Steven Wellbeloved
The planning for the 2017 Music in the Mountains (MiMs) Festival at Drakensberg Boys Choir School began with the 50th anniversary committee around the table in Mr Stead’s office in December 2015.

READ MORE HERE: Legendary choir school celebrates a milestone

From then on, various meetings were held at different locations, as we planned how we would entice as many Old Boys as possible to return to their school, to celebrate 50 years of the Drakensberg Boys Choir School.

A bumper festival programme was put together and we invited eight visiting choirs from as far as Gauteng, the North West Province, KwaZulu-Natal, and even Zimbabwe.

The visiting choir concerts on the afternoon of April 27 and 28 set the tone for what was to be a record breaking weekend at the Drakensberg Boys Choir School.

The concert by The Parlotones on Friday evening was fantastic and thoroughly enjoyed by many; I found their story fascinating and it just goes to show that there is no easy road to fame and fortune!

The atmosphere around the school was electric throughout the weekend, and the food on sale was enjoyed by everyone!

Saturday afternoon’s Shining Stars Concert was once again a hit, and without a doubt, established itself as a show that should light up the MiMs stage every year, for many years to come!

The build-up to Saturday evening’s Carmina Burana concert was epic, and the show did not disappoint.

It was a concert of a world-class standard and should be performed in venues around the world. When one sits back and tries to work out the number of hours that went into preparing for such a concert, one actually realises the ridiculous amount of work, which is involved.
There were approximately 250 musicians involved in the production – take it that each person spent 20 hours working (a conservative estimate based on the constraints of studying, rehearsing, passing commitments, etc) – that works out to 5 000 hours or 208 days preparing for this show! Wow, JUST WOW!

Sunday’s programme kicked off with a Founders Day Assembly, followed by another stunning Portrait Concert, and then finished off with a repeat of the fantastic Carmina Burana!

By the time Sunday evening came around, exhaustion had set in, as people had worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this all possible.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in MiMs, from the set-up and décor, to the meals and refreshments, music, CD sales, sound and lighting, ushering, ticket sales, cleaning… the list goes on!

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