Choir Festivals

Festival by the Sea

Festival by the Sea

Two Ecumenical Choral Festivals For Youth And Adults

Origins & Participants

Festival by the Sea originated in the year 2000 to provide a high-quality youth choir festival for progressive churches in South Carolina’s Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The first of its kind, the festival quickly grew to become an ecumenical and regional event, gathering choirs from various denominations and community organizations from several states including South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Discovering the need and desire for adults to have the same festival experience, the adult choir Festival by the Sea was launched in 2005.

Festival by the Sea welcomes people of all races, gender identities, sexual orientations, differing abilities, situations, and stations in life. This welcome is reflected in the festival’s participants, repertoire, and worship.

A Unique Hallmark

While other choral festivals conclude with a concert, each Festival by the Sea culminates in a service of worship that is open to the public. A unique hallmark of both festivals, this concluding worship experience is meaningfully designed around the festival repertoire and integrates congregational singing, instrumental music, and other creative expressions.

The festival worship materials are provided to choir leaders for potential use in their home churches.

Leadership

Both festivals engage noted choral conductors from across the country who rehearse the festival choir in a variety of choral repertoire. Achieving a high level of performance, singers leave each festival weekend renewed and challenged toward greater accomplishment in their local music ministries.

Planned by a leadership team, the festivals are sponsored by participating churches and receive support from the SC Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as well as the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

Festival by the Sea 2014 Youth - 15 Years
Festival by the Sea 2014 Youth – 15 Years
Youth Choir Festival by the Sea 2015
Youth Festival Warmup

Festival Details