With less than a week to go until the fourth annual Isle of Wight Story Festival, organisers have reiterated the message of inclusion the event promotes.
Independent Arts charity holds festive events for wide range of participants, including recreation of Newport's Gilten Market and SingAbout Christmas concert
The concert is jam-packed with inspirational and uplifting gospel showstoppers, solos, duets and ensemble pieces, all stunningly accompanied by a stellar crew of musicians
Due to Covid restrictions the Isle of Wight Music, Dance and Drama Festival 2021 was held in a virtual format, but only for the music and speech and drama sections. For this, entrants recorded a video of their performance, which they then uploaded to a secure platform so the adjudicator could view them.
Scroll through the gallery of pictures above to see all the performers mentioned in this story. Chris Hartley, one of the festival s trustees, said: There has been a festival every year since 1924 except for the war years so we were determined to have something this year. It has been a difficult year for the IW Music, Dance and Drama Festival, softened only by being honoured last June with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.