Another year of music is in the books after the Prince Albert Music Festival 2025 ended with the Band Awards Concert at Messiah Lutheran Church on Saturday.
The 77th edition of the festival ran from March 3 – 21 and was held at the Mont St Joseph, Carlton and the Messiah Lutheran Church. The festival was organized by the Prince Albert Musical Festival Association (PAMFA).
PAMFA President Jordana Thiessen said more than 200 musicians performed at the festival. She said organizers were pleased with the turnout, despite the challenges. “I won’t say it went off without a hitch,” Thiessen said. “There were some hitches, but everything worked out really well.
The biggest challenge of the year was holding the festival without a coordinator. Thiessen said they still have plans to fill the position. The organization has their AGM on Monday, Sept. 22 at the Margo Fournier Art Centre where they plan to fill the position.
“Ideally, we would have someone lined up and then they would officially start that Sept. 22,” Thiessen said.
“We had multiple members who were doing jobs that normally would fall to the Festival Coordinator, and it’s not sustainable,” she added. “The reality is that we can’t do the festival without a festival coordinator.”
Anabelle Bergeron performed “Minuet in G Major” on the flute at the Prince Albert Music Festival Instrumental and Band Awards Concert on Saturday at the Messiah Lutheran Church.
The Prince Albert Children’s Choir performed “Whistle Down the Wind” at the Prince Albert Music Festival Vocal Awards Concert on Friday at the Messiah Lutheran Church.
Alexandrine Bergeron and Lydia Bergeron performed “Sisters” at the Prince Albert Music Festival Vocal Awards Concert on Friday at the Messiah Lutheran Church.
Olivia Scott performed “Humoresque” on the violin at the Prince Albert Music Festival Instrumental and Band Awards Concert on Saturday at the Messiah Lutheran Church.
Leigha Dunn performed “Always a Bridesmaid” at the Prince Albert Music Festival Vocal Awards Concert on Friday at the Messiah Lutheran Church.
The festival has other positions open too, but Thiessen said the coordinator position is the most vital.
The other big change this year involved their venue. The festival organized a few shows at the Mont St. Joseph Home this year for the first time. Thiessen said they were happy with how it turned out.
“It (Mont St Joseph) was really great. It was a beautiful venue, and they have all this artwork hanging up too, so it was really nice,” she said. “They’ve got those curtains that open up and we had enough people that they had to open it up and make more room for people. I think it was really great. I hope some residents came and were able to listen.”
Finally, Thiessen expressed her appreciation to all who contributed in one way or the other to make the event a success.
“A big thank you to the Messiah Lutheran Church, Mont St Joseph and Carlton for being our venues,” she said. “A big thank you to all of our board members and all of our volunteers who helped … and of course all the teachers and parents for supporting the students.”
–with files from Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
