Gareth Malone brings mental health message to Suffolk’s Latitude Festival with audience choir
The festival celebrates it's 20th edition this year.
Festivalgoers at this year’s Latitude Festival will have the chance to perform live on the main stage as part of a special choir led by Gareth Malone celebrating the event’s 20th anniversary.
One hundred audience members will be selected to join the choir at Henham Park in Suffolk, rehearsing across the festival weekend before performing a set of 20 songs from the festival’s 20-year history on the Obelisk Arena stage.
The project marks Gareth Malone’s return to Latitude after previously leading festival choirs during the event’s tenth anniversary celebrations.
"Music is the antidote"
Speaking ahead of the festival, Malone described music as “the antidote” to what he called a growing mental health crisis.
He said: “We have a mental health crisis in this country, and music is the antidote. Coming together, being with other people, singing, there’s nothing better.”
The broadcaster and choirmaster, known for television series including The Choir, said shared musical experiences had become increasingly important as people spend more time living “disconnected virtual lives”.
“I think what really concerns me is young people are so wrapped up in a virtual world that they’re not getting out as much and doing the things that actually we know scientifically do them good,” he said.
“That’s real world experience, real challenge, being out there with other people. I think it’s so important.”
Anyone can be on the Latitude stage
Festivalgoers selected for the choir will arrive at Latitude as audience members before rehearsing with Malone across the weekend and performing live on Saturday night.
Applications can be found here.
No professional singing experience is required, with applicants only needing to submit themselves singing “Happy Birthday”.
Malone said previous Latitude choirs had included people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
“We’ve had people from all sorts of walks of life from very young to quite elderly getting involved,” he said.
“We had somebody undergoing chemo, we had somebody who’d had a terrible and life-changing road accident who had not performed for years and it was her first performance on stage in years.
“To be on that stage is so special.”
This year’s performance will feature songs by artists who have previously appeared at Latitude across the past two decades, including Blondie, The Killers and Pet Shop Boys.
Malone said the setlist would focus on “absolute bangers”, with tracks including “Mr Brightside”, “Chelsea Dagger” and “Murder on the Dancefloor”.
“People can apply to be part of the choir and all they need to do is sing Happy Birthday so that I can tell whether they’ve got the enthusiasm and the right stuff to stand on stage,” he said.
“But they are going on the main stage. So yeah, I’m excited.”
Latitude Festival returns to Henham Park near Southwold this July.