Jesmond shoppers were greeted with an unexpected musical treat on Saturday morning (21st April) when a “flash mob” choir serenaded passers-by outside Oxfam, Waitrose and Pizza Express.

Choir performing outside Oxfam

The purpose of this performance was to raise awareness for the upcoming Jesmond Community Festival, providing a taste of the various events running from 27th April to 14th May.

Chris Clarke, treasurer of Jesmond Community Forum and company secretary of Jesmond Community Leisure, told JesmondLocal: “Many people know about the concerts that are going on inside buildings, like inside a church hall, but unless you actually get out on the streets, a lot of other people don’t really know what’s going on. So the idea is to attract the attention of the people who don’t go to churches or schools.”

Those who participated in Saturday’s musical performance, organised by conductor Jonathan Scott, came from a number of different choirs in the north east, including the Jesmond Choral Group and the Tynemouth Priory Singers. Festival attendees can expect to hear more from these choirs during a performance of Dvorak’s Requiem on 3th0 April, which will also be conducted by Scott.

This is the first year a musical “flash mob” has been performed before the community festival.

For more information on the festival, please visit www.jesmondfestival.org.uk or have a look on our own festival page here.