A CHORUS of festive tunes will echo across the city during Oxford’s annual Christmas festival.

More than 700 singers from schools and community choirs across the county are expected to unite for the second Day of Song festival.

They will gather on Sunday, November 23, to perform at venues throughout Oxford for the one-day musical event.

Day of Song event producer Cat Kelly, 33, said: “I think it really brings people together and it’s something that anybody of any age can join in with.

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“Singing brings people so much pleasure and that’s going to come through when they perform. It’s such a lovely thing to do.”

Rehearsals for Day of Song are under way as part of this month’s three-day Christmas Light Festival taking place between Friday, November 21, and Sunday, November 23.

Museums, shopping centres and churches in the city will be filled by 20 adult community choirs and six primary schools during Day of Song.

Performances will take place within Westgate Shopping Centre, Clarendon Centre, Debenhams, Old Museum, OVADA, The Story Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum, St Michael at the North Gate and Oxford Castle Unlocked.

Choirs performing during the event include Barton Sings, Blackbird Leys Choir, Jericho Singers, Oxford Gospel Choir and City Chambers Choir.

Oxford Community Choir leader Sarah Westcott said: “I think it’s a great sense of community. It opens the Christmas feeling.

“Singing is a great thing. It’s a moving thing and doing it together as a group in a choir is just a wonderful experience. People have such a great time. It’s so uplifting.”

Young singers will also take part in two special concerts at Wesley Memorial Church, in New Inn Hall Street.

Ms Kelly, from Stanton Harcourt, said: “Oxford is a beautiful place to live and it’s one of the places that has the biggest contrast between the more affluent and poorer areas so I think this sort of event is all about bringing all of us together and we should be able to celebrate it with everybody. I’m so excited. It’s been a long time coming and it’s coming together so beautifully. I’m so proud to be a part of it.”

More than 300 singers of all ages will close the festival at the Town Hall, in St Aldate’s, with a new song penned by Ms Kelly.

The mother-of-one said she spent the last month working on her song Share Your Light to make sure it was ready for the grand finale.

She added: “The idea of the song is about reaching out to all sorts of people and sharing what we have got and sharing the enjoyment of Christmas with everybody regardless of their circumstances or situations.

“I think it’s going to be really quite a moving experience for me. It should be an absolutely stunning way to close the festival.”

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