A fine end to the 2018 Fine Arts Festival
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- Published on Thursday, June 21, 2018
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Neepawa & District Fine Arts Festival
Neepawa and District Fine Arts Festival (NDFAF) was a success again, thanks to the work of an executive of 14 people plus our committee president, Rhonda Dickenson.
Many additional volunteers assisted the executive committee with various tasks such as cleaning the bathroom, taking stats at the door, and organizing classrooms of children during the speech arts sessions. The Knox Presbyterian Church continues to be a welcoming location for the festival.
Our adjudicators Eleanor Epp and David Klassen were kept busy with 148 entries (two more than last year). Our new speech arts classes consisted of 20 speech arts entries. Due to feedback from the community, the speech arts classes will continue next year. Our concerts and daily sessions were well attended. The admission was $2/session and $5/concert per person and we collected $930 in entrance fees in four days. Friends of the Festival were able to attend all sessions and concerts for free - and there were 57 friends of the festival. The executive were very pleased with the numbers of entries and audience members.
We would like to thank the community for attending the festival, becoming Friends of the Festival, and by supporting participants with scholarships. This year scholarships ranged from $50 to $200 and were donated by: Rotary, Legion, Legion Ladies, Elks, U.C.T., Elks Lodge, Elks, Beta Sigma Phi, Inner Wheel, S. Drayson, Durston family, Choraliers, Lions, and the Turner Fund. On April 29, 2018, the NDFAF and the Neepawa and Area Community Choir hosted “Notes for Knox” where many of the winners of the scholarships and trophies performed. Eleven performers were nominated to attend provincials in Brandon, Manitoba at the end of May.
The 2018 festival was a success because of the many hours of volunteer time and a community that supports the festival with financial support and by filling the church as listeners. The festival continues to be a great place for people to enjoy music and performances and for performers to have an audience and receive feedback from an adjudicator. We are looking forward to planning the 2019 NDFAF. Please note that the deadline for entries will be February 1, 2019. If you are interested in more information about the festival, follow us our Facebook page “Neepawa & District Fine Arts Festival” or join our executive at the Annual General Meeting on September 23 at 3:00p.m. at the Lion’s Den at Arts Forward.
