Our History

In February 1930, a group of businessmen and one woman met to discuss the possibility of a musical festival for Kamloops. Many more meetings were held, sometimes with as many as fifty people present. Small amounts of money were raised by recitals given by music teachers and people were approached re: the giving of medals and trophies The first Festival was realized in May, 1931. It went on for two days with two adjudicators present and had seventy entries consisting of vocalists, pianists and choirs. On October 12, 1932, the Festival became officially a society under the name Yale Cariboo Music Festival. Thus, the first official Festival was held on May 4, 5, 6, 1933. Every year after that there were many more entries; performance days were added as well as new classes. Card parties and recitals were held to help out financially. Once a tea was held, convened by men. In 1939 and during the war years, the Festival was not held due to the lack of general interest.

In 1947 members of the Local Council of Women met to consider the attempt of reviving the Festival idea.  After much interviewing and reorganization, Kamloops had a Festival once again in 1948.  Since then it has steadily grown.  Dance and Drama was added, then many other new classes - Instrumental, Speech Arts, Band, etc.  One more small break happened in 1962, but from 1963 on, the Kamloops Festival has been getting larger every year, up to 2,000 entries one year.  Many well known persons have come to adjudicate the classes: Sir Ernest Macmillan, Burton Kurth, Phyllis Schudlt and Dr. Leona Patterson to name a few.  Entries have come from as far away as Revelstoke, Trail, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton, Merritt, Ashcroft, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, Lillooet and the Coast.  In 1982 the Festival name was changed from Yale Cariboo Music Festival to Kamloops Festival of the Performing Arts.  The Festival now lasts three weeks with some days having three halls in use.

In 1999 the Festival took another giant leap forward, coming into the electronic age and put all information onto computer.  This lessened the load for a lot of the volunteers and made quick work of the 'office' detail.

In 2007 another milestone - on-line registration was brought in, now everyone could register with the "click of a button"! The bugs were worked out with the Kamloops Festival being the front runner in this program.

The Festival certainly has a decidedly important role to play in the cultural growth of our city, giving young artists the possibility to explore and expose their widespread talents.  The Festival is made possible by many volunteers who give freely of their time, not just during the Festival but all through the year. To volunteer yourself, contact Sue Reedman @ 250-372-9339 for further information.