The North Island Festival of Performing Arts (NIFPA) has been lively in the Comox Valley and will continue to be so until March 3.
The non-profit organization hosts the annual festival to provide performers of a multitude of fine arts disciplines an opportunity to perform in an adjudicated, audience based format. Genres include piano, speech arts, fiddle, strings, vocal, musical theatre, and dance styles of stage, ballet, modern, and street.
Performers have travelled from Port Hardy to Parksville, Courtenay to Port Alberni to come and participate in NIFPA’s festival.
Performers not only gain adjudication and experience, they have opportunity to qualify for the provincial festival, otherwise known as provincials. Adjudicator-recommended performers will have opportunity to travel to Chilliwack and participate at the annual provincials, which offer master classes, lectures, coaching, workshops, adjudication and technique classes.
NIFPA is thrilled to again have been supported by RBC’s Emerging Artist Support Project.
“The festival was given a grant of $5,000 towards the festival and numerous provincial winners came out to be involved in the acceptance of the monies on the opening day of festival. It was an exciting moment to see all these winners come together to receive such a great donation,” says NIFPA publicist Deidre Knudson.
NIFPA celebrates the closure of the festival with two fundraising concerts, the Variety Showcase and Dance Gala. A show created from adjudicator selected performances, the Variety Showcase is a representation of all genres seen across the two-week festival, and the Dance Gala is a full night of dance performances.
The shows are held at the Sid Williams Theatre on March 8 and 9. Tickets cost $15 at the Sid Williams Theatre box office.
— North Island Festival of Performing Arts