The Airdrie Rotary Festival of the Performing Arts is returning to the Polaris Theatre in Balzac once again.
Set for April 15 to 25, the Airdrie Rotary Festival, presented and organized by the Airdrie Performing Arts Society, will welcome school age students from all across Airdrie and the surrounding to perform in disciples like musical theatre, piano, pop voice, and others. This year, close to 400 performers will be participating in the festival.
Performers, who can participate in multiple disciplines, will be offered critical educational feedback by professional adjudicators that have been hired by the festival. Although the festival is primarily focused on the education of young performing artists, the festival judges are able to recommend students to more formal competitive competitions.
Jennifer Harbour, the festival coordinator for the Airdrie Performing Arts Society, said that the festival is an opportunity for great performances to be highlighted and showcased.
“This is a really great opportunity for a lot of these students who may be going through [and] preparing for exams or if they're preparing for competitive festivals, it's a great opportunity to have that performance and get really good feedback,” she said.
The 10-day festival will wrap up on April 25, but a final awards and concert ceremony will happen on April 27. Harbour stated that the certificates will be awarded to students selected to compete in provincial competitions.
Harbour said that the festival has received great feedback from members of the community.
“Our festival is really well loved by the community and those that participate in it,” said Harbour. “[Participants] always feel it is a very welcoming environment...the feedback we get is just that we're a very well run festival, and providing a safe experience for young students and amateur performers to get up on a big stage and to show their talents.”
The festival will kick off Monday, April 15 at 6:00 pm at the Polaris Theatre in Balzac.
