The Estevan and District Music Festival will return later this week, giving young musicians and performers the chance to showcase their talents in front of professional adjudicators.
Alishia Mann, president of the Estevan and District Music Festival Association, said the annual event serves as a performing arts competition featuring a range of disciplines, including piano, vocal, musical theatre, spoken word, and instrumental music.
"We have 440 entries, but some of those are group performances, so we estimate about 1,000 children will take part in the festival in one way or another," Mann said.
She noted that piano remains the most popular category, but participation is strong across all disciplines.
The adjudicators come from across Canada with varying experience in the music industry, such as professors and performing professionals.
"What that looks like is offering them advice, how they could do better next time and giving them praise for things that they did well."
The festival relies entirely on volunteers, with community members stepping up to fill roles such as door attendants, announcers, supervisors, and secretaries to the adjudicators. Local businesses and individuals also provide support, allowing the association to distribute more than $10,000 in scholarships and awards each year to recognize students’ hard work and dedication.
Mann, who has been involved with the festival for about 10 years, said she finds the event incredibly rewarding, both as an organizer and as a piano teacher.
"Seeing them grow and their sense of accomplishment when they have put the work in and put the time in to perfect something, that in itself is amazing. Then they’re able to get a medal or some kind of award for that as well, it’s just the icing on the cake."
"It’s so important to have these little ones grow some confidence and learn work ethic and that, you know, what you put in is what you get out of life."
Organizing the festival comes with its challenges, particularly scheduling.
"We have performers in multiple disciplines and multiple entries per discipline, so making sure everything runs smoothly is a huge undertaking," Mann said. "We also have to coordinate with adjudicators coming in from across Canada and ensure our facilities are available."
The festival begins Sunday, March 30, with the first performances starting at 1 p.m. The full schedule is available here. All performances are open to the public, with admission costing $2 per session.
"It’s the cheapest entertainment in town," Mann said. "And it’s fabulous entertainment."
The festival will conclude with its highlight and awards concerts on April 13 at Trinity Lutheran Church. The first concert, featuring vocal, spoken word, musical theatre, band, instrumental, and string performances, will be at 3 p.m., followed by the piano concert at 6:30 p.m.