“It’s quiet.” That was pretty much the unanimous response from participants at the inaugural Amplify Youth Festival.
Holding its own at 421 participants, the two-day festival at The Enjoy Centre this past weekend, was in some ways an experiment to discover what youth are passionate about.
“We were prepared for more, but this was our first year,” said St. Albert cultural services director Kelly Jerrott.
“It’s an investment in youth in the community. We engaged 421 youth in programs, and concerts. The whole weekend was well carried out. In any festival you get a base year and we will build from that,” she added.
Virginia to Vegas attracted the highest attendance with 150 plus youth at his Saturday night pop concert.
“I think it was great. The kids that were there had a blast. They enjoyed themselves and had a great time. And we spoke to Virginia to Vegas after the concert and he was thrilled with the kids’ attitude and how the kids behaved,” Jerrott noted.
Prior to the Saturday night concert, the youth advisory committee had programmed workshops, a dance, and non-stop entertainment on the Loft Stage.
While the festival’s focal point is the Moonflower Room, many of its workshops are distributed through the cavernous venue.
The most popular workshop was henna design, a sellout both Friday and Saturday.
Brooke Dawn, 15, a student at Morinville Community High School, with a leaning toward sculpture, discovered the intrigue of henna art.
“Every design has a meaning and I find that quite interesting. Something like this introduces you to new experiences and you should take advantage of every new situation,” Dawn said.
On an outdoor deck facing Riel Drive, six St. Albert Catholic high students along with Bellerose foods teacher Jason Dabbagh gathered to brine, smoke and barbecue ribs.
The first thing the young chefs did was to remove the rib membrane so the meat absorbs the brine, a mix of garlic cloves, bay leaves and sugar. At one point they debate the merits of using sugar.
“Could we use honey,” asks one student.
“It would be better brine, but it would be more expensive,” replies a serious Dabbagh. A few minutes later, the septet is rippling with familiar jokes and gentle camaraderie.
Meanwhile, Joe Vanderhelm from Rapid Fire Theatre was running an improv workshop in the soothing atmosphere of the centre’s spa. His goal is to start with a single source that potentially can open a universe of ideas.
Delivering quick-witted patter, the adolescent improvisers morph from mould on a bed to dry ink to plumber butt to lizards living in the desert. There’s a touch of insanity to the inventions, but you had to be there to enjoy the laughs.
Intellectually and physically demanding, successful improv follows one basic convention, Vanderhelm explained.
“Everybody brings a sack of bricks. With your bricks and your friends’ bricks you build a house. If it’s just your bricks, you’re doing stand-up.”
Upstairs, young visual artists play with tape art perspective and geometric shapes on the glass walls of the Moonflower Room. Inside the Moonflower Room, Resonate Music organized an instrument zoo where students experimented with drum kits, guitars, a keyboard, a deejay set-up, synthesizers and vocal mike effects.
Off in the glass-enclosed boardroom, blues singer-songwriter Kat Danser led a small songwriting workshop. The three youth songwriters are challenged to compose a song and sing it in public.
Sitting at a table, the foursome brainstormed lines for a song. Imaginative ideas start to percolate. At one point Carlee Krec introduced a new line.
“Do you really feel that? One thing I don’t like is people your age singing about things that aren’t true to them. Quite frankly, you need life experience to sing some songs,” Danser said emphasizing the importance of authenticity in a relatable song.
While the full-day workshop started with watching favourite YouTube songs, Danser also covers more hardcore materials such as critiquing songs, structures that work, key issues for tempo, speed-writing and getting in touch with your inner self.
The noisiest workshop planned is metal works with participants pounding either a copper dog tag or a bracelet.
Paul Kane student Katherine Lee, 16, slipped a copper rectangle around a mandrel, a circular forming tool and shapes the metal cuff by beating it with a mallet. With about a dozen youth beating copper, a constant hammering sound filled the air. But it’s not too noisy to talk.
For Lee this is an extension of shop classes she took in junior high and Grade 10. “I’m going to wear this proudly around town,” she said swinging the cuff in the air.
Gabbie Cournoyer, 17, now studying at Victoria School of Performing Arts, sings a 20-minute acoustic set on the Loft Stage.
“It’s (festival) a cool thing. It has a cool atmosphere and the Enjoy Centre has a nice feel. The turnout could have been better. But they (organizers) have provided a great opportunity for kids to express themselves. There’s not a lot of festivals in St. Albert for teenagers. There’s open mikes, but Amplified is the first festival to introduce a lot of different things.”
The City of St. Albert approved $25,000 to conduct research for the youth festival. Another $80,000 was allocated to organize and launch the first year. An additional $80,000 is committed for Amplify 2015. At that point an assessment will be conducted said Jerrott.
