Kiwanis Music Festival
The Kiwanis Music Festival movement consists of regional music competitions in most Canadian urban centres. Its origin probably traces as far back as an inaugural 1908 festival in Edmonton, where Governor General Earl Grey advocated the establishment of music festivals throughout Canada's provinces.[1]
These festivals are named after the Kiwanis service clubs which generally support the events in each community. Typically, musicians and speech arts performers at each festival are given the opportunity to perform and compete for scholarships.
Festivals by city
| City | Founded | Website | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrie, Ontario | 1979 | [1] | Originally the Barrie Music Scholarship Competitions, the local Kiwanis chapter assumed operations in 1987. |
| Calgary, Alberta | 1917 | [2] | Kiwanis became actively involved in 1954, and was formally named the Kiwanis Music Festival in 1968.[2] |
| Chatham, Ontario | 1945 | [3] | |
| Edmonton, Alberta | 1908 | [4] | |
| Guelph, Ontario | 1981 | [5] | |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia | 1935 | [6] | Originally entitled Halifax Music Festival.[3] |
| Kelowna, British Columbia | 1926 | [7] | Originally the Okanagan Valley Music Festival, which was hosted in a 3-year cycle among Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon. Kelowna's festival became fully autonomous in 1981.[4] |
| Kingston, Ontario | 1973 | [8] | |
| Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario | 1948 | [9] | |
| Lethbridge, Alberta | 1931? (2008 marks the 78th festival) | [10] | Originally the Lethbridge Music Festival, the Kiwanis Club has operated the festival since 1953. |
| London, Ontario | 1959 | [11] | First year a small, limited competition. 2008 is indicated as 40th anniversary, where 1960 was the first of regular annual competitions. |
| Ottawa, Ontario | 1945 | [12] | Originally Ottawa Music Festival Association until 1985 when Kiwanis became actively involved.[5] |
| Penticton, British Columbia | 1926 | [13] | Originally the Okanagan Valley Music Festival, which was hosted in a 3-year cycle among Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon.[4] |
| Peterborough, Ontario | 1946 | [14] | |
| Prince Edward Island | 1946 | [15] | Four local festivals (Kings County, Queens County, West Prince and East Prince) lead to provincial finals, then to the national finals. |
| St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | 1952 | [16] | |
| Toronto, Ontario | unknown | [17] | http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emc/kiwanis-festivals |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | 1923 | [18] | Originally the British Columbia Music Festival, established by the fraternal order of the Knights of Pythias. There are several smaller festival events from February each year (Jazz, Concert Band, Choral) leading up to the Main Festival in April. |
Festival participants
- Lara St. John,[6] a London, Ontario-based Kiwanis Festival Winner.
References
- ^ Musselwhite, Florence. "Alberta Music Festival Association". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Calgary Kiwanis Festival History
- ^ Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival Association - history
- ^ a b Kelowna Kiwanis Music Festival history
- ^ Kiwanis Music Festival, NCR: General Information
- ^ Reaney, James (2 April 2002). "St. John signs Sony deal". Retrieved 2008-02-10.
External links
- "Competition festivals". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Sun Media. "Festivals of music". London Free Press. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) [dead link]
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