‘Beyond our wildest dreams!’ Wellingborough Community Gospel Choir at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

But first, who are the Wellingborough Community Gospel Choir?

If you haven’t seen or heard the WCGC yet (we recommend seeing and hearing them at the same time!) you’re in for a life-changing experience! Packed with fun, energy, soul, talent and an undeniable pull to get you up on your feet singing and dancing they are, quite simply, a brilliant community choir.

But how did it all start and who are they?

As Ruth told us, they’ve been going for 11 years and have performed extensively around Northamptonshire. They are inclusive, varied, engaging, positive, upbeat and include over 100 members from all walks and ages of life – you don’t need to have sung before, you just need to be willing to sing!

And one of our favourite traits about the choir is they perform magic in music form too, with soloists backed by the main body of the choir whilst the choristers click, clap, sway or all of the above – giving you a real visual and audio treat!

WCGC’s first EVER tour to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!

For a first tour, WCGC certainly picked an absolute standout and buzzing space in the largest performance arts festival in the world!

The Scottish capital is utterly alive during the month of August and there’ll be quite a few Fringe goers who will remember their experience even more fondly because they witnessed the incredible Wellingborough Choir!

‘One of my friends had gone with her choir to Edinburgh with Rayburn Tours and she told me it was the most magical experience!’

Ruth Bowe, Wellingborough Community Gospel Choir

Fantastic Venues, Standout Performances & Knock-out Memories!

Let’s talk performance venues and Wellingborough’s unforgettable moments singing it loud and proud because they certainly delivered on every last note!

Just imagine the nervous energy before a performance and only expecting a smaller audience of 30 or so close family and friends, to then be told 5 minutes before you perform that the place is packed out with 400 people! That’s exactly what happened with the WGC.

‘I cried – and I think a few others did as well. That was just a moment none of us will ever forget.’

Ruth Bowe, Wellingborough Gospel Choir

Greyfriars Kirk had a HUGE queue around the church and were completely sold out! But it didn’t end there for the singers from Northamptonshire as they performed at The Mound and Canongate Kirk too!

Trust that in the future, each performance will be a source of energy and feel-good vibes for the choir and all of the audience lucky enough to be there!

The Mound – ‘People kept coming and coming. It was incredible!’

Canongate Kirk – ‘the last time that street was closed was for Queen Elizabeth!’

Coach drivers, accommodation, free time & an unbeatable Tour Manager!

Performances are often the STANDOUT moments for most tours, but there’s so much more that makes a trip go from good to absolutely brilliant!

With the WCGC there were an abundance of ticks in their logistical planning. Coach drivers who did everything in their power to help and were ‘Like two great friends’; to ‘absolutely great accommodation’; to free time where ‘the choir just soaked up the atmosphere’ – the foundation blocks to a successful tour were all in place and neatly aligned.

‘Leigh and Arianna came to visit us in October to get a feel of the choir, so we already had that personal contact. Arianna understood us and she felt like part of the team. It was really lovely to have her!’

Ruth Bowe, Wellingborough Community Gospel Choir

And then we get to the brilliant relationship WGC had with their Tour Manager, Arianna Laing, who was there to make sure the choir’s Fringe experience went super smoothly!

What made Arianna’s presence even more valued was that she planned the itinerary too – so she’d built a trust with Ruth and the choir so they felt completely at ease.

And there’s even more to Wellingborough’s Fringe Adventure!

Yes, there’s even more depth and flavour to the choir’s time in Edinburgh. When Ruth was asked about some of the best moments across the tour from her perspective, her brilliant flashbacks said it all:

✔ a full house at Greyfriars
✔ a standing ovation half-way through their set!
✔ the reaction of the audience – people laughing and singing and dancing!
✔ the camaraderie the choir had together as they made new, real friends with unforgettable memories!

Describing the tour in a nutshell as ‘Beyond our wildest dreams’, it was clear to see that Ruth and the Wellingborough Community Gospel Choir absolutely embraced and enjoyed every single second of their Edinburgh Fringe Festival experience.

‘What a lot of people really enjoyed was getting to know everyone and making new friends with people they’ve probably known for 10 years – now they’re real friends with unforgettable memories.’

Ruth Bowe, Wellingborough Community Gospel Choir