MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM — The Band City has now proven that it’ll take more than a global pandemic or a province-wide dispute between teachers and the provincial government to keep the Moose Jaw Band & Choral Festival from educating students and celebrating their hard work and dedication to the arts.
This year’s festival ran from May 13 – 16 and included 42 groups with roughly 1,400 students from the neighbouring provinces of Alberta and Manitoba.
Due to the dispute between the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) and the SaskParty government, students from within the province were unable to attend this year but the festival’s organizers were able to make the most of an unfortunate situation.
“The kids are so excited to be in Moose Jaw, because they’ve heard from their classmates how much fun they’ve had the year before,” said Janie Fries, chair of the Band & Choral Festival.
Fries said the highlight of each year’s Band & Choral Festival would have to be the positive responses she and other committee members receive from visiting directors.
“The responses (this year) were all really good,” Fries said. “(These out-of-province students) love Moose Jaw (and) they love coming to the festival.”
, Fries said the festival was an overall success. She noted that Saskatchewan-based groups made the right decision to cancel their registrations earlier as trying to wait out the dispute would be a gamble that would have seen the groups on standby ultimately lose money.
To address earlier concerns that this year’s altered festival may leave a sour taste in the mouths of some participants, Fries said everyone seemed to be understanding of the situation.
“The festival itself has a good reputation as far as 小蓝视频 educational for the students, so the directors keep coming back,” she said. “Many of them have been here more than 10 years probably.”
The Band & Choral Festival isn’t dead in the water, and Fries noted that this year saw a record-breaking registration at 104 groups — down from an initial 107 — at the onset. The only hiccup was the unanticipated teacher’s dispute.
“It was disappointing that we had 42 groups instead of 104,” Fries said. “We’re hoping next year we can even break that 104 number – but we’ll have to see.”
If there was to be one silver lining to this year’s festival, the benefit would be felt by Moose Jaw’s residents. Fries said the smaller student audience – especially for the night shows – meant that more individuals from the community were able to attend each showing. As well, the influx of visitors meant that downtown businesses were still able to receive some additional patronage.
The setback hasn’t broken Fries’ spirit, of course.
After successfully navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and introducing Zoom sessions to allow groups to remotely access workshops and now a province-wide teacher’s dispute, the 73rd band and choral festival will continue without interruption next spring.
“It’s a great festival (and) it’s a great opportunity for the students. I don’t think the directors are wanting to pass that up,” she noted.
The 73rd Band & Choral Festival is scheduled to take place May 12 – 15, 2025.
This upcoming festival will only be possible with the help of dedicated volunteers, and the current committee consists of 10 members who will need some assistance with the festival next spring.
To apply as a volunteer or for more information visit .
Applications for the 2025 Band & Choral Festival are expected to open around October 2024.
