Inverness Music Festival will return as an in-person event next year despite concerns from organisers about affordability.
The competition will be held at Inverness Methodist Church from February 24 to 26 and March 3 to 6.
The event was last held in its original format in 2020, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Organisers from Inverness Festival Association hosted the event online in 2021 before adopting a blended format this year – featuring both online and live events – to mark its centenary anniversary.
Nick Speakman, a committee member, said Inverness Methodist Church will be an excellent location for the event.
He said: “As a school teacher I know well the restrictions that had to be imposed on performance opportunities during Covid. This year we have a great opportunity to return to live performance, but we’ve also kept many of the online classes which many people found appealing.
“The new syllabus, available through the website, explains the mixture of live and online opportunities.
“It would be great to see a good number of schools involved this year, alongside the private tutors, clubs, organisations, and families who have continued to support the festival.”
He added: “The committee is delighted with the new venue. The Inverness Methodist Church offers a first class performance space, as well as numerous ancillary rooms and has an excellent location on Huntly Street, close to the centre of Inverness.”
Inverness Music Festival hosts a range of activities; from music, traditional, classical and contemporary, voice and instrumental, to dancing, the spoken word, poetry, and drama.
The event, which carries the motto Performance for Everyone, aims to provide performance opportunities for people of all ages and abilities.
The event is being supported by Inverness Methodist Church and the Inverness Common Good Fund.
Inverness Methodist Church steps up to hold event
Last month, chairman Jason McClurg admitted the cost of living crisis had cast doubt over the affordability of hosting the much-loved event in 2023.
“We had much discussion in the committee about how much time we had to plan a festival and the big issue of affordability of holding a festival in 2023,” he said.
“However, we wanted to have a festival so decided to try a new venue.
“We are extremely grateful to the Methodist Church for accommodating us.
“There are numerous areas in the church for us to use and we hope this will reflect some of the feedback we received this year.”
He added: “We are very excited to be able to hold a festival again and we look forward to seeing you all there.”
Conversation