Mary Ann Robertson, 100 Mile Festival of the Arts president and festival committee co-chair, says putting the festival together is at least a 11-month process, but it’s worth all the effort.
“The children did so very well. It is wonderful to see their growth. So many have such grace under pressure.”
She adds there are lots of “veterans” performing during the festival, as well as a lot of newcomers who did a wonderful job.
The 36th Annual Festival of the Arts ran April 16-27 at the Martin Exeter Hall. The daily performances by students were adjudicated by professionals in different disciplines, including speech and dramatic arts, instrumental, piano and vocal.
Adjudicators judged performances during the festival and selected award recipients for the final evening’s Awards and Showcase Performance.
Some of the daily sessions were very well attended, but a few times the hall was quite sparse in audience, Robertson notes.
“We will need to think of how to [increase] the audience participation for next year.”
Overall, it was a wonderful festival, Robertson says, adding the children did very well given that some of them have only experienced two recitals before the festival.
The Showcase Performance on April 27 was very well attended, she says, adding the evening was a wonderful blend of the different performers.
Masters of ceremonies for the evening were Eleanor Nicoll and Brian Beattie, and Tahsis Jensen gave the student thank-you.
The festival has an incredible group of volunteers, says Robertson, they just stepped in and carried it off.
“We are holding our AGM in June and will start discussing next year’s festival.”
