Local musicians and artists came together Saturday to hit the stage for the 10th annual No Stone Unturned event.
The free concert aims to raise public awareness of Manitoba’s missing and murdered, while providing support for victims’ families.
Point Douglas MLA and event organizer Bernadette Smith knows what it’s like to lose a loved one and to have no answers.
“This year marks 10 years since my sister, Claudette, went missing,” Smith explained. “Our family will never give up searching for her, nor will all families who’ve been impacted by someone who’s gone missing or murdered.”
Claudette Osborne-Tyo went missing from Winnipeg on July 25, 2008.
No Stone Unturned was founded after her disappearance.
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“10 years ago when my sister went missing, nobody came out and helped us search, nobody came out and helped us create posters,” Smith recalled. “There was no organizations that were doing this, there were no grassroots front-line people that were there to come and help us navigate through what we were going through. So really this is our way of supporting and bringing community together.
“In our first year we had maybe a hundred people. Now we see over a thousand people come to the event.”
Smith also co-founded both Drag the Red and the Coalition of Families of Manitoba’s Missing and Murdered Women in Manitoba.
“Every year, our community comes together to remember and never forget those who are missing or have been murdered,” Smith said. “This is also a time to celebrate and honour their lives and to commit as a community united in stopping the violence.”
Saturday’s concert featured performances by a number of local artists, including Juno award winner Vince Fontaine’s Indian City.
C-Weed, Sly Skeeta and the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers also performed.
All performers donated their time to the event.
Musician and No Stone Unturned co-founder Hector Menow also hit the stage.
“From the start, my family and I wished to raise the spirits of grieving families through music, which heals the heart and lifts the soul, body and mind,” Menow said.
“Families of missing and murdered can support one another through a common understanding and shared experience.”
The event also featured a community feast, silent auction and children’s activities.
The concert closed with a candlelight vigil and a fireworks display.