2026 Southeast Manitoba Festival Celebrates Historic Growth and Community-Wide Collaboration
STEINBACH, MB – The Southeast Manitoba Festival (SEMF) returns this February and March, marking a significant milestone in its decades-long legacy. Following a 2025 merger with the Steinbach Arts Council (SAC), the festival continues to thrive presenting opportunities to young performers through professional adjudication and performance.
This year’s festival highlights a high interest in the arts across the region, gaining over 700 entries across multiple disciplines. To accommodate this record-breaking growth, SAC has coordinated a network of satellite locations throughout the community to host multiple disciplines.
“Providing early performance experiences is essential for artistic development,” says Cassandra Kornelsen, Manager of Community Programs at SAC. “By bringing students together to perform and receive feedback, we are helping build the next generation of leadership within our arts community. We’re grateful to our community partners and local venues for opening their doors to host these disciplines where our participants can have a place to share their talent and passion.”
While SAC and SEMF celebrate these partnerships, the continued growth of these programs such as the SEMF Festival highlights the regional need for a dedicated, permanent performing arts space— an identified goal supporting the Southeast’s creative future.
2026 SEMF Schedule & Locations:
- Vocal: Feb 17–19 at the Evangelical Fellowship Church
- Dance: Feb 20–21 at the Southeast Event Centre (includes a specialized Hip Hop Workshop Feb 21, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm).
- Junior Piano: March 2–5 at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre
- Musical Theatre: March 6 at the Evangelical Fellowship Church; March 7–8 at the SRSS
- Choral: March 10–11 at the Blumenort Community Church
- Strings: March 12–13 at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre
- Senior Piano: March 16–20 at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre
- SEMF Gala Awards Night: March 25 at the SRSS Theatre
Call for Volunteers: To support our growing festival, SEMF relies on community support. Members interested in supporting the festival are encouraged to sign up as volunteers to help facilitate this massive regional event. Email semf@steinbacharts.ca
The 2026 festival is made possible by the generous support of local partners, including Steinbach Dental Clinic, Nature’s Farm,
Dr. Sheila Harms & Warren Trimble, Days Inn, and RK Electric. For full schedule details, please visit https://semf.ca/. We encourage the public to come experience the festival. Admission is $5 for Dance and $3 for all other disciplines.
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For interviews, please contact:
Angelica San Juan, Communications and Outreach Coordinator
marketing@steinbacharts.ca | 204.346.1077
Steinbach Arts Council 
