This year marks the 117th Annual Edmonton Music & Speech Arts Festival (formerly known as the Edmonton Kiwanis Music Festival) – North America’s first and longest-running festival of its kind. Nearly 1,400 single and group entrants (aged 4 to over 80), taught by 190 teachers, and entered in over 690 classes will perform and compete from April 22 to May 4, 2025, at the EPSB Centre High Campus (10050 MacDonald Drive – formerly known as Alberta College), McDougall United Church (10025 101 Street), the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre (8426 Gateway Boulevard), and Archbishop MacDonald Catholic High School (14219 109 Avenue).
This will be the last time the Festival is at its current main location (Alberta College). Stay tuned for news of where next year’s Festival will be!
Sessions generally start at 9:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 6:00 PM.
Choirs, bands, orchestras, singers, pianists, guitarists, speech/acting students, musical theatre performers, string players, composition students, chamber music ensembles, woodwind players, and brass players will be showcasing what they have learned this year in a variety of classes. Some will be recommended to represent Edmonton at the Provincial Music Festival, and some will win Scholarships, but all will share their passion in their chosen discipline.
All events during the Festival are FREE to the public.
The High Level Bridge will be lit up in Red & Gold on Saturday, April 26 in recognition of the Festival.
A Festival-at-a-Glance is currently available on the website, and the complete Programme will be available at www.emsaf.ca no later than April 13, 2025. There will be no hard-copy, printed programmes available at the Festival.
For more information, please visit the Edmonton Music & Speech Arts Festival (EMSAF) website at www.emsaf.ca
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