Festival of Small Halls application deadline fast approaching

The Island's community venues have less than a month to apply to be a stop along the way during this year's P.E.I. Mutual Festival of Small Halls.

Debbie Atkinson, the festival manager, said the application deadline is Jan. 20 and venues can do everything with the click of a button on the festival's website.

"We send out an expression of interest each year and an application, and we list what we expect of the halls and what they can expect of us. And so they send their application in and we just evaluate from our criteria," she said.

Driving these people around back and forth to the different halls and seeing the halls be so hospitable and show Island hospitality to these people from away is wonderful.- Debbie Atkinson

"We have an online process this year that they can just click on and fill it right out online and it automatically comes in, so very, very simple this year."

Atkinson said the festival's team hopes to have everything done in March to make ticket sales and advertising easier.

Showcase of Island arts and culture

The Festival of Small Halls was founded in 2008. It showcases Island arts and culture, presented in collaboration with roots, folk and traditional artists from all over who travel to "cherished halls of all shapes and sizes" found in rural areas.

Atkinson said the festival's team has a specific criteria is must look for when deciding which venues to include. Things like hospitality and ability to host a show, stages and dressing rooms, kitchen access, and ability to sell tickets and reach the community are all considered.

This year's festival will take place June 11-24 and Atkinson said its lineup will be a mixture of local, regional, national and international artists.

Artists from around the world

"I guess our goal is to have 60 per cent of the artists from P.E.I. and then the other 40 per cent from the region, from the Atlantic provinces and from way across the way Scotland, Ireland, the United States, everywhere," she said.

Atkinson said she loves the artists and the music, but her favourite part of the festival is travelling around to the community halls.

"Driving these people around back and forth to the different halls and seeing the halls be so hospitable and show Island hospitality to these people from away is wonderful."

Hospitality and kindness

The hospitality and kindness the halls provide is something Atkinson said is a common character trait around the province.

"In a typical show in these rural halls, we would have a break, an intermission, and the people in the halls would haul out biscuits and tea and jams and cheese, all kinds of good stuff, and people, especially from off-Island are amazed by this, by the hospitality."

Atkinson said since the Festival of Small Halls' inception, a number of halls have been able to renovate and improve things like seating and stages. This means it's not only the audience and artists who benefit from the shows on back country roads and coastal drives.

"It's a win-win for everyone."

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