A group of Notre Dame High School students are headed for the world stage this summer, with a special invitation to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
Considered the biggest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has taken place for more than 50 years and draws a million people each year, with the city filling with street performers, playwrights and actors from all over the planet.
A small chunk of that crowd will be from Red Deer this year, with 24 current and past Notre Dame High School students heading to the festival as one of only 11 high school groups from Canada attending the festival this year.
Some of the students applied through the American High School Theatre Festival, submitting photos, write-ups and other information about plays they had performed and the group was chosen to attend the renowned event. Edmonton playwright Stewart Lemoine is currently working on an original piece for the students to perform, which will be finished in February.
“It’s a great experience to get to go and perform there. I guess it’s a high point of my high school journey,” said Carson Meyer, a Grade 12 student at Notre Dame who will be going.
The Notre Dame students will practice throughout the summer with current fine arts teacher Jennifer Wardner, with help from Melissa Mayville, who used to be the fine arts teacher at Notre Dame. The students will head to the event in August, spending three days in London and 11 days in Scotland, both performing and getting to see plays while there.
The students are now trying to raise money to pay a portion of the $6,000 cost per student.
A silent auction, dinner and talk by Walter Gretzky at the Holiday Inn, along 67 Street, is set for March 13 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are available at Notre Dame High School, at 50 Lees Street, or the Holiday Inn, along 67 Street for $150 each.
The school will also accept donated used sports equipment to sell at Play It Again Sports. Smaller items can be dropped off at the school from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or for larger items phone 403-318-3186.
Inukshuks are on sale for $50 at the school, Curves on the southside or ABC Restaurant, and Sobeys cards for $100 at the school, with 15 per cent of the money going to the students’ trip fund. Students will be at the Rebels game on February 26, selling many of the fundraising items.
Ryan Sawula, a vice principal at Notre Dame, said the trip is an opportunity of a lifetime and the experiential learning is particularly important to fine arts students, enhancing the time they’ve spent at Notre Dame.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com