Learn about the Festival here.

Festival 500 Sharing the Voices is a celebrated international non-competitive festival of choral music that takes place in the intimate setting of North America's oldest city, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. This heralded Festival and its accompanying academic symposium on the phenomenon of singing  bring together singers, conductors and scholars from countries and cultures worldwide. Here they participate in the very best of the world's musical artistry and scholarship. Infused with a joyful spirit, this sharing of voices results in powerful and enriching experiences for all involved.

Festival 500 consists of five major components: The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium, an academic symposium (presented jointly by Festival 500 and Memorial University), theWestern Region festival (Corner Brook), the Labrador festival (Happy Valley-Goose Bay),  two Rural Outreach concerts and the St. John's festival.

Festival 500:

• is a voluntary, non-profit organization.
• is held during the summer, every two years.
• is non-competitive.
• brings international attention and investment to our province.
• nurtures cultural identity by fostering the singing talent the province has to offer.
• is funded thanks to government grants, corporate sponsorship and private donations.
• is proud of its sister events in Western Newfoundland and Labrador.

"My enjoyment at FESTIVAL 500 is too hard to define in words. As I write this, I am sitting in Mile One Stadium before our Grande Finale Concert. A jazz quartet is playing as singers file in and the audience begins to be seated. In less than an hour, children's voices from around the world will join in singing a Maori folksong led by a  Finnish conductor. Then I will be one of 1,000 adults singing Carmina  Burana (with full orchestra) conducted by Bobby McFerrin. Then I  hear, we will dance Irish jigs at our after-party! And all in this beautiful harbour town on the edge of the continent. And that is just today! I've had more than a week of these experiences. I leave here full of ideas, of inspiration, of joy and thanks for organizing this very special festival is St. John's, I don't believe a festival like this could happen anywhere else. There is something about this land and the people here that infuse this festival with such great spirit.  It has been the icing on a very rich cake. Thank you."

- Karen Anne Richardson, Come Solo, North Carolina

Festival 500 partners with the International Council for Traditional Music…

In 2011, Festival 500 and The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium will share one day (July 13) with the 41st World Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), July 13-19, 2011. Because all three of these events will bring together singers, conductors, ethnomusicologists, pedagogues and scholars in a variety of disciplines related to singing, Festival and Symposium participants have a unique opportunity to share and explore potential common interests. Please visit the website for ICTM(http://www.mun.ca/ictm2011/) for more information about this exciting event as you may well want to plan to extend your stay in St. John's to avail of this combined international, musical and scholarly feast.

Arts Collaboration

Festival 500 and Five Island Art Gallery

Newfoundland Hooked Rugs and The Power of Song

For each Festival 500 a work of art, which speaks to the theme of the festival, has been commissioned. Past visual artists have included Anne Meredith Barry, Diana Dabinett, Elena Popova and Gerald Squires.  In this way the festival is able to reach out and connect with other aspects of the province's cultural fabric.  This year the festival has collaborated with the Five Island Art Gallery under lead instructors and art consultants, Frances Ennis, Maxine Ennis and Sheila Coultas who, together with a group of women, have come together to create rugs connected to the Festival's theme, The Power of Song.  This collaboration links the festival to an important traditional art form.

Thirty-five individual rugs have been created each with its own story inspired by The Power of Song. All these rugs which embody the festival's theme are exhibited and for sale in the upper concourse of the Arts and Culture Centre throughout the Festival from July 6-13, 2011.

A special feature of this collaborative project is the production of a 'collective' rug, A Whale of a Tale which has provided an opportunity for the general public to try out their skill at primitive rug hooking. The whale is an iconic image for Festival 500 and is a theme throughout all past collaborations between artist and festival.

Over 300 people, including many local choristers and members of the community, have worked on A Whale of a Tale at the Five Island Art Gallery, the Arts and Culture Centre (NL Craft Council Fair), with members of the Stella Burry Inclusion Choir and at Scotiabank with members of Vibrant Communities, In association with this project the book, A Whale of a Tale, by Frances Ennis, Maxine Ennis and the Rug Hooking Group has been published by Flanker Press. The book includes photos and descriptions of each rug produced for this project including instructions about hooking a rug. This book is available during the festival at the rug hooking booth on the concourse of the Arts & Culture Centre.

Five Island Art Gallery Website