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Students to attend Shakespeare Festival

It’s Good Will Shakespeare time again here in Summerland, which means that 350 high school students will be descending upon Summerland.

It’s Good Will Shakespeare time again here in Summerland, which means that somewhere in the neighbourhood of 350 high school students will be descending upon Summerland this week to learn all they can about Shakespeare, drama, acting, film making and more.

For those not familiar with the Good Will Shakespeare Festival, it’s a short, but fairly intensive program to help students who are interested in the performing arts hone their skills and get some real insight into the world of theatre.

As the name implies, the festival is centred around Shakespeare and his works, but it is not limited to that by any means.

There are workshops on everything from acting, as you’d expect, and make up techniques to making short movies and writing.

Not only are students exposed to these subjects in depth, but these workshops are put on by industry professionals who can lift back the curtain a little bit and help these students see what’s really possible in the creative world.

As I’ve said in the past, programs like this, especially ones that focus on different aspects of the creative world, are invaluable for younger minds.

A little bit of time spent with a passionate mind can really help someone decide whether or not they truly want to pursue something, even if it’s just as something of a side project.

These kinds of interactions make a difference and it’s great to see Summerland playing host to these sorts of events.

On a related note, the Summerland Community Arts Council’s summer arts program is looking like a great one this year.

Registration for these events is already underway and, if you’re looking for a bit more information on some of the programs they’re offering this year, I’ve got you covered.

First up is probably my favourite program, Art Around The Water, “Where Science Meets Art.”

This is a great mash up of arts and science, with a healthy dose of sailing thrown in for inspiration.

Participants will be splitting their days between sailing, with a half day on the water, and art, with the rest of the day spent doing art outside.

This sounds like the kind of thing that would have been right up my alley as a kid. There’s lot of science involved in sailing (I did a math project on sailing once and was fairly surprised at the amount of numbers of physics involved) and, I don’t know about others out there, but I tend to come off a boat ready to create.

This program runs from July 4 to 8 (although if room fills up, there will be a second session running in August).

For more information about this, or any of the other programs offered during the summer arts program, visit the Summerland Community Arts Council’s website: http://summerlandarts.com/programs/summer-arts-program-2.

Douglas Paton is a Summerland writer and musician. If you know of a local arts and culture event, contact him at dgpaton80@gmail.com.