Michael Alexander President; Peter Yarr Chairman; Gordon Dunne MLA; Adrienne Reilly CAJ
HOLYWOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL DEBATES….
At the 8th AGM of Holywood Music Festival in Royal Belfast Golf Club, there was more than just a committee meeting.
During the AGM Linda Alexander highlighted the successes of 2011 particularly with the introduction of the Katy Major Performance Class and Signed Songs which raised the profile of the festival. She outlined some future plans for 2012. This year there will be a number of workshops taking place during the festival and it is hoped to have more entries this year now that there will be “entry on line”. She expressed thanks to North Down Borough Council for its support throughout the year.
Julia Harkness, from Holywood Shared Town , congratulated the festival on the work it is doing locally.
Gordon Dunne, MLA, who had attended a launch of the festival some three years ago, acknowledged that the festival is now working hard to outreach to the community and congratulated the committee on its good work. He is confident that the Council recognises this and is aware of the ongoing progress.
After the main business of the meeting, Michael Alexander welcomed special guest, Adrienne Reilly. As part of Holywood Shared Town’s “Unite Against Racism” week she facilitated a discussion about how music and music festivals can break down barriers. This was a very interesting debate and everyone enjoyed taking part.