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Hoja to headline children’s festival

Jun 6, 2016 | 4:25 PM

A host of activities and performances will flood the North Battleford Exhibition Park grounds this coming Friday, June 10 in the hopes children and their parents may be inspired by the learning side of fun.

One of the headlining acts for the annual children’s festival this year is the musical band, Hoja – a high-energy acappella comedy show from Saskatoon which has toured across Canada. This will be the band’s debut show at the North Battleford’s Children’s Festival.

Matt Deroche, one of the Hoja vocalists, said it’s an exciting opportunity to play at festivals all across Canada. The ambience of an outdoor festival is a lot of fun he said because the band is able to reach a wide range of audience members.

“Hoja has been around for about 18 years now and as soon as we got the call we jumped at the opportunity. We have done tons of festivals all across Canada,” Deroche said. “Typically you’re dealing with a bigger crowd and a wider age range and making sure everyone is there to have a good time. We get to have our fun like we would while performing at a normal school show but we also get to bring in a wider range of songs.”

Deroche said attending a festival which hopes to inspire a learning atmosphere is where Hoja’s message to children can best come across. 

Deroche said one of the best things about being in the band is to provide inspiration to younger children and others to follow their dreams. He added the band is happy to provide the opportunity to inspire others with their unique musical performances.

“Honestly one of the coolest parts about being with Hoja is hanging out with people afterwards,” Deroche said. “Especially the young kids. Because I know for myself growing up there wasn’t always a role-model for music. If we can be exciting to kids, we want to nurture that.”

The bigger the crowd, the better the variety of music they can play, he said.

“We cover the big artists and the big songs which have come over the years,” Deroche said. “We try to inspire everybody.”

Other acts on the festival roster range from musicians to magicians, to bubble blowers, to ‘crazy hoopers.’ A variety of crafts, a petting zoo, face painting and wagon rides are also scheduled for the event. Festival-goers will have three chances to catch Hoja at the fest. They will be at the grandstand at 10:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

 

Email: colleen.smith@jpbg.ca

Twitter: ColleenAJSmith