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By Dylana Kneeshaw

MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE

‘It’s pretty powerful’: Music for the People set to blend cultural, musical styles in free summer concert

Jul 11, 2024 | 6:30 PM

TK’EMLUPS — Music for the People, an annual free concert, is returning to the local area later this summer. The popular event features music from the Margit Sky Project, Rod ‘Little Sky’ Bandura, Sage Hills drummers and the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra.

The latest iteration of the show arrives with extra emotion, after the passing of one of its founders earlier this year.

“It’s in honour of Rod ‘Little Sky’ Bandura this year and it will include members of Sage Hills singers, drummers and dancers, and it will include the Kamloops Symphony again,” says Bandura’s wife, Margit, who is one of the event’s co-founders and a member of the Margit Sky Project.

This will only be the third year of the performance, but in that short span the concert has drawn hundreds of attendees with its blend of traditional Indigenous drumming, singing and dancing, paired with rock songs and orchestral instrumentation.

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“Probably my favourite part is when we bring in the dancers and seeing the reaction of the crowd that have maybe never heard or seen our dancers coming in,” explains Jay Bearhead, one of the members of Sage Hills who has been with the event since it first began. “It’s pretty powerful.”

The event is inspired by the founding vision of cultural celebration and inclusivity.

“Not everybody sometimes feels maybe the appropriateness for them to be at a cultural event or something like that, despite it maybe being open to them,” explains Bearhead. “For us to bring that cultural element side to a different community has been really good.”

As Rod Bandura’s wife and musical partner, Margit Bandura says deciding to put on the event after his passing is meant to honour his music and the people he loved.

“As a white person or a settler, I feel I was swept up into the culture for 15 years and welcomed with open arms, and it’s the only way I know how to give back,” she notes.

And just as it has been in years past, admission is free of charge.

“[We’re] grateful for our sponsors. We are accepting donations for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society at the door, so just bring your wallets, but we will have a tap machine as well,” says Bandura. “We’re just looking forward to a spectacular evening.”

Music for the People is scheduled for September 8, at the Tk’emlups Powwow Arbour with an artisans market beginning at 4:00 p.m. and performances to follow starting at 6:30 p.m.