Ottawa to showcase Alberta

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There was a sense of anticipation in the air as more than 200 people gathered at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton March 17 for the announcement of a new major arts festival for Canada.

The Alberta Scene Festival will take place in Ottawa from April 28 to May 10, 2005 to showcase the talents of 600 of the province's finest visual artists, dancers, singers, writers, culinary artists and theatre people.

National Arts Centre producer Heather Moore said that 19 venues in the capital city will accommodate the festival artists. Writers will perform readings at the National Library and culinary artists will display their wares around Ottawa.

"We are presently talking to the communities and finding out what acts are out there," said Moore. "We definitely want Aboriginal culture as part of the line up, whether it is traditional or in contemporary themes in theatre, dance and, certainly, if they are a rock group, a hip hop group or country music, all they have to do is sign up for that and be part of the scene," she said.

When Ottawa hosted the Atlantic Scene Festival in 2003, Aboriginal acts were part of that event, she said.

"There were definitely Aboriginal acts there. There was sort of a hip hop, rock group there, traditional dancers and visual artists. At this time we would love to talk to a lot of Aboriginal people, because we want to make sure that what we present in Ottawa is a true contemporary vision of Alberta... We are here to learn and to find out what is out there, so this is just the beginning in the process. It's like 'Let's begin and let's get this program together,'" Moore said.

"This is an opportunity for artists, Aboriginal artists, Albertan artists, to showcase their talents," said Deputy Prime Minister Anne McClellan. "We have so many talented artists, dancers, singers, musicians, writers, and you name it, and they are all going to be showcased in Ottawa for 13 days next spring, so I think that it is going to be a wonderful time."

Gerald White from the Metis community of Kikino in northern Alberta said he was interested in seeing how northern Alberta musicians, dancers and singers could be represented at the event.

"Many times, entertainers from the north, especially Aboriginal people from Aboriginal communities, are not represented. We have enormously talented, fantastic entertainers that are not always represented by big agencies, big managers or big companies, and if there is a way that we can promote these people from our communities, that will be great. So I think that this event is an opportunity that can make this happen," he said.

People who would like to be a part of the festival should go online at www.AlbertaScene.ca for an application. Deadline for applications is June 30.