Final Days at Golden Gate Festival

Saturday night was the Closing Concert for the Golden Gate Festival, with all the Choirs in attendance.

The winners of each Category were invited to perform, with some special performances at the suggestion of the judging panel.

Young Adelaide Voices strode to the stage to perform Currawong Dreaming, as overall winner of the three categories in Youth. At the conclusion, Christie was presented with the three trophies (they are gorgeous).

It was a great night of celebration of the Festival, with the solo vocal winners performing before the Massed Choirs performed. What a sight (and of course, sound!) with 685 choristers on stage.

The lovely Kirke Mechem (who composed the Massed Choir piece) spoke about the reason why children should sing in choirs, with kindness towards others as a very significant one!

After the concert, it was an opportunity to dress up and party!!! Many choristers took the chance to do just that, and danced and laughed with other choristers they had met over the past week. Even our tour mascot Kev the Kangaroo got amongst the mosh pit - we had to rescue him for fear of being torn apart!!!

Monday was a sleep in day (YAY), although many still took the time to get around the Bay.

We met at 2.30pm for a concert at San Leandro Library - which holds a regular concert series at this venue. We had a small but very appreciative full house, with tears flowing during the final tour performance on Towards Infinity. A very special song in our hearts, as we described it as a song about "how to live your life and be free".  After an emotional and heartfelt explanation about why the song meant so much to us, we sang our unofficial National Anthem - Waltzing Matilda.

All the choristers headed home with their hosts, and as Chairperson of Young Adelaide Voices, I wish to convey to all the parents of the children on tour - I have received many, many glowing praises of your children. The host families have been so impressed with them, and love them dearly and will really miss them. It is a credit to you, as parents, that our children are so beautifully mannered and kind to all the people we have met on tour. It is the one thing that will remain a proud memory in my heart and mind.

Monday is a sightseeing day together around San Francisco with a reflection lunch to reminisce about the tour. I hope to be able to share some of the insights in the final blog tomorrow night.

Many, many thanks for your kind words about the blogs - it has been a pleasure to recap the events of the days and something we hope to add to in many ways when we get back to Australia!