(This post has been edited to correct the day of the show.)
The Vance County Arts Council will present a holiday program SATURDAY afternoon, November 27, at McGregor Hall. Admission is free and the public is invited to come out and enjoy Tidings of Comfort and Joy, featuring Christmas music to soothe the soul.
Alice Sallins, executive director of the local arts council, said the program lineup includes sacred and secular music, as well as dance performances and the Holiday Royal Pageant at intermission.
The doors open at 3:30 p.m. and the program begins at 4 p.m. McGregor Hall is located at 205 Breckenridge St. in Henderson.
Sallins said the first half of the show will showcase sacred music and the second half will have secular music. Some of the individuals and groups scheduled to perform include:
- Lynn Cooper, recording artist
- Clearview Baptist Praise Team
- I Praise Dance Academy
- Jimmy Barrier Band
- Brotherhood, a group of local male vocalists
- The Queen of Diamonds
- Tyrel Clark as Lil Santa
- Work in Progress
- The Chavis Family
Sallins said the show should last a good two hours and there just may be a surprise group that will make an appearance. It’s something that the local arts council does each year for the community, but it doesn’t happen without a lot of support and good ol’ hard work and attention to details.
Local sponsors are vital to the success of programs like this one, she said. In addition to the North Carolina Arts Council and the Vance County Board of Commissioners, she said she is especially grateful to Vance Family Medicine for sponsoring the back cover of the program booklet for this performance.
In addition to Sallins’ role as executive director of the arts council, she also is chair of the promotions committee of the downtown development corporation. And she said there’s still time to enter the Christmas parade, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 4 at 4 p.m.
She said she’s gotten more than 50 entrants so far, and she expects to get more through the weekend. She’ll take forms until Monday, Nov. 29. She needs time to get all the groups and floats and other entries in an official lining-up order. “We already have a lot of floats, both homemade and professional,” Sallins said.
“Vance County Schools will have a great presence this year,” Sallins said, noting that most of the schools will be represented in one way or another.”
The parade route will begin at the Raleigh Road Extension and Dabney Drive near Walgreens, which will mean some streets will be closed as early as 2:30 p.m. The parade ends near the intersection of Garnett Street and Andrews Avenue.
For more information, contact Sallins at 252.767.4579.