VALDOSTA — The Southeast Singers will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Fiesta-Val Music Festival April 1-3. The Valdosta Board of Education voted unanimously recently to allow the 70 fourth and fifth graders from Southeast Elementary School to participate in the festival.

“The kids are really excited,” said Joy Craft, chorus director. “A trip like this really generates a lot of excitement.”

The group will depart Valdosta early Thursday morning, April 1, via charter buses. Along the way, they plan to perform at Hoboken Elementary School in Brantley County, arriving in Myrtle Beach Thursday evening.

“This trip is about giving these kids exposure,” Craft added.

Choral performances will be held Friday in the Coastal Carolina University Wheelright Auditorium. The Southeast Singers will perform and enjoy performances by other groups from around the country.

“Usually just middle and high schools participate in this festival,” Craft said. “Elementary schools don’t traditionally attend these events. It’s a wonderful opportunity for these kids.”

The Southeast Singers’ performance will be critiqued by various judges. Last May, the group received superior ratings, the highest possible, at the Southern Star Music Festival in Atlanta.

Friday night, the group will enjoy a dinner show. Saturday, they will spend some free time on the sandy beaches and at various hot spots around town. Following the presentation of awards Saturday night, the Southeast Singers will return to Valdosta.

“We are trying to foster a love of music,” Craft said. “There’s a lot of hard work behind a trip like this. But it pull us all together so tight. We’re a special group with a strong bond. When you do things outside of the normal school day, it really brings you together.”

The focus is also on exposing the kids to life outside of Valdosta since so many of them don’t have the opportunity or means to travel.

The entire trip will cost the Southeast Singers a total of $17,000. This price does not include some meals and spending money. Craft is working to get the cost down to $150 per person through fundraisers. Already, the group has raised $3,200 through a fruit sale.

Upcoming fundraisers include a pizza kit sale, which will kick off in a few days, and a barbecue dinner show, which has yet to be scheduled. They group is also taking donations.

To learn more about the Southeast Singers or to offer financial assistance, please email Joy Craft at jcraft@tomcat.gocats.org.



To contact reporter Jessica Pope,please call 244-3400, ext. 255.