Festival organisers are still keeping everything crossed they can go ahead as planned with the Wight Proms at Northwood House this August, but feel it’s too early to call either way at this stage.
In the meantime, Wight Proms founder Mike Christie is launching the ‘Wight Proms – Stay at Home Gala’ which will be an
online concert to thank, raise money for and show our appreciation for the NHS on the Isle of Wight, who risk their lives daily for islanders to stay safe.
The ‘Stay at Home Gala’ will be streamed online on Friday 15th May at 7pm on the Wight Proms’ YouTube channel.
The gala will be FREE to watch, but viewers are encouraged to donate in return for watching.
The gala will be a fundraiser, with all money raised going to the IOW NHS Trust Fund [Charity registration No.1049606] and
donations will help to purchase equipment, enhanced facilities and staff training, plus help to keep their staff safe during this pandemic.
At the gala, there will be a host of Special Guest performances and appearances from some famous faces, as well as some
of the island’s top talent.
Islanders are encouraged to submit a poem, piece of artwork or 30-second video which shows the impact of the lockdown on them, by simply posting it on social media with the hashtag #WightPromsGala and these may be chosen to be part of the gala.
Wight Proms – Stay at Home Gala
- Date: Friday 15th May at 7pm
- Donation link: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wight-proms-at-home
- YouTube viewing link: www.youtube.com/channel/UCfZK-OGPK4NI-cUv3319sng
- Facebook event link: www.facebook.com/events/853743328443355
What is ‘The Wight Proms’?
- The annual open-air festival which launched in 2018, celebrating comedy, musical theatre and classical music, and featuring free arts workshops
- The 4-day festival is due to take place on 20-23 August 2020 in the grounds of Northwood House, the grade II* listed
Georgian manor house
- There has never before been a music festival like this on the IOW, catering to lovers of both classical music and musical theatre, as well as comedy
- The festival features FREE Arts Workshops, which give hundreds of children fully-immersive involvement in the arts in ways
that they would not otherwise ever experience. Last year 500 children were involved from across the island, 60 of whom performed as part of the show ‘Wight at the Musicals’ on the Saturday night among the West End stars
- Summary video of last year’s festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGlGhoGj4og
Some testimonials from the Wight Proms audience
- “Wight Proms was such a great event. We visited all three nights, which were quite different, and enjoyed each of them enormously. Looking forward to getting a bigger group of people together for next year’s event. Brilliant! Well done!” David Linton
- “Yesterday was a wonderful day out…we all had such a lovely time…Next summer we shall be attending each concert.”
Julie Bell
- “Just wanted to say how absolutely fabulous the weekend at the Wight Proms was – to have such extraordinary talent up- close and in Cowes was beyond belief. Non-stop seamless musical magic, and really family friendly (my son also loved the giant Connect 4 game at the back!)” Ali Wheeler
