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Image source, Getty Images
The Land of Song festival is due to take place on 8 and 9 May 2027
ByJordan Davies and Dan MoffatBBC Wales
Wales is the land of song, but there may be distinct lack of voices at a festival in the Principality Stadium next year, because choirs are being charged thousands of pounds to take part.
The event, billed as the The Land of Song Festival, will feature world-renowned Italian Tenor Andrea Bocelli, but choirs are pulling out because of steep costs that include fees for individual singers.
Huw Watkins, who has performed in the Royal Albert Hall and at Wales rugby matches with Glynneath Male Voice Choir, said: "We couldn't get over it - we've never paid anything before to participate."
The event organisers, The Land of Song Festival and the Principality Stadium, have been asked to comment.
The festival next May is being marketed as "one of the world's largest shared singing events", with tenor Bocelli appearing on the Saturday, and up to 20,000 choristers appearing on the Sunday.
But choristers believe the event would be fortunate to get a fraction of those numbers, given the costs involved.
The festival's own website outlines the costs, with each choir paying a "choir subscription" of £150.
Then each individual choir member has to pay an additional £42, which means some choirs having to pay thousands of pounds to attend.
Image source, Getty Images
Andrea Bocelli will perform the day before the choir event in May 2027
Glynneath Male Voice Choir, which would have been taking about 20 members to the event, said it would have cost them about £1,000 to sing, and then hundreds of pounds for coach hire, with some choirs from outside Wales also having to pay for accommodation.
"Apparently, if you want hard copies of the music, you've got to pay for that also," said Watkins.
"Somebody's making a lot of money from this."
He said some of the choir's new members were "disappointed" they would not be able to participate in an event on this scale.
"It would have been an experience for the new choristers - these opportunities don't come around that often as well, especially in the Principality," he said.
"There is a good possibility that it might not go ahead."
About 40 choirs or singing groups have taken to social media to say they will not be taking part in the event.
Huw Watkins says his choir won't be taking part because of the cost
Colin Williams is in Llantrisant Male Choir, which has about 78 members.
They had signed up for the event and paid the £150 registration fee but, when they found out the cost was £42 per member, they pulled out.
"After paying the registration fee, the communication from the organisers was non-existent as to what we would be singing and the practice needed, then the next thing we saw on social media was that they'd be charging £42 per chorister to sing there, which is unheard of.
"I've been singing 44 years in the choir and I've never had to pay to sing, normally we get paid to sing.
"We shared that info in our Whatsapp groups and the reaction was unanimous, people didn't want to take part.
"We're not stopping our members from taking part but as an organisation we can't commit to it."
He continued: "Some of our members haven't done these mass events, so I feel sorry for them, but being asked to pay £42 is a lot, and it's a lot of work and rehearsals, so it's massive cheek to ask for that much."
