The Yellowhead Rotary Arts Festival (YRAF) is getting ready for this year’s edition of the popular event, with a new exciting category that is engaging kids and adults alike. 

The big announcement this year has been the addition of the Lego category, after a local family brought the idea forward. 

Hintonite Dr. Lee Jones and his family are big into building 3-D Lego creations, and it was his family’s urging that got the new and exciting category added to the YRAF. 

“His family is huge on Lego,” said Christina Johns, the festival director and program director for Creative Campus in Hinton. “They asked if Lego would fit [the] categories.”

It was decided that Lego needed its own category, and it is being added this year to the delight of local Lego fans. 

Dr. Jones has signed up as adjudicator of the event and has been hosting a series of workshops on the popular building blocks in Hinton. 

“He’s just a wealth of knowledge for Lego,” said Johns. 

The new category has drawn attention from local boys and a few girls. Johns said they have had interest from people who would never think to enter an arts festival.

“These little boys that have never been in a festival are learning a new technique,” Johns said. 

For those not quite up to par on their Lego skills, there is a wealth of alternate categories that will be featured this year as well. 

Johns said photography garners a large amount of entries, as well as painting. 

“It takes less time to enter photography,” she said. 

Amateur photographers will have their work critiqued by guest judges from out of town, which will ensure unbiased suggestions. 

Johns suspects Lego could top the entries this year, as registration closed on Feb. 15. 

Returning this year for the festival is film, a category that was on hiatus for a few years after interest tapered off. 

As for performing arts, Johns said piano is a hugely attended category, with many young artists taking their turn on stage to perform. 

The festival encompasses the entire region, with Edson, Hinton and Jasper hosting space for art and contributing artists. Grande Cache has also stepped up to begin having artwork, but the town is still a few years away from actually having judges attend. Last year the town featured a gallery of local handmade quilts. 

The festival runs from April 15 to 30, when adjudicators will attend the galleries and give constructive critique to each piece. 

“They’ve got good suggestions and helpful hints,” Johns said. 

Those hints can be applied to future pieces; it’s an opportunity that many local artists don’t get, said Johns. Many artists in small communities attend the same workshops, and having an outside perspective can be a great tool in advancing artistic skill. 

“Creative Campus is really big on showcasing our own regional artists,” Johns said. “It would probably be hard to take some constructive feedback from someone you’ve taken the same courses with.”

The festival helps put local artists on a more provincial level with the out-of-town adjudicators.