REPORT ON 2009 ECHUCA MOAMA CELTIC FESTIVAL

Words like excellent, well done, a great weekend, great music, the dancers were good to watch,

enjoyed the workshops, let me know when the festival is on in 2010  were used to describe participants

feelings about the Echuca Moama Celtic Festival.

Comments like these are very encouraging to a committee that worked diligently to ensure that

everything about the inaugural Echuca Moama Celtic Festival went to plan.

The Gathering of the Clans opening dinner at the Moama Bowling Club set the tune for the rest of the

weekend. The piping of the haggis and the recitation of the Robbie Burns poem by Alan Davidson with

his Scottish accent, captured the attention of the people attending the dinner. The music and entertainment

provided by Meryl Wilkinson, Barker and Burke, Braemar and Claymore kept the people entertained

and dancing beyond the expected time to finish.

The success of the night was attributed to the cooperative hard work between the committee

organising the dinner and the Moama Bowling Club.

Saturday was a great day of music and dancing as well as the popular workshops conducted by

Fay White, Maria Forde and John Clancy.  A feature of the Fay White workshop was the preparation

of a group of singers to provide choral items for the worship service on Sunday morning

The Saturday Twilight Concert drew an attendance of greater than 1200 people who enjoyed the variety

            

of music and dancing presented. What added to the concert was the direct broadcast by Community Radio

EMFM 104.7 enabling  a wider audience of people in aged care facilities and confined to their homes to

be able to hear the concert live.

The Sunday morning. open air Celtic worship service at the Aquatic Reserve was well attended by locals

and visitors experiencing a different form of worship around the Celtic theme of water.

For the rest of Sunday the streets and restaurants, clubs and hotels were alive with the sound of Celtic

music. A very interesting workshop by Barker and Burke on board the PS Canberra provided new insights

into Celtic music. At the end of the day there was the cry " is that all, we want more." The response  from

one performer was that he had never sung so much to such an enthusiastic and responsive group of

people for a long time.

The following Sunday the Australian Welsh Male Choir sang to a sell out crowd at the Paramount Theatre

with many turned away having left it to the last minute to purchase tickets. This world travelled choir thrilled

the audience with their choir and solo items. There were many members from the Sing Australia

Deniliquin and Echuca Moama Choirs in the audience who were invited to join with the Welsh Choir in a

rendition of "I Call Australia Home."

To all who visited Echuca Moama for the 2009 Echuca Moama Celtic Festival we thank you for making

the journey to our great twin towns and participating as you did so enthusiastically. To the many locals

who came out and supported the Festival we thank you for your support and we look forward to

seeing everyone on the following dates for 2010 - 7,12,13,14 March.