Local advocates are trying to crowdfund enough support in the community to get Cochrane’s first ever Children’s Theatre Festival off the ground and on stage by August.
Late last year theatre festival co-organizers Take A Bow Community Theatre, Sleeping Giants and Black Box Theatre Guild had attempted to procure funding for the project through the Field Law Community Grant; however they were ultimately unsuccessful.
But that doesn’t mean the groups have given up on the idea, says Anita McDonald, a member of Black Box Theatre Guild and a longtime local theatre volunteer.
“Myself and my co-organizer, Jenny Austin for Sleeping Giant Theatre School, we met up again this early this year and decided that we still want to pursue a children's theatre festival even without that Field Law grant. We do have some seed funding, and we do have a prospective grant that we are planning to get. And so with that, we decided to push forward with this Children's Theatre Festival, even if it's just bare bones. What our plan moving forward is– to try to get more grants and more fundraising and sponsorship to make it bigger and the best that we can make it.”
The main drive right now is through a crowdfunding initiative in partnership with the Alberta government. For every dollar donated in Cochrane, the Government of Alberta will match it.
McDonald is hopeful there will be a lot of support for the proposal in Cochrane.
“I really believe theatre is so important not only as a way to build community, but it's fun,” she said. “There's a lot of people who don't get the chance to experience professional theatre here in Cochrane. And we want to bring it in a dynamic way by making it focused on young audiences in a fun, hopefully sunny, August day out in Mitford Park.
“It's (also) a great opportunity to bring tourism to Cochrane,” McDonald added. “We think that this is something that people from Bragg Creek, Airdrie and Calgary will come out for … I think this festival is a great way to gauge the community's interest in performing arts to see if we can kind of push for more funding and more infrastructure.”
The event would be anchored by professional theatre artists, explained McDonald, with plenty of opportunities for interactive audience engagement.
“So the focus of this festival is professional theatre for young audiences; so we will be bringing in professional acts from Calgary and area to perform. So these kids are gonna get an opportunity to see people who have dedicated their lives to bringing and sharing enjoyment and fun with kids."
Those interested in donating to support the festival are encouraged to do so before April 30 during the matching grants campaign.
“We are a group of non-profits that just love our community, and think that performing arts is a fantastic way to bring us together,” concluded McDonald. “If this is an event that they like to see happen, and something they would love to attend, every dollar, one, two or five dollars, makes a difference in our ability to go from just a couple of acts on the Mitford stage, to adding face painters and jugglers and other family fun experiences right there at the festival right here in Cochrane. And our hope is that by seeing that community support, we want to do this year after year.”
To donate visit www.sleepinggiantstheatre.ca/cochranechildrenstheatrefest.
