The Lacombe and District Performing Arts Festival will be kicking off next week. From March 13th to 16th you can take in all sorts of musical performances from 650 local youth in the central Alberta area.  

“There's music of any kind, there's strings, orchestras performing, there's individual piano, guitar, cello, basically whatever you can think of. [We have] choirs and there's also speech component so people who have prepared speeches or poetry and dance routines,” explained Emily Elder who is member of the Lacombe Music Festival Association. 

Adjudicators will be attending and selecting performers for awards and recognition as well as providing feedback. The Association will be offering a number of awards from local businesses that range from $50 to $1,000.  

Elder is a music teacher in the community who puts her own students into the festival just for the positive experience of performing in front of an audience.  

“It's just such a good experience for them because they have something to work towards and getting feedback from other professionals--I just find it so beneficial,” added Elder.  

Of course, in order to perform in front of an audience, there needs to be an audience. The Lacombe Music Festival Association welcomes anyone to come and watch the performances. Admission is by donation but you are still welcome if you do not have anything to give.  

“Everybody is welcome to come and watch and all we really appreciate and encourage any audience from the community,”  

The performances will be happening throughout the city at local churches and the Lacombe Memorial Centre. For a full schedule you can check out the Lacombe and District Performing Arts Festival Website.