The Backyard Story...

How did the festival come to be?

This initiative began in the summer of 2015 when a few friends thought about doing a little house concert to bring some of the community together in their home, and to showcase some local talent.

Sprouting from that idea, they put their heads and talents together and went even further to put together a backyard music festival in Derwent, at the home of 4 men called the Bro-Tel.

The event featured an impressive lineup of both professional and amateur musicians and opportunities for open-stage performances as well. Somewhat surprisingly, attendees came from all parts of Alberta and also from out of province!

At the end of the 3-day festival they were saying: “Do it again next year and we’ll be back.”

Mime-Light Theatre Society

Founded in 1978 as a registered non-profit society, Mime-Light Theatre Society has sponsored many seasons of performances and workshops throughout Canada, even beyond the Arctic Circle. In the Spring of 2016 the Bro-Tel Backyard Festival became a major work of Mime-Light. This grass-roots initiative had begun in 2015, attracting many volunteers and supporters, and its mandate fit perfectly with Mime-Light’s mission to support culture through the arts.

The chair of the Bro-Tel Backyard Festival committee, Saul Noster, serves on the board of directors of Mime-Light Theatre Society, assuring excellent continuity as the Bro-Tel Backyard Festival takes its place at the heart of Mime-Light Theatre Society’s work.

The Bro-Tel

The Bro-Tel was the home of 4 twenty-somethings who began living together in the fall of 2014. When the Bro-Tel was formed, Christian, Ezra, Dylan, and Saul decided that it would be a home that was (nearly) always clean and would have an open door policy to all guests. Out of that spirit of hospitality, the Bro-Tel Backyard Festival was born.