After having to cancel last year's event, the Moose Jaw Music Festival Committee has announced that the 2021 festival will be held in a hybrid live/virtual format.

The province-wide Saskatchewan Music Festival Association has consulted with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and got the go-ahead to host live performances.

"Our festival starts on April 17 and things could change before then," explains Jeri Ryba, the president of the Moose Jaw Music Festival Committee, "but right now, we'll have a limit of 30 people in the room. There'll be screening and lots of sanitization."

Students showcasing piano, voice, or musical theatre performances will be able to have a live audience and get notes from their adjudicator in-person. Band ensembles wanting to enter will have to record ahead of time to be judged. Due to the current restrictions on choirs, there will be no choral category this year.

"We're expecting fewer entries overall just because of those restrictions. So the festival will look different from previous years but we're just excited that students will be able to perform again."

And Ryba says that excitement is definitely shared by the performers.

"As a teacher myself, my students don't even care that things are going to be different. They're just excited to get into that performance atmosphere. Even just getting to start lessons again was amazing for them."

She believes that the lower number of performances in 2020 won't have too negative of an impact on the students' musical abilities over the long term.

"At this age, I don't think they suffered from the break they've had. I think they'll bounce back pretty quick."

In a normal year, performers who excelled at the regional level would then go on to compete in the provincial music festival and then perhaps even at nationals. Ryba says these events will still be happening but will have to be completely virtual.

"We weren't able to secure a large enough facility for something like that. Students will be able to submit individual recordings that the adjudicator will listen to and then give feedback from there."

The Moose Jaw Music Festival also hopes to make the event even more accessible this year but live-streaming the performances online.

"Family and friends can watch from home if there's not enough space or if they can't get time off work. It's going to be a lot more work than normal but we're trying to adapt and just make something work for our students."

Registration is currently open for the festival but closes on Feb. 15 at 9:00 pm. You can learn more about how to enter here.