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Once upon a time the young musicians of our area participated in an event known as the Lunenburg County Music Festival.  For many years, students in private study as well as those within the public school system, travelled to venues throughout our county to perform in this Festival.  Eventually, there were so many participants that venues were not large enough to accommodate all those involved.  In some instances, children’s choirs were forced to stand in the hall, enter the venue to perform, and leave immediately, without the benefit of hearing and appreciating other performances, simply because of the lack of space.

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In 1973, under the wise council and loving care of Clarice Wile and Karen Mills, the Bridgewater Area Music Festival came into being.  Rev. Robert Mills assumed the position of Festival President.  Students of Music journeyed to venues within our area, however, by creating a second festival within our county, participants were divided between the two events, thus providing all performers with a place within each venue in which they could appreciate and learn from the performances of others, as well as gain valuable knowledge from the adjudicator’s remarks. 

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The festival continued its evolution and 1988 marked the beginning of sponsorship by the Bridgewater Kinsmen Club. Although there had been a festival within our town for fifteen years, the festival of ’88 was known as the “First Annual Bridgewater Kinsmen Music Festival.” For several years, the Kinsmen provided funds to cover the majority of the Festival’s expenses.  The Kinette’s provided lunches for the adjudicators and acted as door monitors and secretaries at the different venues. 

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As is the case in many stories, times change, and the expenses of hosting a quality Music Festival in a variety of disciplines grew and grew.  The Kinsmen were no longer able to cover the majority of the costs, however, donations from community members and local businesses swelled the Kinsmen support and the festival continued to flourish. Gradually, the involvement of the Kinette’s diminished, however, once again, the community rallied to support the event and many citizens within the Bridgewater area willingly filled the positions of door monitor and secretary at a variety of venues.

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The year 2009 brought yet another change to our yearly musical event. After twenty-one years of  faithful support, the Bridgewater Kinsmen Club was no longer able to provide our Festival with a financial donation. We found ourselves in a position where we must rely on the kind and generous support of individuals, organizations and businesses within our community to fund this entire event.

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Once again, we were not disappointed.  We were thrilled by the response of the community and donations arrived from many new subscribers as well as our faithful supporters from years past.  And so, although our tune may have been slightly altered, and our notation has experienced some subtle changes, our Festival continues to be an exciting performance experience for young musicians while enhancing the cultural life of our community.  We are blessed to live within an area that holds music and the education of  young musicians in such high regard. 

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And, as all good stories eventually end, may we all live in a musical community . . . happily ever after!