Anticipation rises ahead of Doorstep Carols
Excitement is building for the national Doorstep Carols event this year – with the ‘epicentre’ event due to take place in Shrewsbury town square.
Carols in the Square, organised by Shrewsbury Town Council, is back on this year, with one key difference - it will be the headline event in a nationwide carols sing-a-long, on December 15, which originated in Shrewsbury.
BBC Radio Shropshire will host the town centre event as usual, with the carols broadcast live, led by Shrewsbury Male Voice Choir and Shrewsbury Brass Band. Carollers are invited to arrive in the square from 5.30pm to join the singing, with the national broadcast due to start at 6.05pm.
This year, BBC local radio stations across the country will be playing the same carols in the same order at the same time, so that people can join in with Doorstep Carols wherever they are.
Helen Ball, town clerk for Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “Our Carols in the Square event has become a festive tradition in Shrewsbury which is a great way to start the Christmas celebrations - and this year, it's even more special knowing that people will be singing with us all across the country.
“It's great that our wonderful town will be in the national spotlight again as the home of Doorstep Carols. Come and sing with us in the square or stay where you are and sing at home, along with your friends and neighbours, by tuning in to BBC Radio Shropshire - you can find the words at doorstepcarols.co.uk
“Special thanks go to our sponsors, Veolia, for their continued support in helping us to stage this popular festive event and also to MicroVideo for live streaming the concert for those unable to attend.”
The backing music for the carols has been pre-recorded by Shrewsbury Brass Band and children, parents and teachers, singing at Prestfelde School, in Shrewsbury. It is their voices that people will hear across the nation on December 15.
Doorstep carols was the brainchild of Katy Rink and Beth Heath - and launched last year, with more than 30 local radio stations playing the carols and an estimated 150,000 people singing along on their doorsteps.
This year, Katy says, the fundraising event is set to be much bigger, with linked events going on across the UK, including a massed singalong in Trafalgar Square
“We’ve had amazing support from people up and down the country who are organising their own events or promoting the idea where they live. It’s really fun, free and simple to join in – a really good way to get to know your street, so please tell all your neighbours to save the date!”
Neighbourhoods across Shropshire are set to take part – The Shropshire Way Association is holding its own mini Doorstep Carols event by the sculpture on Kingsland Bridge in Shrewsbury, marking the start of the 200-mile route, and brass quartet the Brass Buttons will be playing along at an event in Mountfields, organised by the Vicar of St George’s Tim Vasby-Burnie. Santa will be making his way around town on a sleigh to wave at the carollers and in Bayston Hill, neighbours are planning hot chocolate stands, firepits and roasting chestnuts!
Plus there’s a ‘Winter Warmer’ linked event in The Market Hall Shrewsbury, when the market’s late night shoppers will be joining in the singalong as they shop, with an appearance from Victorian Carol Singers too and complimentary mulled wine and mince pies, with market purchases.