ONE OF the main choral festivals in Ireland has been cancelled for the first time in its 23-year history.
Sligo International Choral festival, Ireland’s second-largest in the Republic after Cork, has abandoned plans for its three-day 40-choir festival in November.
Organisers said that although sponsorship was tighter than in previous years, the main reason the festival was abandoned was because festival chairman Joe Kelly is in hospital.
Mr Kelly, a founder of the festival, was its driving force for several years.
Former Lebanese hostage Terry Waite, opened the festival eight years ago when the 100-strong Warrington Choir, of which he was patron, performed.
A festival statement said: “There were several mitigating factors in the cancellation. The largest one was the absence through illness of the chairperson Joe Kelly.” More than 25 choirs had already entered for the contests and a total of 40 were expected before entries closed at the end of August.
Festival PRO Jean McConnell said yesterday that while sponsorship was an issue the main supporters were still on board and there was enough funds to proceed although the level of international choirs would most likely be reduced, as it was last year.
“The recession has hit them as well. While there was still sufficient funding to proceed with the festival we would have been contributing less to travel costs for choirs from overseas,” she said.