The 34th annual North Island Festival of Performing Arts (NIFPA) has concluded with another successful year. The end of the festival was celebrated with a Variety Showcase on March 11, encompassing all disciplines of the festival: strings, speech arts, guitar, vocals, piano and dance.
March 12 featured a dance gala. Both showcases were successful fundraisers for the non-profit festival, packed with performances that provided a glimpse into the talent that occured during the four-week festival.
During the festival that occurred from Feb. 8 to March 3, students from across the Island performed in an adjudicated audience based format.
The adjudicators selected students across all disciplines to go on to perform in the Performing Arts of BC Festival (provincials) and they will compete against representatives selected from 34 other local festivals across the province.
Provincials are being held in Kamloops from June 5-9. Non-provincial awards were also granted and the festival could not have granted all these awards without the gracious donations that are given by the communities.
Hannah Schuhmann (Ballet Level II- Port Alberni) is the only provincial representative from the Alberni Valley.
Other awards recipients from the Alberni Valley area are Haley Dwolinsky for receiving Intermediate Ballet Observer at the Provincials.
Merit Awards have been awarded to April Davidson, Olivia Fox, Kaitlyn Ward, Kendall Anderson, Hannah Schuhmann, Athena Ethier, Holden Cole, Payden Gaudreault, Klarissa Toms and Nyah Fox and Corrina Robson.
Olivia Fox won the For the Love of Dance Trophy and the Senior Citizens performance by Stage West School of Performing Ar
ts won the Stage Most Entertaining Trophy.
The volunteer draw award winners were Shelly Whitehead who won a one night stay at the Old House Village & Hotel Spa. Judy Woods and Yvonne Higgs received a hydrotherapy treatment.