President’s Report

Festival 2017

The 44th Annual Festival of the Performing Arts – what a ride this has been! The year got off to a slow start with a mostly new Executive Board, who had to feel their way into their positions. Kudos to everyone, not only did we pull it off, but we had a success on our hands.

My thanks go out to every member of the Executive and all of the board and discipline coordinators. We had regular, well-attended and productive meetings throughout the year. A great help towards achieving success. Special mention should be given to Jim Chisholm who has created order in our finances, Terry Andrews who produced paperwork that reduced the calculations of the President one hundred fold and Shannon Geue who found Sponsors to help fund the Festival. This board is fortunate to have such talented and conscientious Directors.

A huge ‘Thank you” is due to everyone who contributed funds or in-kind services to this year’s Festival. A complete list can be found on the Festival website. Also to Pamela Earle and her volunteer army of “Greeters and Adjudicator Secretaries” who donated hours of their time assisting each class. The Festival would not exist without all of the above most generous gifts of time and funds.

A change made this year was the introduction of “on-line registration” via the Festival website. This brings our festival more in line with other Performing Arts Festivals throughout BC, including the Provincial Festival. While this was judged to be a success, there was a delay in getting the registration process started. A few minor ‘improvements’ will likely be made before the 2018 registration process gets published. We are very grateful to Edmund Arceo for all his expertise in getting this program up and running on the web site.

The adjudication this year was exceptional. All adjudicators gave individual and group ‘mini lessons’. Teachers and parents alike were impressed with the time spent demonstrating how each performance could be enhanced or otherwise improved. As in previous years, the adjudicators arrived each morning on the 7:20am ferry from Horseshoe Bay, which usually meant a 5am or earlier start to their day. The board is looking into the possibility of hosting the night before to alleviate this imposition.

The 2017 Festival gave out in excess of $6,000.00 in award prizes this year. Four Provincial delegates were selected of which three entered the Provincial Festival in Kelowna and one was recommended to enter the National Festival competition.

Well done to all the Festival participants! It is the hope of the Board that the experience you gained has further enhanced your own expertise, be it for a future career or personal enjoyment.

Barbara Lightfoot