Festival is the signature event of GALA Choruses and we are thrilled to be presenting Festival 2008 in Miami. The centerpiece of Festival is the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Carnival Center) which will be the home for all of the concert blocks. The Arsht Center is a brand new performing arts venue, beautifully designed and equipped with state-of-the-art resources, in which to present performances of the highest artistic quality where audiences can enjoy an incomparable entertainment experience. Over 130 choruses and ensembles are scheduled to perform during the week-long Festival.

Festival also includes many other activities besides the concert blocks. There will be opening and closing ceremonies at the James L. Knight Center at the Hyatt featuring performances by mass choruses, guest artists and an opportunity for all to share in singing some "classics" from the GLBT choral movement. On Wednesday, there will be a special 25th anniversary ceremony at the James L. Knight Center featuring all of the Festival choruses – men, women, mixed and youth – participating in a salute to the very best examples of the power of music from our past 25 years with Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon serving as masters of ceremonies for the event.

GALA Choruses is hosting two parties, one on Wednesday evening at Jungle Island, a popular tropical destination just minutes from the Arsht Center, where the evening will include a picnic, the No Talent Show, visits with parrots, monkeys and penguins, a performance by a comedy headliner, a spectacular prize raffle and more. While the headliner performance will be a separately ticketed event, all of the rest of the evening is included in your delegate registration. On Friday evening the party heads to South Beach to thespectacular Nikki Beach for an evening of dancing and fun on the beach.

Mornings during Festival will include workshops, time to visit the Expo and shop at the GALA store along with a series of special performances in the Hilton ballroom. The details of all of these events can be found by clicking on the schedule button on the menu at the left. Explore all that Festival week has to offer by clicking through the schedule to read about all the events going on throughout the week.

We are thrilled to announce that there are six youth choruses coming to Festival. Funding, however, is always a challenge and especially so for the youth. Please consider donating the $150 registration fee to sponsor a youth to Festival.

Download the PDF Donation Form (PDF 98kb)