This takes place on two consecutive days; one day - Friday - for secondary school groups and the following day for Adult choirs. All classes take place in the magnificent Georgian setting of the Banqueting Room in the Bath Guildhall, which is in the centre of the city. The Banqueting Room has a stage, excellent acoustics and seating for 300. Other facilities include changing rooms/warm-up rooms and in-house refreshments.

Secondary Schools Choral Day

All age ranges have an opportunity to compete in a variety of classes. There are no set pieces and the ‘own choice’ classes vary from madrigals and sacred music to gospel and show songs.

Show Choir Class

Because of the increasing popularity of the popular or show song class, we are introducing in addition a new show choir class this year. We expect that choirs may wish to introduce elements of dance into their choice of items.

Adult Choral Day

The morning session includes a range of classes for various types of choirs – small groups, male or female voice choirs and mixed voice. In response to many requests, we are introducing two new classes this year:

Popular or Show Song Class – with limited movement
Show Choir Class – may be choreographed

The Thomas Hope Choral Award of £150 will be awarded to the most promising group of singers in the morning session

The afternoon session will again be non-competitive and will be an opportunity for choral groups to sing informally before an audience and share the enjoyment of singing. All groups are welcome and the adjudicator will give written comments and advice.

This session was an innovation last year and proved to be highly enjoyable for both choirs and audience.

See syllabus and Festival calendar for details