Sweet songs from Port Hedland’s youth ring out over town as school choirs open the Pilbara Music Festival

The long-running annual Pilbara Music Festival has returned to Port Hedland and opened with an exhilarating performance from the town’s youth. The festival, which is in its 47th year, opened on Wednesday with choirs from St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary School, Port Hedland Primary School and Cassia Primary School all belting out vocals from inside Gratwick Memorial Hall. The Pilbara Music Festival aims to promote music, foster business and community support for local talent, and highlight musical performers in Port Hedland. Pilbara Music Festival coordinator Jan Gillingham said the event had historically played an important role in providing the town’s students an opportunity to play music. “We’ve kept it going and the number for the last two festivals has been around 110 entries,” she said. “The schools contacted me at the beginning of the year and asked, ‘Are we having a music festival?’ “The kids are so excited and it really is important for music in the town.” Performances from more than 18 performers took place on Thursday. Professional adjudicators judge every performance at the festival and award outstanding, excellent, very good, and encouragement certificates. A finale concert on Sunday showcased a selection of performances picked by the festival adjudicators and panel for their outstanding talent throughout the week.