Innisfail residents will be celebrating Alberta's arts and cultural communities on September 27th and 28th at the Innisfail Public Library, when the facility hosts two grand events to commemorate Alberta Culture Days.
The annual province wide celebration began in 2008 as a one-day event, Alberta Arts Day. At that time, 30 communities across the province participated, holding 100 different events.
Since that time, Alberta Arts Day has expanded to become Alberta Culture Days, an event designed to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. Thousands of people are expected to participate in hundreds of events around the province during the three-day-long affair.
This year, Innisfail is taking part in the celebration, with two free public events - one specifically for the town's youth, and one all-encompassing event for people of every age.
The first event, Murals & Music, is just for children and teens and will be held on Friday, Sept. 27th from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Library. "We are going to make the largest sidewalk chalk mural that has ever been done in Innisfail," said Melinda Mercer, Youth/Adult Programmer for the Innisfail Public Library. "Hopefully it doesn't rain, but if it does, we have contingency plans in place."
Following the creation of the mural, there will also be a youth talent show. "The youth of Innisfail are invited to come out and take part, if they have a talent they want to show off," said Mercer. "It should be a lot of fun." Kid-friendly snacks like popcorn and juice will be served at the event.
On the following day, Sept. 28th, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, the Library will be hosting Art Fest 2013, to celebrate the accomplishments of Innisfail's local talent and to provide a forum for artists to present their work to the general public.
First up at this celebration will be readings by authors from all genres, both local and imported from the surrounding area. "We have Innisfail author Carol Ritten Smith sharing some of her work, as well as other Central Alberta authors such as Avery Olive and Annette Grey," said Mercer. "The idea is to expose people to all kinds of writing, such as poetry, fiction, non-fiction, humour and more."
There is also one visual artist confirmed for the event, Innisfail resident Osiris Cruz-Lahtinan, who will be displaying a sampling of her work.
"We also hope to have several local musicians and bands, both adult and youth, come out and perform," said Mercer. While some have been specifically invited, Mercer wants to encourage anyone who has a talent to come out for the Open-Mic portion at the end of the celebration, or to contact her to find out about a potential performance time-slot.
Mercer hopes that the weekend will prove to be a fine celebration of local talent. "It is a great free venue for our local artists, authors and performers to share their gifts with the public, and a great opportunity for the public to experience our local talent," said Mercer. "Everyone should try to come by and see what we as Albertans have to offer in terms of arts, culture and community spirit."
Anyone interested in finding out more about participating in either event as an artist, author or musician should contact Mercer at the Innisfail Public Library, 403-227-4407. Those wanting to learn more about Alberta Culture Days are invited to visit the official website, albertaculturedays.ca.
