As the Collage Multicultural Festival prepares for the opening of its second annual event, organizers get a last minute boost to their funding.
Last week Souris Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki announced $34,700 of federal funding for the festival.
"I'm quite aware of the great number of volunteers involved, and the number of volunteer hours to plan and host an event such as this where we celebrate the music, dance, arts and crafts of various ethno-cultural groups in the community," said Komarnicki in an Aug. 31 release.
Celebrating diversity in the area, Collage is about sharing the many unique backgrounds in the community. The location of festivities for the Sept. 9 to 11 event was moved from Woodlawn Regional Park to the Estevan Curling Rink and Lignite Miners Centre, and event co-ordinator Angela Simmons expects the festival will continue to be held in September, though the official event date is yet to be set in stone for the coming years.
"The best thing about Collage is to come out and enjoy the variety of entertainment," said Simmons. "It's entertainment that is local and representative of the many cultural groups and backgrounds in our area."
This year's festival has been expanded to two days after the success of the first event last summer that was held for just one day.
"Now it's two full days of the festival on the grounds itself."
She said they weren't planning on holding two cabarets during the festival, but that's what they've got. The first will feature Brad Johner and Chris Henderson next Friday night as a welcome to Saskatchewan party, said Simmons, bringing some "hometown boys" back to Estevan. That cabaret follows the sponsor awards gala and top-chef competition in the curling rink.
Saturday night will feature a MuchMusic dance party at the Lignite Miners Centre. It will feature beach music and two 10 foot by 14 foot screens.
The party on Sunday goes back inside the curling rink for the tailgate party for the Saskatchewan Roughriders road game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The game will be displayed on the two screens used for the MuchMusic dance party and there will be lots of food and an open beer gardens for the game.
"We hope to close with a Riders win," said Simmons.
The event has about 50 booths set up for the vendors and a kid zone.
Collage was postponed and moved after the flooding earlier in the year, so while the organization had its share of hiccups, Simmons said planning for the festival has gone smoother than it's opening year.
"We're just rolling with the punches. It's still new for us. We revamped it a little bit."
Simmons noted similar events in other places have multiple venues that house different aspects of the festival, while at Collage all the vendors are under one roof.
