Today the 32nd annual Barrhead Rotary Music Festival gets under way.
It lasts five days and will see 240 performers showcase their skills and talents before a sea of faces, including four adjudicators.
Two hundred and forty may seem a lot. But it is a fraction of the number the prestigious event used to attract.
Years ago 1,000 entries was commonplace, with participants from Blue Ridge, Mayerthorpe, Whitecourt and other surrounding communities. Even three years ago 500 people took part.
So what has happened? The major factor is student numbers. There used to be 1,500 to 2,000 children in the school system throughout the district. That figure has dropped considerably.
In 2010, the festival suffered another blow when participation was halved after Whitecourt decided to host its own event.
Mayerthorpe students used to add a strong speech component to the festival. But now they go to Whitecourt because that is the jurisdiction for their school.
Dwindling participation may be cause for disappointment, but certainly not for despair. The right response would be to view it as a challenge.
The festival is still a big deal. It is one of the most significant events in Barrhead’s calendar, made possible by the efforts of many volunteers in the community.
As festival president Lucille Terpsma said last week, Barrhead should take immense pride in the event, just as it does in the Wildrose Rodeo.
“For a small town like Barrhead to have a music festival is fantastic,” she said. “It gives kids out in the country a big opportunity to perform their music.”
While most of the students come from Barrhead, other areas are also represented, including Fort Assiniboine, Neerlandia, Dunstable, and Rich Valley.
The performers, most of whom are aged between five and 19, have devoted a lot of time to practising their discipline, be it reciting poetry, singing, or playing guitar, violin and piano.
The festival provides a great opportunity for them grow as musicians, receive constructive criticism, encouragement and advice from professional adjudicators, and perhaps advance to provincial and national levels.
In the past piano students have gone to provincials, and so has a young children’s choir from Neerlandia.
Terpsma said traditionally parents have been extremely supportive of their children, turning out to listen and applaud.
In these challenging times, we can only hope they do so again along with the rest of the community.
Not that supporting a local event and helping to underwrite its future is the only incentive. Those who attend, from teenagers to seniors, should be in for a musical treat.
A wide range of music will be performed, including classical, jazz, blues, ragtime, baroque and contemporary. There should be something for everyone’s musical palate, from Beethoven, Bach and Mozart, to the Beatles and themes from Mission: Impossible and John Williams’ Star Wars.
Check the festival program. You are bound to find something to interest between now and Saturday.
Help turn the festival into Barrhead’s ode to joy.
