Frequently Asked Questions

Various Voices 2009 is Europe's international festival of song, proudly celebrating the work of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) singing groups and making it visible to the world. It happens every four years in different cities. For the London festival, we are especially welcoming other 'non-gay' singing groups, choirs, delegates and participants as well as audience members from the London, the UK, across Europe, the United States, Canada and around the world. We aim to create an interactive space where, through the transforming power of singing together, warm relationships and new understandings are created.

Delegate registration is open to everyone. If you want to sing on a stage with your registered choir or as part of the festival choirs then you need to register as a delegate. You do not have to be a singing choir member to register, registration is open to all.

No, the festival is open to everyone.

Whilst individual delegates, or member choirs, are responsible for all registration costs we do expect to be able to offer concession prices for concerts. Some choirs make their own arrangements to give subsidies or bursaries to support their members. We want to have events accessible to all.

Everyone can purchase tickets for concerts and workshops through the Southbank Centre box office. Discounts will apply during the registered delegate priority booking period.

We do not currently want small groups to register separately. The choir information collected on line has an option for main/parent choirs to link/list their small groups.

Small Groups will be given performing opportunities as long as their parent choir is registered. We have opened registrations for main/parent choirs who will enjoy all the benefits of choirs' registration. We may re-consider and have a Small Choirs concert in the Purcell Room and ask for separate registration with a smaller registration fee once main choir registrations are finalised.

Yes, please email to get advice about how to make an international direct bank transfer in UK Pounds for attending choir members.

We have tried to keep the cost of registration as low as possible and do not want delegates to pay for activities and events in which they do not intend to participate. We want each delegate to be able to construct their own individual experience and to choose exactly what they wish to do from the wide range of events on offer over the four days of the festival. Everyone can buy a full priced ticket to concerts and workshops but delegates will get a discounted price.

We want to keep the initial cost low to give more people the opportunity to register so they can enjoy the festival. The costs include:

• The early bird delegate fee will be £75.
• Concert tickets will range in price from £15 to £25.
• Workshops will range from £10 to £20.

If you choose to purchase two lowest cost concert tickets and two workshops with the delegate registration, the cost could be as low as £109 (approx €137).

	London 2009	Paris 2005
Early bird registration	£75	£120
2 concerts @ £15 each less 20%	£24	Included
2 workshops @ £10 each less 50%	£10	Included
Total	£109	£120

Remember, registered delegates will get a discount of 20% for concert tickets and 50% for workshops.

Don't forget with your registration, you will also enjoy all of the free performances on the cabaret stages, the welcome party, opening ceremony and all the massed singing and free events. You also have the possibility to join one of the Festival Choirs plus ALL the other benefits of delegate registration.

The lowest cost for choir registration in Paris was €200 for choirs of 15 singers or less, in London choir registration fees start for 20 or fewer singers at £100 (approximately €125).

London registration gives you the choice so you only pay for what you want to do and see. Its good value for money over 4 full days and is being held in the one complex with some of the best concert halls in Europe.

Registration cancellations received on or before 1st March 2009 will be eligible for a 50% refund, after this date refunds will not be possible. Transfers of registration may be made on or before 1st April 2009, and may be subject to an administration fee. Requests for cancellation or transfer of your registration should be sent via email to for further advice.

Choir registration fees are not re-fundable, but you can still choose to come along and enjoy the festival.

We are using Google Checkout which is a secure third party credit card payment system. Their fraud protection policy covers you against unauthorised purchases made through Google Checkout. They do not share your purchase history or full card number with sellers. Various Voices London never gets to see your credit card details.

Various Voices London and Google Checkout will keep your email address confidential.

Do not register on the Various Voices website at this time. See the GALA website at http://www.galachoruses.org/events/various_voices.html for more information and a registration form.

The festival starts at 10am on Friday 1st May and continues every day until late evening on Monday 4th May. Participants can choose to visit London for longer arriving before the festival or to stay on after the festival to enjoy our vibrant and diverse city and country.

This is up to each person but here is a very rough idea of costs:

• Branded budget hotel like Travelodge is from £35 per night sharing a twin/double room including breakfast.
• Travel using a prepayment Oyster Card from return zone 1 - £3.
• Sandwich from £2, tea/coffee/soft drink from £1 - £2.
• Meal at a medium priced restaurant from £15.

From GBP £60 per day, that’s approximately from €75 euros.

London has an integrated travel system: buses, underground, railways and boats. All our events will be centred in the one location and depending on where delegates choose to stay, their travel needs and costs will vary. The 'Oyster Card' is a pre-payment card which is the most economical way of travelling in London. It can be purchased either in advance and on line, or when you arrive in London. This way you only pay the actual travel costs that you need, you may be close enough to walk or cycle to the Southbank. For more information read our Getting Around page.

We are exploring these issues. Please tell us about what facilities you might anticipate needing on site during the festival and we will advise you in due course if we will be able to offer a solution to these issues. Please send your email to

For group bookings we agreed not to add commission to the competitive rates being offered for accommodation. For individual bookings Hotelopia have agreed to donate 50% of their commission less their expenses to the festival.

We have created a Host Accommodation Charter and opened a register for hosts that we are actively promoting. See our Host Accommodation page. These private arrangements are outside of our control and will be subject to availability. We do not expect to be able to open the register to delegates until Autumn 2008.

The artistic programme will be published on the website as the different elements of the programme are confirmed; there will be regular updates on what is planned.

The opening ceremony will be at 10am on Friday 1st May 2009 and will be a free open event and the welcome party is free to all registered delegates will be from 10.15pm on Friday 1st May 2009. The closing ceremony and farewell party details have not been finalised.

Yes, we will have an on-line music download area and learning facility to hear and see the music at home or in the internet café available for registered delegates.

We decided that an archival recording would provide better value for money than a commercial recording.

The Southbank Centre arts complex, the main venue for the festival, includes The Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room. See our Venues page.

Yes, as long as the small group is part of a registered choir they will be able to perform on the cabaret stages. Only registered delegates will be able to perform on any stage. We may consider a small choirs concert in the Purcell Room after the choir registration period has ended.

Yes, an invitation will be sent out by the artistic team soon.

The choir concert blocks are the centrepiece of the Various Voices Festival and each block will consist of 3 choirs in a 90 minute concert. We are aiming to provide a rich four-day experience for the choirs in London, involving interaction with other choirs and audiences. This will include some external exposure and the opportunity to perform in the public spaces of the Southbank Centre, which has 1,000's of visitors every day. This will enable us to be more visible as gay choirs and to show the general public what we do, and give those choirs that want them, more performing opportunities.

We need all sectors of the movement and all kinds and levels of choir to be represented as far as possible. Your CD, video, tape or YouTube clip, will help to inform us to create balanced programmes of good quality and help us decide where to place you in this more visible external performing programme, both in terms of the level of experience your choir has and the type of repertoire you perform.

The Artistic team will talk to you or they will send you an email.

We also plan special masterclasses on the Monday, to enable those choirs that want to gain half an hour of support, encouragement and advice with a top choral singing specialist. The CDs will also help that specialist prepare for the session. Unfortunately there is not the time or space to have them at the same time as the choir blocks.

A transaction / booking fee / handling charge is added to all bookings except in person at the sales counter, which is free. The off-line transaction fee for tickets booked via Southbank Centre is £2.00. This will apply to bookings made by telephone, fax, post and groups leaving just those booked online, with a transaction fee of £1.50. The charge is per booking, not per ticket, delegates will be encouraged to book all their tickets at once and you can save even more money by combining your bookings with other delegates when tickets go on sale in December 2008.

Our focus is about performing and creating exciting experiences not only for the LGBT community and their singers, but looking to be more outward looking and inclusive, with the whole festival heavily marketed to the general public. In fact this will be the largest singing festival ever to be held at the Southbank Centre (SbC) in recent memory and will be the largest single event since the complex re-opened with the ‘Overture Weekend’ after the £110 million refurbishment in June 2007, when more that 25,000 visited the SbC during the 3 days of totally free events, 1,000?s of singers filled the entire building with song, putting voice at the very heart of the arts complex.

The creation of this whole project has been a major new innovative development on how volunteer organisations can work in partnership with large arts organisations. The Southbank Centre have been very helpful in working with us to curate the programme and when the final programme of big name concerts, events and activities is announced and the way in which choirs will be encourage to perform on stage together, in between, around and with each other, that our goal to move forward LGBT singing and choirs will have been realised.

We are encouraging monetary gifts and goods and services in kind, to assist with the organisation and running of the festival or to use for fundraising events like raffles and auctions. If you can introduce us to companies or organisations that may be able to help with sponsorship, giving, grants or as a commercial partner for the festival please email:

We will be setting up a facility to make donations through our website.

Yes, the festival has been organised and is run primarily by volunteers. Please visit our volunteering page or email for more information.

We plan to have a market area and will let you know the details nearer the time.

Yes as a registered delegate you will get a discount at the festival and t-shirts and other merchandise will be available to buy on-line through our web site shop later this year.

Yes!

We don't believe so, and hope that Boris Johnson, Mayor of London will want to be involved in some way with the Festival.