For 40 years the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception’s annual Festival of Carols has been going strong. The two-night carol-singing exercise at the Brickdam church has been sold out both nights for several years running.

Coordinator Rock Beharry told The Scene that this year’s festival, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday evening was well attended and the carol singing lasted just over two hours.

He said performers are not only from the Roman Catholic or even the religious community as over the years there have been several secular groups performing. The event, first held in 1968, has become a fixture around Christmas time. Today, Beharry said and even years ago, organisers found that they no longer had to ask groups to perform; they receive requests from various groups to be part of the event. This year they received so many requests, Beharry said, they were forced to turn some down.

The festival is done in the church building which is brightly decorated to ensure that those in attendance, who just pay a meagre $200 as an entrance fee, get the real Christmas feeling. Beharry told The Scene that the event is not a money making one and the monies patrons pay is used to offset any expenses incurred in staging the event. Should there but any left over it goes to the church’s building fund.

This year the likes of Woodside Choir, the West Ruimveldt School Boys Choir, and the Methodist Choir were among those who performed along with the Catholic church’s own Marigold Choir. There was also an array of steel pan groups many of which were new on the scene but Beharry said they put on excellent performances. He said the staging of the event is the cathedral’s way of ushering in Christmas.

Beharry described the opening night as a “gala event”, while he said the last night could best be described as the “grand finale.” He was high in praise for all the performers, who included little children, who attended practice sessions late into the night to ensure that everything went as planned. “They gave of their time and talent free of cost and it is much appreciated,” Beharry said.