The annual Manx Youth Orchestra Christmas Concert returns for its 47th year this Saturday.

The concert, which is a popular festive event hosted at the Villa Marina, will be made up of over 200 local musicians.

Maggie Richardson, Head of Music Service and conductor of the Manx Youth Orchestra, says: “We’re looking forward to welcoming this year’s audience to share our festive offerings.

“This year the programme will include something for everyone with music from Beethoven to Star Wars, pop favourites such as Bruno Mars, and of course some festive carols.

“This concert will be the last of our calendar year following a very successful 2018.

“In July, our Senior String Orchestra completed an extremely successful tour to Paris, where they performed to great acclaim in some wonderful venues such as the magnificent L’eglise de la Madeleine.

“Overall, though, there’s nothing quite like our Christmas concert in the Villa Marina and our young players are already very excited about it.”

The concert showcases the wide range of young musical talent on the Island, while giving the musicians the opportunity to perform in front of a local audience.

The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Manx Youth Orchestra and all proceeds are shared equally between the Friends of the Manx Youth Orchestra and Graih.

Tickets cost ?10 for adults and ?5 for under 16’s – you can buy them from the Welcome Centre or Villa Marina box office.