Southeast Event Centre plans community celebration

The long-awaited grand opening of the Southeast Event Centre will be a true community celebration.

Michelle Sawatzky-Koop, director of marketing and sales, said Aug. 21 is being planned as an event for all ages, one that Steinbach can take pride in.

“We thought, let’s make it one big bang-up day and then let this place live,” she said.

Sawatzky said the opening will in some way be like the building itself, something that is there for everyone.

“It was built by the community, for the community,” she said.

And plans are coming together for the big day.

Sawatzky-Koop said official opening ceremonies will be held at 11 a.m. in the arena bowl. That’s open to anyone who would like to attend.

After that the day only gets more exciting. A free lunch, sponsored by HyLife will be offered to the first 700 people in attendance.

Beginning at 1 p.m., visitors will enjoy bouncy castles, a magician who works the crowd, balloon artists and face painting.

“The building will be open after lunch for people to come in and look around and check out all the different parts,” she said.

The Steinbach Pistons will also be on hand, opening their dressing room to the public.

All daytime activities are free.

Come for the music

Tickets will be sold for the evening concert at $15 for rush-seating which features Manitoba’s Dirty Catfish Brass Band as the main event and Steinbach and area band Endless Mix Tape as the warm-up.

Endless Mix Tape is made up of Braxton Phommarath, Jeff Neufeld, Louis Plett, Nick Mullin and Felipe Fernandez and according to their bio offer “a polished, poppy, professional performance, with plenty of talent to go around.”

Their style includes pop, rock, Motown and a random assortment of indie tunes.

“They’re really up and comers,” Sawatzky-Koop said. “They’re a great cover band and they’re super excited to play at this concert.”

The main event will be the Dirty Catfish Brass Band, a Winnipeg band that brings energy to every performance and gets the audience on their feet.

“Dirty Catfish Brass Band deals in powerful phrasing and performances drenched with rhythm,” their profile says. “Invoking the sounds of brass bands and funk ensembles, the collective dares to reimagine the streets of a prairie city as one that is hot, alive and brimming with soul.”

They formed in 2011 and have become a constant at Manitoba festivals and venues, playing over 80 performances annually.

The musicians hold a combined 12 university degrees and have loaned their sound to organizations such as the Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, CancerCare Manitoba, United Way Winnipeg, and the Manitoba Marathon.

They’ve also shared the stage with the likes of The Lytics, JP Hoe, Begonia, Sweet Alibi, Ego Spank and Royal Canoe.

“We wanted to get a group that was a ton of fun and Manitoban because we’ll be drawing from all over,” Sawatzky-Koop said. “That’s the only ticketed part of the event. Everything else is free.”

Tickets are available online at www.southeasteventcentre.ca, at the event centre, or at the show itself.

People can also follow the Southeast Event Centre on Instagram and Facebook to see announcements and teasers of upcoming acts.

Forum & Bistro and other concessions will also be open for the day.

Sawtzky-Koop said it’s important for people to know that they are a not-for-profit building.

“Every dollar you spend here at the event centre goes back into the event centre,” she said.

Funds raised from food sales for example can be used to ensure other parts of the centre such as the soon to be opened walking track remain affordable for the community.

And while the wait as the building slowly came together seems long for some, Sawatzky-Koop said it’s really been a much longer project, with it being planned and dreamt about for many years.

“It’s been decades in the making,” she said.”