Why Not City Missions will be hosting its second annual Candlelight Concert fundraiser on Saturday, February 1, 2025.
Inspired by the popular candlelight concerts that have been held in multiple cities all over the world, Karen Stewart, Executive Director of Why Not City Missions, said the event is one of the non-profit’s newest fundraisers.
“We had been looking to add one or two additional fundraising ventures into the mix last year, and it was actually one of our board members, Joni Bouma, who came up with the idea,” said Stewart. “We ended up using a local group that Joni knew called the Soenen Sisters and we set them up on stage so they were surrounded by all these candles and it was just incredible. We always like to keep things creative and provide local experiences for people and so it was really a win-win, not only for the people who came, but for Why Not too.”
Having received such a great response to last year’s event, Stewart said she’s looking forward to the upcoming concert.
“The people who came out last year ended up loving it, they were just blown away at the Soenen Sister’s talent and it was such a fun event; I really loved getting to watch all the people be completely stunned at the quality of the musicians and just the quality of the sound in the venue too,” she said. “This year, the concert is going to, once again, be held at the Brant Community Church which has a lovely, bold sanctuary with great acoustics, and we’ll be having a fantastic trio of strings called Quintessence. They’re going to be performing a selection of cover songs throughout the night, as well as some of their own music that they’ve written too so it should be a really lovely night.”
As far as what to expect, Stewart said that they’ll be having two sets and an intermission with a few things going on in between.
“During the break, we’ll have some little hors d’oeuvre style snacks for everybody to enjoy and then towards the end of intermission we’ll be unveiling a little video that kind of outlines who we are, what we do and why we do it, and at some point we also have a special little announcement that we’re excited to share as well,” she said.
For those interested in attending, all proceeds from the $45.00 tickets will be going back to supporting Why Not City Missions, and for those who are looking to get further involved, Stewart said that this year they’ve decided to add sponsorship opportunities as well.
“We try to really keep the tickets at a reasonable price and so for $45.00, not only are you helping to support Why Not’s daily operations, but you also get to see some incredible musicians, eat some tasty snacks and just have a really great overall experience and a fun night out,” she said. “Now, something that we also added to this year’s event is actually sponsorship opportunities; so if anybody has a small business and you’re looking to participate and get involved, we do have some sponsorship opportunities which also help to support the organization and get your name out there as well.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
