Markerville’s Historic Fensala Hall is bringing new sounds to an old tradition.
In years past when the tiny hamlet was young, this now 116-year-old community hall hosted arts and culture events of many sorts, including poetry and musical offerings.
Members of the community today, who grew up in Markerville, fondly recall “Fridays at Fensala” when people gathered for activities such as dances, music and storytelling. Today volunteers for Historic Markerville, Central Alberta’s Hidden Gem continue this tradition of bringing music and entertainment to the community.
The coming fall and winter marks the fourth season of making Fensala Hall a great place to enjoy live entertainment. The Fensala Concert Series consists of four shows: one in each of September, November, January and March that offer a range of musical styles.
Show organizers also strive to engage newer, up and coming performers from around Central Alberta as opening acts with the goal to give future talent more exposure.
In addition to the musical entertainment, the ticket prices include dessert served at Intermission. There’s a cash bar and of course, the coffee is always on.
The 2019/2020 Concert Series kicks off Friday, Sept. 13, 2019 with Sarah Hiltz, an emerging singer/songwriter from Toronto. She’s expanding alternative Canadian folk tradition with songs and stories pulled from her multiple journeys across Canada as a travelling musician on Via Rail’s passenger train, The Canadian. Her music is described as lush, nuanced vocals and jazz-influenced songwriting. Opening for her will be Innisfail’s own Cole Martin, an audience favourite at recent Historic Markerville events.
The season will continue with Sean Burns and the Windy City Band, a country music group from Winnipeg, on Friday, Nov. 15. On Jan. 18, 2020 Fridays at Fensala will celebrate on Saturday with Edmonton-based vocal group 6 Minute Warning.
The group consists of six members with extensive backgrounds in rock, pop, jazz, classical, and choral music. Their voices are their primary instruments.
The final show of the season features Allan and Arnell on Friday, March 13, 2020. The acoustic instruments compliment Allan and Arnell’s tasteful vocals in a variety of musical styles - country, bluegrass-lite, folk, roots and a growing collection of their original tunes.
Almost without fail, performers playing Fensala Hall for the first time, comment on how they enjoy the slightly smaller venue size with excellent acoustics and a setting that makes it easy to feel connected to their audience. Fensala will be humming this season.
Check out historicmarkerville.com for more details on show times and ticket prices.
This article was submitted by Markerville-area resident Adele McKechnie.
