NORTH BATTLEFORD - Are people in North Battleford interested in holding an arts festival?
Leah Garven, the City of North Battleford’s director of galleries, wants to know. A couple of community consultation sessions have been organized as Garven gauges the level of interest from artists and the public about putting on such a show.
One idea is establishing a small outdoor art festival in downtown North Battleford this fall at Central Park. Another idea is establishing a bigger event such as North Battleford’s version of Nuit Blanche, which would be a weekend or evening art festival that could feature displays and presentations in multiple venues.
Whether there is sufficient enthusiasm from the public and from potential volunteers will guide the decision making on whether something gets the go-ahead.
“It’s not the type of thing you can carry off alone,” said Garven. ”You need to have the community pitch in to help and I was curious to see if there was any interest in co-ordinating small afternoon festivals or even a larger project.”
The idea stemmed from the outdoor anti-racism event Walk Together – Stand Together held last Sept. 21, which drew a good turnout.
“Last year when we did Walk Together - Stand Together we had a beautiful day,” Garven said. “Even though COVID(-19) was out we still had people come by the gallery.”
The first community consultation at Allen Sapp Gallery is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, with the second happening on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. Garven noted the goal for those meetings is to have conversations on what people are interested in and help formulate a plan of action.
As well, those interested in volunteering or working on such events can contact lgarven@cityofnb.ca or call 306-445-1760.
