Small Town Saturday Night Finalists Announced!

CAMROSE, AB, March 6, 2012 /CNW/ - Big Valley Jamboree, in partnership with Travel Alberta, is pleased to announce the Top Ten Finalists in the Small Town Saturday Night contest!  These ten communities have earned the right to have been shortlisted for the incredible opportunity to host a "mini-Big Valley Jamboree" concert in their community on Saturday, April 28, 2012.  Performers include Dean Brody, Aaron Lines, Samantha King, Duane Steele, Shane Chisholm and Tim Hus.

Travel Alberta has worked in concert with BVJ to extend invitations to small towns throughout Alberta to showcase their passion for their communities by creating their own unique two-minute video to earn the chance to host their very own country music festival. The videos are ready. The towns have been identified. Albertans can now visit the Big Valley Jamboree website to view the 10 finalists and vote for the winner.

"This contest is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on Alberta's vibrant rural communities," said Jack Hayden, Minister of Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation. "We're thrilled with the videos created and we're excited to find out which community Albertans will vote for."

Narrowing the list to the top 10 was no easy task! There were a total of 53 eligible entries from across Alberta representing communities with a total population of over 215,000 rural Albertans.

"We were overwhelmed with the response," said Panhandle Production's Larry Werner, Producer of Big Valley Jamboree. "Community spirit is alive and well in rural Alberta!  All you have to do is see the enthusiasm and quality of the Top 10 Finalists' videos on our website.  We had originally planned to narrow the finalists to five communities, but the videos were just so great that Travel Alberta and BVJ felt it necessary to double the total finalists to 10 communities," said Werner.

Submissions were evaluated by a panel of experienced judges based on their depiction of community spirit and involvement, passion for local tourist attractions and events, and the video's creativity.

The top 10 communities are:

Bonnyville Bashaw Black Diamond Cold Lake

Crowsnest Pass Devon High River Legal

Plamondon Stettler

Voting opens at noon on Tuesday, March 6 and closes at midnight on Tuesday, March 20. To cast your vote and for more information, visit: www.bigvalleyjamboree.com

The winning community will be announced at the Growing Rural Tourism Conference in Camrose on Tuesday, April 3.

Panhandle Productions
Camrose, AB
PH: 1.888.404.1234