do a fantastic job for us every year and I am determined that we will continue to promote the arts in these wonderful buildings.”

The Festival will begin on Saturday 3rd March with a Band Competition. This will be followed by Speech and Drama competitions on the 6th and 7th March; Secondary Music competitions on the 8th and 9th March; Primary Music competitions on the 12th, 13th and 14th March. The annual Gala Concert will be held on Saturday 17th March at 6.30pm in the Whitby Spa Theatre. The National Choir Day will be held on Saturday 7th April in the Northern Lights Suite.

Members of the public are welcome to offer up other suggestions/improvements at the Annual General Meeting on Thursday 20th July at 7.30pm in Hawsker Methodist Church.