The organizers for the Estevan and District Music Festival have started to accept registrations for the annual showcase of local musical talent.
Music festival committee president Esther Bangsund said the deadline to sign up for the festival is Jan. 26. People have the option of registering online or through more traditional means, such as mailing in their registrations, but 80 to 90 per cent of their registrations were online last year.
“A lot of the music teachers are using the online registration, too,” said Bangsund. “It’s easier for them.”
The registrations have been coming in slowly, and January is when most registrations are submitted.
“When lessons start and when school gets back in session, then they usually come in quite quickly,” said Bangsund.
The music festival attracts hundreds of participants each year.
The dates for the festival haven’t been finalized, but the tentative schedule is to have piano from March 11 to 16, vocal and speech arts from March 21 to 24, and band and instrumentalists from March 27 and 28.
Separate highlights and awards programs will be held for each discipline. The festival should be finished before the Good Friday long weekend and spring break.
Bangsund said she is looking forward to hearing all of the talented performers who will be part of the festival.
“I always look forward to that,” said Bangsund. “It’s just a wonderful … way for people to show their talents or to work towards something else, just to develop.”
Also still to be finalized will the adjudicators. They will be selected by the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association once the deadline for registrations has passed, and the number of participants is known.
