Kelowna’s Kiwanis Festival is returning for another year, giving Okanagan talent a chance to return to the stage after so many events have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kiwanis is about children,” said Zonia Arnold, Kelowna Kiwanis Festival president.
“We need to give our children a chance to see that even though the pandemic has turned their life upside down, there is still something in their life that they recognize and that they know.”
The annual event gives amateur dancers, vocalists and musicians the chance to perform in front of professionals and get honest feedback.
To keep competitors safe, the festival will be made up of both in-person and virtual events. If a group competing is in a bubble in dance, choral or concert band, they will be allowed to take the stage at either the Rotary Centre for the Arts or Creekside Theatre without an audience.
“They come and do their best performance and then they get some written and live feedback from a professional who is not their teacher not their parents and that’s what makes it so valuable to them, is they have this chance to practice and do their best and see what a professional thinks,” said Sigurdson.
To put on a good show they need performers to register by Jan. 31 at their website: www.kelownakiwanisfestival.com
Performances will take place:
Dance – Rotary Center For The Arts – Feb. 27 – March 6
Choral – Rotary Center For The Arts – April 11 – 15
Band – Creekside Theatre – April 25 – 29
GALA – Rotary Center For The Arts – May 15