Choir As Folk

It’s all about the glamour…

t’s the night when Greystones comes alive to the sound of 400 voices singing out in perfect harmony.

Well, for the most part. There’s always one.

Twelve choirs came together under the Temple Carrig School roof for Wicklow Sings 2024, and promptly proceeded to raise it.

From young guns Sound Crowd (where the members are aged from 8 to 13) to veterans of the festival such as the Frank Kelly-conducted Bella Voce and The Wicklow Singers, it was another night to remember, and sing along to.

It was also great to see local schools involved too, with Greystones Community College and Temple Carrig both taking part, whilst old favourites Serendipity and Beating Time brought the glamour with their sequins glimmering alongside their barbershop harmonies.

Shout-outs to for Avondale Voices from Rathdrum, the Cheile Community Choir from Bray and the local Wicklow Parkinson’s Choir, who all sang their hearts out. And a kidney or two on those high Cs.

Bringing the retro cool, the Unity Gospel Choir brought us back to the ’80s, getting the crowd to sing and dance in the aisles, whilst the grand finale saw all the singers present to get the audience to join in on John Lennon’s Imagine.

The chosen charity for the night was Fields Of Life, a charity supported by the Temple Carrig School TY students.

“It was a truly magical night,” says Dara MacMahon, who organises the annual festival alongside Jamie Lyon, “as it always is. We want to thank all the incredible choirs for coming along, Temple Carrig School for their support, our sponsors The Whale Theatre, Wicklow Arts Office and Spintelligent, and especially our amazing audience, who travelled far and wide to be there.”

And we want to thank young John McGowan for covering the night too – full gallery of pics in hi-res right here.

Again, the full John McGowan gallery of over 100 pics from the night is here. You can also find out more about Wicklow Sings on Facebook here, Instagram here and YouTube here. You can also jump back to 2018’s shindig right here, 2017 here and 2023 here.