Holiday Alley Town Hall

Holiday Alley calls for artists of all genres

Holiday Alley volunteers are putting the call out for artists, musicians, poets and performers to throw their hats into the ring to make Holiday Alley 2018 even better than the incredibly successful first year of the cultural festival in old downtown Selkirk, Manitoba.

Holiday Alley volunteers are hosting a community town hall next week – Tuesday Feb 13^th at 6:30 p.m. – at the Selkirk Legion, 403 Eveline Street- and inviting artists of all genres to bring an idea or two about how to bring more art and culture to downtown Selkirk.

Holiday Alley is about creating a space for art, sound, light and creativity to grow and expand in our region, says volunteer Kim Allen, who wrangled 25 live performers for 2017, who entertained outside and inside.

The possibilities for 2018 are only as narrow as our imagination, says Allen.

“Imagine if we had an all-weather public art installation in the centre of the Manitoba Avenue East built by students. Imagine if artists were stationed in shop windows painting live, and you could buy their art at the end of Holiday Alley. Imagine if children could make art outside in their snowsuits – what would that art be and who would lead the kids’ activities? Imagine if singers roamed the street in the snow, imagine if there was a corner where kids could get up in their parkas and tell their favourite joke. Could we have an outdoor poetry slam,” says Allen.

In 2017 the range of art included fibre artists at the Gwen Fox Gallery, an Indigenous round dance hip hop and Ukrainian dance lessons, adds volunteer Karen Rudolph who along with her husband Matt Jenkins of Cloverdale Forge, created a live blacksmith forging competition on the street.

“We know there are many other great ideas out there and this is the kind of festival that if you’ve got time, talent and treasures to add to it, we’re open to the idea,” Rudolph adds.

Holiday Alley is fueled by volunteers from Selkirk, St. Andrews and St. Clements, the generosity of local businesses and government grants. It attracted 3,000-4,000 people a day to the two-day festival last Dec 1-2, 2017. It included adding 3,000 strings of lights to 24 building fronts that have been on for 60 nights during the darkest days of winter.

For more information see holidayalley.ca

Contact: Co-Founder Shirley Muir, 203.771.7523  [email protected]