A celebration of Cochrane’s vibrant arts and entertainment community is returning to town this weekend.
Cochrane Culture Days, aligned with Alberta Culture Days, will be held Sept. 10 and 11 at both the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre and Main Street's Centennial Plaza.
The Cochrane Integrated Arts Society (CIAS) has organized the yearly arts festival since 2020, although society president Jane Kaczmer acknowledged an earlier version of the festival was previously put on by the now-defunct Arts and Culture Foundation of Cochrane.
Kaczmer called Cochrane Culture Days “a great opportunity for the public to come out and enjoy seeing what is going on” in terms of Cochrane’s arts and cultural scene.
“It’s a good opportunity also to contact sectors, businesses, and things related to art,” she said. “Each year, it changes a little bit.”
A significant focus of the inaugural Cochrane Culture Days in 2020 was the town’s ties to Alberta’s burgeoning film production sector, according to Kaczmer.
“The first year, we did quite a concentrated effort on the film industry, because there are quite a few people in Cochrane – or who graduated high school in Cochrane – who are now in different parts of the film industry,” she said. “Although it was the beginning of COVID, we were able to pull it off.”
She said the second year continued to focus on visual arts, but also added a market and live stage performances to further bolster the event’s offerings. The 2021 version of the festival also partnered with the Cochrane Classic Car Club’s show-and-shine on the Sunday.
“They had their show-and-shine on Sunday, and we had a performance stage at Centennial Plaza, so we were the entertainment for the car show and it worked out very well,” she said.
The collaboration with the car club will continue this year. As well, Kaczmer said CIAS is partnering with the Cochrane Farmers’ Market at the Spray Lakes Sawmills Family Sports Centre on Saturday, offering a day full of stage performances from the Cochrane Pipe Band, Stoney Mini Thni Dancers, and Band on the Bow Concert Band. A drum circle will also be held and everyone is invited to join in with One World Drum.
For the youngest attendees, entertainment options on Saturday will include balloon twisting and face painting.
Kaczmer said CIAS also wants to use this year’s Culture Days to highlight Cochrane’s literary community. She said between stage performances on Saturday, attendees will be able to listen to Cochrane’s local authors as they read excerpts from their works.
On Sunday, the Main Stage moves to Centennial Plaza on Main Street, and the focus shifts to live music. The performances will feature a full programm of jazz, folk, fusion, country and Dixieland bands.
Kaczmer said she doesn’t have a specific favourite aspect of Cochrane Culture Days, adding the whole weekend boasts something for everyone and is a great way to connect with people from the community's local arts groups.
“Really, what I look forward to is having people come out and find out there’s a whole bunch of local art things going on,” she said. “We often have people who end up joining our arts groups and music groups.”
For more information or to get involved, visit cochraneartsociety.com or email [email protected]
