The 51st annual Lafleche and District Music Festival got underway on April 2, presenting 111 voice and musical theatre entries along with 21 speech arts performances. The piano and string performers took to the stage with a further 130 entries on April 5. The final concert takes place Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m. The event also includes a cake to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. Programs are available at the Lafleche Pharmacy.
The Lafleche and District Music Festival belongs to a provincial organization, the Saskatchewan Music Festival Association (SMFA) which brings together 47 district music festivals throughout the province and works in many ways to ensure that festivals such as in Lafleche continue to succeed. The SMFA receives funding from the Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation that is administered by SaskCulture. While the Lafleche festival does engage in some fund-raising, the funding from the Lotteries Trust Fund enables the town’s volunteers to focus on the important work required to make the Lafleche Music Festival happen year after year.
At the festival, young performers present their gifts after months of preparation. Over 50 scholarships with a combined value of $4,050 will be presented during the final concert. The Lafleche and District Music Festival appreciates the tremendous support from the communities. A very special competition takes place on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. with eight solo performers chosen from the very best of the week. They will compete head-to-head in the Pillay-Ramlakhan Competition. There will be no admission charged and the audience can expect to be entertained by our very best competitors.
