The countdown to the much anticipated 2020 Wexford Has Talent audition date is underway and the only opportunity for competitors to bag a place on this prestigious and exciting talent competition stage takes place on Sunday, January 19th from 12 noon to 6 pm at Clayton Whites Hotel, Wexford.

Judges for the 2020 auditions bring a weight of experience to the table and they are Eric Hayes, Catherine ‘Biddy’ Walsh and Edel Quinlan who between them will have the onerous task of selecting the acts that will make it past the audition stage.

Edel Quinlan has been Principal of Centre Stage School of Ballet & Performing Arts in Waterford for the last 15 years. She has choreographed for Wexford Light Opera, Wexford Opera Festival and for Carrick-on-Suir Musical Society and is herself no stranger to performing having danced on a local and national level.

Eric Hayes has starred in a variety of stage roles over the past 15 years. He is a previous winner of the Best Male Singer award in the Guinness Singing Swinging Pubs competition he was also selected as Best Male Singer in the Tops of the Town competition. Eric recently performed as MC and solo performer in Sing Out Loud which was held in the National Opera House and he is also the current Chairperson and former Secretary of Wexford Light Opera Society.
Catherine, or “Biddy” as she is known to many, is renowned throughout Wexford and beyond as an actress, entertainer and comedienne for her entire life. In her younger days she acted and directed with Wexford Pantomime Society, she is a founder member of Oyster Lane Theatre Group and has been a stalwart with Taghmon Tops group on and off stage. Catherine is long time member of Wexford Light Opera Society and has featured in many productions with them for more years than she cares to remember.

The judges are all set to offer their professional feedback and support to acts on the day. From the auditions process, the judges will select a shortlist of between 24 and 30 acts who will then go forward to take part in the live audience semi-finals at Clayton Whites Hotel on Saturday, February 1^st and Sunday, February 2^nd, with the Grand Final taking place on Saturday, February 29^th  and will see at least 12 acts perform to an audience of 600 people. Finalists will be competing for a prize of €750 across the categories; Over 25’s, Variety and Under 25’s Music & Song with one of these three category winners being upgraded to the overall winner and walking away with a €2,000 prize fund.

The Wexford Has Talent competition is kindly sponsored by The Wexford People. Tickets for semi- finals and the Grand Final will be released over the coming weeks, priced at €10 and €15 respectively for the event that is focused on nurturing the rising stars of the region.

Organisers of the competition has opened online booking for audition places and participants can now reserve their free audition slot on www.wexfordhastalent.com