A new children’s festival taking place this weekend won’t be affected by freaky Alberta weather.
“Over the years there have been children’s festivals but no real big one day event that the weather wouldn’t be interfering with,” said Doug Kryzanowski, Exhibition Park marketing manager adding there will be 70 booths featuring a variety of activities and events appealing to both children and their parents, and most importantly all under one roof so the weather wouldn’t affect the show.

The 2011 Lethbridge Children’s Festival, which is not related to previous children’s festivals downtown, takes place all day long, April 16.
“We’ve been planning this for a year,” he continued adding it has been a challenge doing it on a minimal budget.

“It has really evolved,” he said adding there will be everything from bike safety to Shrek plus pets, First Nations performances, Rainbow the Clown, children’s author Patricia Atchison, singer/songwriters/ magicians and ventriloquists Peter and Mary, a reptile party and a lot of other fun activities. He said one of the goals was to keep the event affordable.

 One of the highlights will be the half hour performance “Come Stomp With Shrek,” which is on stage at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. with a meet and greets after each performance.

It takes a lot of work throughout the year to make the Kiwanis Music and Speech Arts Festival a success year after year.
 “Lethbridge has a really big music scene. People don’t realize that,” observed Leroy Cranston, a long time volunteer who is not only a familiar face at the Yates Centre for the two weeks of the festival, but is also a busy bee behind the scenes helping get everything organized for the event.

The festival features over 5,000 performers from the Lethbridge area including individual school band members, plus approximately several hundred volunteers helping out in every aspect from the day-to-day operation of the festival from the logistics of getting the performers to the venues, selling advertising  in the program, to arranging parking issues with the city, plus all of the work behind the scenes organizing the event beforehand so it runs smoothly for these two weeks.

“It’s a lot of work, but if we didn’t have these volunteers and sponsors, the cost would be prohibitive. We also co-ordinate the scholarship fund,” said Cranston, who has been volunteering for the festival for close to 20 years. This year, he is running the canteen at the Yates Centre as per usual, but in the past  years, has done everything one can do for the festival.

“It the marshal can’t make it, then I can do it,” he said adding there is less interest in volunteering for service clubs today.

The Kiwanis Speech and Arts Festival features about 5,000 performers performing over the span of two weeks in a variety of categories from musical theatre, speech arts, bands, solo instrumentation, choir and a lot more between April 4-16 at several different venues including the Yates Theatre, Southminster United Church, St. Augustine's Hall, Library Theatre Gallery, Sterndale Bennett and St. Patrick’s Fine Arts School.

The first week of the 81st annual Kiwanis Speech and Arts Festival winds up Saturday with the fourth Annual Musical Theatre Showcase at the Yates Centre.

“It’s gone very well,” said Executive Director Carole Roberts, who is calling it quits after six years at the helm of the long running local festival, which features close to 5,000 young performers including members of bands and choirs.

“We’re always looking for ways to bring people in,” said Roberts, adding the Musical Theatre Showcase is a recent addition to the festival designed to highlight the plethora of fantastic musical theatre entrants.

“We’ve seen a handful of people  who aren’t related to anybody performing, just coming just for pure enjoyment,” she added, noting everybody is welcome to come and listen to Lethbridge’s up and coming talent performing at the festival.