Patronal Festival Report - St Mark's, Newport

St Mark’s, Gold Tops, Newport, South Wales
Patron saint: St Mark
Festival date: 25 April

St Mark’s revived its Patronal Festival after decades, thanks to a successful grant and the drive of its new Director of Music, appointed the previous autumn. With no resident choir or organist at the outset, a new ensemble of eighteen singers was assembled from across the diocese, including cathedral choristers. The music featured Sanders’s Responses, Wood’s Canticles in D and Rutter’s The Lord bless you and keep you.

The service attracted a congregation of sixty-seven, far exceeding normal attendance, and the atmosphere was warm and enthusiastic. Buffet refreshments were well received and there was lively discussion about making the celebration an annual fixture. The parish is now preparing a final choral evensong to mark the end of the newly formed choir’s first year.

The grant was instrumental in enabling the revival of this long neglected festival, and the parish conveyed sincere thanks for the support.