The Prince Albert Winter Festival Jigging Contest drew a large crowd on Sunday afternoon at the Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre.
Honourary Co-Chair of the Prince Albert Winter Festival, former board member and second year judge for the Jigging Contest Chrissy Halliday said the event is an important one for the winter festival.
“The Winter Festival started really as a cultural event, as a way to get people out in our harsh Saskatchewan winters. Especially come February, people tend to get very down,” Halliday said.
She said the cultural aspect of the Metis in Prince Albert and area also makes the contest important.
“We’re literally sitting on Treaty 6 territory, homeland of the Metis,” she said. “We had battles of 1885 fought on this land, and the heart of Metis culture is dance, right? Dance, getting together, having food, and it just turns into such an important part of the festival. We have so many amazing jiggers in our city who travel up north. They travel to all sorts of festivals. It’s just a really great opportunity to showcase them on their home soil.”
Sunday’s event saw a larger number of participants than in many past years. The dancers include Tiny Tots, who are age six and under, all the way up to seniors.
Each event features judges, including Halliday and Kevin Joseph. Halliday said before the contest that judging can be hard.
She said it is hard and she always have a difficult time judging art.
“Even the kids are really hyper good and competitive, and then of course, there’s those kids you like a lot as human beings and you want to see them win, but at the same time, they might have to take second or third because so and so is really, really good,” Halliday
Halliday said that from seeing the strength in last year’s competition it was going to be difficult to judge this year.
“We usually have about 50 competitors across the divisions, I’m looking forward to it though. It is fun,” Halliday said.
Participants danced a final dance after the payouts during the Prince Albert Winter Festival Jigging Contest on Sunday at the Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre.
The Tiny Tots were the first contestants during the Prince Albert Winter Festival Jigging Contest on Sunday at the Prince Albert Indian and Metis Friendship Centre.
Every participant received a payout of some size for participating.
In the Tiny Tots category, there was a large group of young dancers who all received a payout.
Because first and last names were not available for all top finishers not all finishers are listed.
In the Junior Women 13-17 category Jacqueline Bird placed second. In the Women 18-59 category Ashla Michel placed first, Kayla Montgrand was second and Rae-Lynn Smallchild was third. In the Seniors category Sharon Isbister placed first. In the Youth 6-12 category, Kinslsey McKenzie placed third. In the Men 18-59 category Richard Head was first, Dale Morin was second and Moses Cook was third.
After the payouts, everyone who participated in the contest took part in a group jig to close out the contest.
Halliday said that this week is the biggest week of the Winter Festival.
“We have a ton of events happening this week,” she said. “We’ll wrap up on Sunday. It’s a lot of our events that are going to be free with your button. (The) outdoor, the kids events, we’ve got the sliding hill tomorrow (Monday). Like, there’s just so much going on. It’s our big week. It’s our final push for the festival. I honestly believe jigging is a great way to start it.”
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
