A local Prince Albert band Friends were among those who performed at the festival. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

October Festivities

Annual Pumpkin Music Festival celebrates local talent

Oct 6, 2019 | 7:50 AM

The second annual Pumpkin Music Festival is underway and drew a big crowd Saturday at Paintball Paradise, Prince Albert.

The day’s proceedings featured numerous activities for children and families.

Organizer George Lewko, who also owns Paintball Paradise told paNOW he was hoping to double the attendance from last year.

“I think there’s more people right now. I’m almost guaranteed we’re over those numbers from last year,” he said early in the afternoon..

The day included four different local band performances, a corn maze, a children’s play from Off The Cuff Improv called Jack and the Cornstalk, multiple games including Tic-Tac-Toe with pumpkins, tractor rides, and a shooting booth. And of course there were plenty of pumpkins for sale and pie to eat.

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The tractor ride around the corn maze at the Pumpkin Music Festival. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

Lewko said he came up with the idea after visiting Saskatoon at a Martensville tourism stop and saw they were building a stage in a small area and decided to try it out himself.

“A bunch of the young guys who work for me are in bands and they are always saying they don’t have very many places that they can get to play at,” Lewko said. “We have awesome talent in Prince Albert in the music world, so it was like, let’s put this on.”

Last year he said it was almost too cold to make things happen with a high of only 4 C.

“The bands played through it and we still had a pretty good turn out,” Lewko said.

This year, the weather is far more cooperative with weekend temperatures into the mid teens. The event will continue Sunday from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.

“It’s just a nice time of year to get out and do something before winter,” he said. “I’m always impressed with the bands, these guys work so hard and they seem to be underappreciated. Nobody has live bands anymore and they’re wonderful.”

Members from Off the Cuff Improv perform a play at the festival for the children attending. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

Adreanna Boucher, coordinator for Off the Cuff Improv, said she wrote a play from the book “Jack and the Cornstalk,” which is an adaptation from the famous children’s tale Jack and the Beanstalk.

Boucher and other performers put on the play four times throughout the day and will do so again Sunday.

“It’s just a fun little stop, when the kids walk through the corn field, they can read the book and then they can see it acted out,” she said. “We throw in a little humour that’s for the grown ups, and for the kids so yeah it’s a fun addition to a fun day.”

They also get the children involved if they want to be one of the characters.

“We kind of specialize in that, we know getting the audience up and involved they like that, and it just adds another element of humour because people like to laugh at the people they know,” Boucher said.

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Ian.Gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12