Festivals
There were three festivals in the Chautauqua Spirit Project - they were;
Chautauqua Celebration Festival
EVENTS SCEDULE - (Click on the icon to see the full 24 page program in PDF (13MB)
THE FESTIVAL
The Chautauqua Celebration is an entirely new three day festival, held on September 25th - 28th, 2008. There was no admission charge. The aim was to recapture the spirit of the Chautauquas that came to Morden in the early 1900s. The program included an eclectic variety of music, dance, drama and speech arts. People were invited to come and go, choosing the Chautauqua Celebration activities that best suited their interests.
Back 40 Folk Festival – 20th Anniversary
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Back 40 Festival expanded it's 2008 festival to two full days of programming. The festival was held on May 31st & June 1st in Morden Park with the largest attendance ever. A "Young Performer's" stage, hosted by Juno award-winning James Keelaghan, gave a higher profile to the many gifted young singer/song-writers in our region. Featured artists joining Keelaghan at Back 40 included the Asham Stompers (a Metis folk-dance troupe), Johnny Cajun, In-cline-ation, the Doug & Jess Band, the Swiftys, Stew Clayton, Kerrie Woelke, Kayla Luky, On The Edge, Billy Joe Green, Chris Carmichael, The Sway, and Link & The Moustaches. Large shade trees provided a canopy for the art and food booths that surround the festival site and complemented the musical smorg on stage. Tickets were $15.00 for a one day pass and $25.00 for a weekend pass. For more information visit www.back40folkfest.com
ROCK & FOSSIL FESTIVAL
The Rock & Fossil Festival was held at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre on February 22nd & 23rd, 2008. A total of 261 individuals participated including school groups, adults and families. Participants brought in artifacts and specimens for the professionals to review. The festival was jointly presented by the CFDC, Mineral Society of Manitoba, and the Manitoba Archeological Society. Quality displays of fossils, lapidary, interesting rocks and minerals were viewed by all the participants. There were demonstrations of molding and casting, rock tumbling, flint knapping as well as prep work on fossils. Click here to view a one page report with photos.
For morn information about the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre visit www.discoverfossils.com .
