Peace Arts Festival

Swing Dance
Join the Mile Zero Jitterbugs for a swing dance lesson or for a drop-in dance! $5.00 drop-in fee.

Trinket Dish Paint Night
Join Melissa Klassen of the Hive for a trinket dish paint night! Registration required.

Mural Painting with Caily
Join Caily Oldershaw in the creation of a mural to display in KPAC. Registration required. Open to ages 12+.

Open Mic Night
Join the Song Circle for an open mic night. All art forms and all ages, entry by donation!

Pottery with Dori Braun
Learn to hand build a mug with the guidance of Dori. Open to ages 14+, under 14 must be supervised by an adult. Registration required.

Honours Concert
A celebration of performing artists from Peace Arts Festival! Entry by donation.

Vice Jesters & Friends
Join the Vice Jesters, Carmen & Friends, and Jonny Kurjata for a night full of live music! Entry by donation, music at 7:00 PM.

Print Making with Mary Parslow
YAM and PAF present print making with Mary Parslow. Open to youth aged 14-18, registration required!

Beading with Haley Bassett
Join Haley Bassett for a beading workshop, learn the basics of beading and contribute to a group art piece.

Waahkoomiwayhk
Join Ivan Paquette and friends in a concert celebrating community! Entry by donation, music starts at 7:00 PM.
What to Expect:

Education
Peace Arts Festival is a great place to receive feedback from industry professionals. This helps our local performers refine their skills and gain confidence in their artistry, while gaining tips and tricks from new mentors.

Connection
Peace Arts Festival brings our local creative community together; by engaging new connections between artists, mentors, and peers. PAF is a starting point for young performers to embrace the stage in a safe and supported environment.

Celebration
Peace Arts Festival is about celebrating the performing arts. We will come together to share our talents, cheer each other on, and enjoy the company of new and old creative collaborations in our community!
DANCE
Syllabus:
Please read our 2026 Dance Syllabus for any general information, rules, submission requirements, and information about your discipline for our 2026 Peace Arts Festival.
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Registration Fees:
Solos - $15.00 per dancer
Duos/Trios - $15.00 per dancer
Group Numbers - $6.00 per dancer
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We encourage studios to register on behalf of their students. Studios will be billed one total owing fee, not individual fees per dancer. If you do not belong to a studio we encourage your instructor to register if you are a group, or individual registration if you are a soloist.


INSTRUMENTAL
Syllabus:
Please read our 2026 Instrumental and Vocal Syllabus for any general information, rules, submission requirements, and information about your discipline for our 2026 Peace Arts Festival.​​
Registration Fees:
Soloists - $15.00 per selection
Duos/Trios - $6.00 per performer
Choirs/Instrumental Ensembles - $25.00 per group​​
We encourage musicians to register independently. In the event of ensembles, we encourage conductors to register on behalf of their students. Studios will be billed one total owing fee, for all choirs or ensembles registered.
SPEECH
Syllabus:
Please read our 2026 Speech Syllabus for any general information, rules, submission requirements, and information about your discipline for our 2026 Peace Arts Festival.​​
Registration Fees:
Solos - $15.00 per selection
Duos - $6.00 per performer
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We encourage performers to register independently. In the event of a duo, we ask ONE performer registers on behalf of their duo.

Meet The Adjudicators

Shelly Rutherford - A mother of two girls, both dancers, Shelly lives just outside of Grande Prairie on their family acreage. Shelly began dancing at 8 years old and fell in love with the art. Her passion for dance, and the training and development of strong dancers prompted her to start her own dance school that has grown from 90 students the first year to over 500 students today.
Shelly and her business partner Lorraine have built a studio that values not only the technique but also life skills like self-confidence, teamwork, determination, resilience and perseverance. Shelly is an award-winning choreographer and her students regularly place at the top of their categories in Alberta dance competitions. These days she focuses most of her time on the management side of the studio, knowing that a strong studio is only as good as the systems that support curriculum delivery, business performance, and dancer excellence. She is a proven leader in the dance community, often sought out for advice and counsel to help like-minded studios move forward, while keeping youth happy, healthy and safe in dance class. She is a LifeLong learner and is always seeking the latest information on dance and entrepreneurship.
Shelly is a co-founder of Dance Safe Canada Council Inc., a national non-profit association that serves the mission to create and educate on safety, compliance, policy and procedural standards of excellence for dance studio owners and educators. DSCC originated as Dance Safe Alberta (www.dancesafealberta.com) which remains the active Alberta-based chapter of DSCC assisting all studios and educators.

Lorraine is the co-owner of DansConnection School of Performing Arts, where she has been sharing her passion of dance and dedication for inspiring and nurturing children for the last 18 years.
Lorraine grew up in Kelowna B.C. where she studied dance at the Canadian School of Ballet. Her love of movement and rhythm started at the early age of 5 and was thankful that dance was a big part of her family's heritage. She quickly became proficient in all styles of dance and loves the diversity of all forms of the art. She has traveled to many places in North America to advance her abilities and knowledge, to learn from many well known dancers and choreographers.
She found her passion for teaching after many years of performing and enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills with both students and other dance teachers in the dance community. As a dance teacher, Lorraine feels that it is important for her students to feel confident and motivated at all times and that they are in a safe environment they feel comfortable and respected in. She is also an award winning choreographer and her students regularly place with high awards at many dance competitions across Alberta.
She is a certified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and also mentors teachers to acquire their certification. She continues sharing her skills and training with her dance colleagues working together to grow, learn and discover new teaching strategies and best practices to bring into the classroom.
Lorraine is a proud mother of 2 girls and has cherished watching them grow as confident young girls and competent dancers throughout the years.She values spending time with her family and friends making life long memories.
Lorraine continues to dream big for her students, families and team members . She believes the strengths of the studio are built on teamwork, passion, professional development and community.

Dana Pedersen is a full-time music teacher and musician based in Fort St. John, BC. She has been involved in music for over 30 years, completing certificates in the Royal Conservatory of Music as well as a Bachelor of Music, majoring in performance, at the University of Victoria.
Dana performs regularly, both as a soloist as well as with a variety of bands and music groups throughout the Peace Region. She draws from her experiences with both learning in structured music schools as well as her time playing live music to create a unique way of learning music that is enjoyment based first.
She also works with the local theatre group as musical director and helps in the music community whenever possible. She plays piano, accordion, and guitar as well as coaches singing and strings playing. Her passion is creating and supporting more music in the community.

Naomi Shore is a singer-songwriter and touring artist from Northern British Columbia. Her music is characterized by contemplative and clever songwriting, delivered with strong, full vocals. She often explores vulnerable themes in her work, using music as a means to process life and connect with her audience. In addition to her career as a performing artist, Shore has been a
full-time music teacher in Fort St. John for two decades. She is a classically trained pianist and teaches piano, ukulele, beginner guitar, and vocals. Songwriting has become an integral part of her teaching, which she finds rewarding as it helps her students gain confidence in self-expression and trust their creative instincts.
Naomi Shore has released several musical projects, including the albums "Piece by Piece" (2019) and "Stability" (2023). She is currently recording her third solo record to be released in 2026.
REGISTRATION
Dance Discipline
Reminder that we request STUDIO REGISTRATION ONLY, if you are part of a studio please inform your dance teacher you wish to participate in the festival, and they will handle your registration! If you are an independent dance instructor we request you fill in the applicable information upon registration.
Instrumental Discipline
Reminder that we request INDIVIDUAL REGISTRATION, if you have questions about which class to enter please ask your music teacher for guidance and advice. If you have remaining questions please reach out to our team with your request via email at: programs@kpacdc.ca
Speech Discipline
Reminder that we request INDIVIDUAL REGISTRATION, if you have questions about which class to enter please reach out to our team with your request via email at: programs@kpacdc.ca



