Cariboo Festival is going ahead with COVID-19 restrictions in place.
“The festival is really important and we wanted to go ahead,” said Chris Ford who, along with his wife, Robin Ford, is on the festival board. “It was a really tough year in 2020 when we had to cancel due to public health requirements.”
Two options have been proposed for 2021, depending on what the health orders will be by the spring.
The first ‘preferred’ option is to have the festival participants filmed while performing at venues, with proper physical distancing and screens.
“We could film from a distance every kid at the same venue so regardless of internet connection or recording equipment will get the same opportunity as every other performer,” Ford said.
If that is not an option, and restrictions shut things down even more, then participants would be asked to submit a video created at home.
The videos would be forwarded to an adjudicator who would in return provide feedback and constructive criticism to the performers.
Adjudicators normally select performers from the Cariboo Festival who go on to participate in the provincial Performing Arts BC festival which is slated or Cranbrook from June 1 to 5, 2021.
The festival will begin April 12 with the vocal and choral section and closed April 17 with the instrumental and band section.
For the 2021 Cariboo Festival, Dr. Jim Sparks will adjudicate vocal and choral submissions, Murray Nichol will adjudicate piano entries and Olivia Blander will adjudicate band and instrumental performances.
For the 2021 Cariboo Festival, Dr. Jim Sparks will adjudicate vocal and choral submissions, Murray Nichol will adjudicate piano entries and Olivia Blander will adjudicate band and instrumental performances.
Registration is now open until Monday, Feb. 8, 2021 online via the Cariboo Festival website — cariboofestival.ca — and Ford said there are major updates to the syllabus due to the virtual nature of the festival.
Due to a lack of volunteers, the speech arts portion of this year’s festival has been cancelled.
“As with many volunteer organizations, we are dependent on the efforts of our amazing volunteers. With some recent departures, we have open positions within our executive in dire need of filling,” Ford said, adding they will need the following positions filled: vice-president, treasurer, secretary and speech arts co-ordinator.
Ford said the festival’s number one goal is to provide a place for the amazing artists in the community to showcase their talents and receive adjudication for their performances.
“We hope to continue that tradition for many years,” he added.
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