POW WOW PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY 16-17

The Living Sky Casino will host a 10th anniversary Pow Wow on Feb. 16-17.

The Living Sky Casino’s 10th anniversary will have another highlight event with the return of a Pow Wow on February 16 and 17.

The two day Pow Wow at the Stockade Building is anticipated to draw anywhere between 200 and 300 dancers of all ages and all styles of dance. Registration for contestants begins at 10 a.m. on both days. Saturday’s Pow Wow begins at 11:30 a.m. with veterans and dignitaries leading the grand entry, followed by dancing at noon. After a supper break at 4:30 p.m., there will be a grand entry at 6:30 p.m., with dancing resuming at 7 p.m. Sunday’s final day features an 11:30 a.m. grand entry, with dancing starting up again at noon.

Sheldon Poitras, Human Resources Officer at the Living Sky Casino, said there is considerable excitement in anticipation of their 10th anniversary Pow Wow.

“The Pow Wow has been pretty well received every year we’ve done it in the past. It used to be a regular event, and then we skipped a year last year, but we’re back again this year,” Poitras said. “It’s our 10th anniversary so we’re having a little bit of a bigger celebration. A lot of people are coming from all over Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and the States.”

As part of the weekend there will be a special event to bring in additional participants and spectators.

“We’re having a large drumming contest this year, and that attracts a lot of champion drums groups, champion singers from around Canada and the US,” he explained, noting there will be 15 to 20 drum groups coming for this competition.

“Our past competitions have been pretty moderate, with standard size prize money for the drummer competition. But this year we’ve kind of ramped it up a little bit just because it’s our 10th year celebration. We ramped up the prize money a little bit to draw the higher end champion singers.”

Poitras said the two day event is sure to be popular for both spectators and participants.

“When you enter the area at any powwow you go to you just feel it. You just feel it hit you in the chest when there’s a drum group singing, and you see all the people just dancing in the arena.”

The event is free of charge for spectators.

“Everyone is invited. You don’t have to ask permission. It’s a free event. You can just come and learn, come and join in, come and participate. It’s just all about community. That’s essentially what a powwow is, it’s bringing together community, it’s bringing together friends and family. If you want to learn about the powwow, by all means don’t be shy, come on in and spectate and ask questions. That’s how we learn is to ask questions and learn about what’s going on.”

Additional details regarding the Living Sky Casino’s Pow Wow can be viewed online at www.livingskycasino.ca.