As part of the Best Summer Ever, the City of Red Deer is inviting families to come down to Bower Ponds for a bit of free entertainment this weekend.
“Basically, it’s just an afternoon in the park. We bring some entertainer of some kind in – this time, coming up will be Norman Foote. He’s got a show from 2 to 4 p.m.,” said Peter McGee, special events programmer for the City.
Foote is a children’s music performer and puppeteer from Vancouver.
McGee also said he is very excited to say Foote will also be giving youngsters a chance to help write a song before his main event performance at 2 p.m.
“We’re trying to expand (Summer Sundays) so that it’s a bit more of an afternoon of fun. If kids want to come down and hang out with him for an hour from noon until one, they’ll write a song with him.
“At 2 p.m., when Norman’s show starts again, all the kids will get up on stage with him and perform the song they wrote together.”
McGee explained this was incorporated to try and get youths comfortable with creating music and performances, and hopefully to encourage them to continue to develop their talents.
Currently, six children are registered for the singing/songwriting class. There is no fee for the event, although Cultural Services asks that people contact them prior to arriving for the songwriting process. The best way to register is to contact Teresa Neuman at 403-309-4757.
Foote’s show is not the only attraction for families.
There is also going to be a photo scavenger hunt. This pits children against each other, as they, usually using mom or dad’s phone, will snap photos of different goals around Bower Ponds.
“It’s a really cool opportunity, hopefully where, at a grassroots level, we can start to get more and more music and opportunities for young kids to start making music here in Red Deer.”
Last year, the Summer Sundays at Bower Ponds brought entertainers such as Randi Boulton and Fred Penner to the stage. In addition to Foote, a Japanese style drumming duo from Edmonton, Booming Tree, will delight audiences later in the summer.
“You can’t just throw a public space out there and expect people to jump on and use it. The Bower Ponds Stage is fairly new, (only a few years old), and we put it in there and now we want it being used. All of these things are becoming more and more successful all the time.”
To keep up to date on all of the Best Summer Ever events going on around the City, check out the Red Deer Cultural Services facebook page, follow them on Twitter at @rdbestsumerever (intentional spelling of summer with one ‘m’) or follow the twitter hash tags of #rossstpatio and #bowerponds.
kmendonsa@reddeerexpress.com
