The Airdrie Children's Festival Society was formed to give kids in the city a good time and it looks as though they're doing a good job from the list of entertainers they've just announced for the first ever Children's Festival on May 26th.

Chair Pete Lewis is excited by the quality of the entertainment and he thinks the rest of the community should feel the same way.

"Oh gosh, we couldn't be more excited!  I think anytime you can get two Juno award winners and a Juno nominee  together on a stage for kids I think it's fantastic."

The list of seven entertainers is impressive for a first-time event.  Lewis runs through some of the highlights.

"Headlining for us is Bobs and Lolo.  I think most families with kids will be very familiar with them.  CBC favourites,  They were recently named Canada's Favourite Kids Entertainers by CBC Music.  They've won a number of awards across Canada.  I believe they'll have a new album coming out either right around or just after coming out to see us."

Bobs (Robyn Hardy) and Lolo (Lorraine Pond) are nominated for a Juno Award this year for Children's Album of the Year.

Lewis continues with the list.  "We have Alberta's own Peter Puffin, Peter Lenton is his actual name.  He hails originally from Calgary, he's up in Edmonton now.  People from children's festivals and schools around this area will be family with him.  Norman Foote is big on the west coast and he's a Juno Award winner (2010 for the album, "Love My New Shirt).

Then, Lewis gives us an "exclusive."  "We haven't even announced it yet but Norman's going to be doing a songwriting workshop for kids the same day.  He's going to work with some of the kids by a pre-registration and they're going to work on a song and they'll perform with him up on stage during the festival."

The Calgary based WP Puppet Theatre is also among the top-notch entertainers that the festival has secured.

Lewis is particularly excited by some other entertainers that have been announced.  "A part of our vision is to celebrate our cultural diversity and we're very pleased to have Clarence Wolf Leg from the Siksika Nation, he's a traditional drummer.  Then we have a local family from Airdrie, the Loyer Family and they have three girls who do the fancy dance and then their son does the grass dance so we're really excited to have an indigenous peoples component to this to help them celebrate their culture and share that with the kids and families in the community."

Jacqueline Guest, an award-winning Metis author and member of the Order of Canada will also be coming to share readings from her soon to be released children's novel "Death By Dinosaur: A Sam Stellar Mystery" which is set in the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller.

Lewis says they've almost reached their fundraising goal for the festival, which means that the entire event will be free of charge for all families.

The first ever Airdrie Children's Festival is set for Saturday, May 26th in Nose Creek Park. 

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