The annual Young Farmers’ Concert will take place at the Gaiety Theatre on three nights, Thursday, March 13, Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15 at 7pm.
The hugely popular concert, sponsored by Isle of Man Bank, is now in its 43rd year and tickets are expected to sell out very quickly, especially for the Saturday night, so make a note in your diary if you want one.
There are four Young Farmers’ clubs in the island – Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern – and all take part in the concert over the three nights.
Isle of Man Young Farmers secretary Angela Teare said: ‘The concert is the highlight for many of the members, from early January.’
‘People have been known to queue up for tickets at 3am just to make sure they get the seats they want, especially for the Saturday night performance as this is when the results are announced and the cup is presented.
‘Most people want to go on the Saturday night and like to get the same seats they’ve always had so certain people have been in the queue at 3am, usually the same ones, then others join them at around 6am.
‘It’s not so bad now because the Welcome Centre opens at around 6am but we used to sell them from Gaiety Box Office so it wouldn’t be open for ages.
‘Tickets sell out really quickly and all three nights are always a sell-out.
‘Rehearsals and meetings take place in various church halls throughout the island and all thoughts and plans are top secret until the show night itself.’
Asked how the concert works Angela said: ‘All the four clubs perform a show lasting around 35 minutes.
‘The performances are judged by different judges on each night and on the Saturday night the scores are totalled up to decide who wins the Marketing Society Cup.
‘We have more than 200 members, most of whom will be on stage. The Young Farmers is a fantastic rural youth movement and this year two of the clubs are celebrating their 80th anniversaries.’
Southern Young Farmers will be aiming to win the Cup for the eleventh time in a row at this year’s event.
Tickets for the concert will go on sale on Saturday (February 1) at 9am from The Welcome Centre in the Sea Terminal in Douglas.
Telephone bookings will be taken from 11am by calling 600555 and if there are any tickets left by Monday, February 3, online sales will also be available.
The Isle of Man Young Farmers is the island’s leading youth movement.
It is an organisation that enables young people to meet, participate in activities, both socially and competitively, with the opportunity to travel, both nationally and internationally.
Anyone between the ages of 10 and 36 can become a member of Young Farmers.
For more information visit their website, www.youngfarmers.co.im, or Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Isle-of-Man-Young-Farmers/173360389380037