Three days of music, artisans, food – and more – drew hundreds of festival goers to town
BY KIM LANGEN
Despite some chilly windy weather on opening night, the local lakeside festival drew a lively crowd for a great musical event.
It was the Killarney Lakeside Festival, which first began life a few years ago as the Sights and Sounds Festival. It has now returned, with new vigour and life, and lots of attractions.
“It could not have been better,” said arts centre administrator and organizer Giselle Beaupre. “We fought a few weather issues, and we won! We fought a wee bit of imposter syndrome, and we won! We built it, and this amazing community came. Our team of volunteers remained flexible, and we solved problems along the way.”
Nearly a hundred advance tickets were sold for the festival, and this was further rivalled by those who chose to arrive and pay the $40 day ticket for the Saturday night event.
“Ticket sales went better at the door than in advance,” said Beaupre. “Ninety-four advance tickets were used, and our highest count, on Saturday evening, was 200, so at least 100 bought tickets at the door.”
Beaupre said the capable team that managed to put the whole weekend together were superb in their endeavours. She praised their ability to pull together and make the event such a success.
“The main highlight for me were the people,” she said. “The audience, the musicians and their guests, the sound guys, the market vendors, the food truck vendors, as well as the terrific group of volunteers. I see, and I saw all of you, I am so grateful that you were there!”
Other highlights included the great festival area space, a jointure of the Heritage Home for the Arts and the Killarney Ag Society grounds, plus the support from so many directions.
“That stage, the Ag building, the connection to the Heritage Home yard and the old Bandwagon, just felt so good and all of it clicked,” she said.
“The third highlight for me was the support and help we received from people and groups outside of our steering committee and our volunteers. The businesses and people who sponsored us, the Municipality staff, the folks who loaned us things, and simply stepped up to see what we needed and offered their help. I feel emotional just thinking about all the warm wishes and good luck and positive vibes that were sent our way.”
The 50:50 raffle, which reached $350, was won by artist Danielle Kennedy, who also happened to be the festival’s in-house Face Painter, giving us all some amazing illustrated faces to enjoy in passing.
The Artisan Market, which ran on Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m., showcased some incredible works of art and craft in the Ag Display Building, and was open to the public at large.
Big City Bites provided some richly loaded bagels and more, plus Green’s Dog House had the wieners rolling nicely along. The ‘Tweeners’ filled some interesting spaces, and emcee Mama Sol James ran a great show, was very funny, and her spontaneous ‘a cappella’ interludes were astounding.
No rain fell on the big Saturday night show, which was packed with some great performers, including The Janzen Boys, The Spectacles, the rocking Quinton Blair band, and the roarin’ Dust Rhinos to finish off the night.
Fired-up festival organizers have since had a chance to debrief, and celebrate, said Beaupre, and are already making plans for next year’s Killarney Lakeside Festival. Don’t miss it!
QUINTON BLAIR BAND ROCKS ON SATURDAY – Manitoba’s award-winning Quinton Blair – tight, fun, and famous for ‘moving the dance floor’ – was a stunner on Saturday night at the Killarney Lakeside Festival. Above: Blair jams with his lead guitarist; below: the rest of the band, joined by the festival emcee and star performer in her own right, the powerful singer Mama Sol James (left).
LOCAL BANDS ROCK OPENING NIGHT – Killarney’s T.H.E. (above) was the first band to kick off the festival on Friday night, with local hard rocking band Midlife Crisis (below) closing out the evening. The frigid Friday gave way to nicer festival weather on Saturday, with a warm Sunday finish.
The talented Julianna Moore (above) performed Friday following T.H.E., while Mama Sol James (below) emceed and entertained all weekend long.
The soulful Bobby Dove (above, left) took the stage Saturday afternoon, and was joined by a Spectacle. The Spectacles (below), in their entirety, played a great set following Dove.
Terrific trio The Janzen Boys (above) were up next, followed by Quinton Blair, with the high octane Dust Rhinos (below) making their triumphant return to Killarney to close out the Saturday night show.
BANANIMALS LIVE – Beppie and Mandy Faye (left, and right) joined the young ‘Bananimals’ during their first official appearance at the Killarney Lakeside Festival on Sunday. Their original song, ‘Animals: Say What?’ was written earlier in the week at the Heritage Home for the Arts’ Youth Camp, in preparation for the big performance. And there was more than just amazing music at the festival…
MATCHING TATS AND WOVEN MATS – Above, tattooist Brooke Furet focuses on her Scissors Ink craft, while her client holds hands with his lady as he undergoes a matching tattoo with hers to mark the festival occasion. Below: Tamara Kemp in the amazing Artisan Market in the Ag Display Building, as she weaves live on location for shoppers and youngsters.
TALENTED TWEENERS AND MUCH MORE – Keep scrolling for talented tweeners, dancers and a whole lot more fun festival photos.
