The voices of more than two dozen musicians will help put food on the table of those in need this Christmas.
Musicians from across southern Alberta are lending their talent to the 10th annual Okotoks Food Bank Christmas Concert at the Okotoks Evangelical Free Church at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 and 14.
Proceeds from tickets sales go to the Okotoks Food Bank.
“These performers all contribute their talent and their time,” said John Fraser, an event co-organizer and performer. “Even though they’re professional musicians in many cases they don’t sing Christmas songs year round so they have to get together and rehearse, then they’re up there for two songs and that’s it. Their contribution goes way beyond that in terms of the time and effort they put into it and their talent.”
Fraser said the line-up of artists range from well-known musicians like John Wort Hannam to up and coming artists like Samm Smith and Michaela Sheedy.
“We’ve really made an effort to get some young people performing,” he said. “One of Tanya Ryan’s early live performances was with us at the Christmas concert. She’s been with us almost every year since.”
The concert will also see some old favourites like the Sheep River Bandits, Jim McLennan and the Steve Fisher Bluegrass Band, which have contributed to growing crowds over the years.
Some musicians play one night and others play both.
“It started out as sort of a tandem concert with the Black Diamond Christmas concert, which was a huge success,” Fraser said. “We decided to do one in Okotoks because it was hard to get tickets for the one in Black Diamond. The first year a lot of it was the same people.”
Fraser said the concert began in the Rotary Performing Arts Centre and has grown in popularity and size, requiring it to move to larger venues as the years progressed.
In its second year the concert was at the Anglican church and, after another year of sold-out shows, it moved to the Okotoks United Church.
Last year’s concert took place in the Foothills Centennial Centre and this year it’s moving to the Okotoks Evangelical Free Church, said Fraser.
“The nice thing about the E Free Church is they’ve got nice padded seats already set up and ready to go,” he said. “They’ve got a beautiful stage and a wonderful sound system.”
Money raised at the charity concert has also been increasing over the years, with about $25,000 raised in 2015 through the concert, individual and corporate donations and other fundraising initiatives, Fraser said.
“We’ve raised some pretty significant money,” he said. “It’s been extremely popular.”
Fraser said the Okotoks Food Bank has been the recipient of the charity concert since day one.
“It’s just an extremely good cause,” he said. “It really is an essential service. Most people really hesitate to go to the food bank. It’s really the last resort.”
Organizations like the food bank aren’t the only ones impacted by the downturn in the economy, therefore the concert tickets prices haven’t increased in five years to make it affordable for more people to attend, said Fraser.
“It’s an affordable evening of unbelievably high-quality entertainment,” he said. “If we raise the amount it will make more money for the food bank, but it might mean some people can’t afford it. We didn’t think this was the year to change it.”
Renay Eng-Fisher, who is in charge of enlisting musical talent for the concert, understands the importance of helping others during such a difficult time.
“You hear that a lot of people are in the food-bank line,” she said. “We can give back a little bit and hopefully spread a little cheer. Christmas is a time for giving and that’s why the fundraising event is as successful as it is.”
Eng-Fisher is a member of the folk rock trio The June Bugs, which has been performing at the concert every year.
“We’ve grown from the first concert 10 years ago at the RPAC,” she said. “It was minus 35 and it was short notice and we sold out.”
To maintain the event’s popularity, Eng-Fisher has arranged an eclectic mixture of musicians this year.
“I wanted to have some jazz, some blues, some folk, some bluegrass and some alt and we’ve got it all,” she said. “None of our musicians get paid any money, none of our emcees and nobody who does sound.”
The emcee for the Dec. 13 concert will be CKUA Radio’s Tom Coxworth and on Dec. 14 will feature Foothills award-winning cowboy poet Doris Daley.
Both will contribute to the entertainment and keep things moving to ensure there are no lulls in the evening, said Eng-Fisher.
Tickets to attend the Food Bank Christmas Concert cost $20 for adults and teens and $10 for children under 12 years. They can be purchased at Sobeys, Royal LePage Solutions, Safeway and evenbrite.ca
For more information go to okotokschristmas.com
