Arden / Lansdowne
Crocus Photo Contest
Fresh crocus photos to get prizes at
Arden
It’s time to take
fresh pictures of the Manitoba prairie crocus.
More than $500 in prize money is available for winners in the 2016
Crocus Photo Contest at Arden MB. Entries close at midnight Saturday,
April 30. Photos will be printed, judged and displayed a week later at
Arden’s Crocus Festival on Saturday, May 7.
Lansdowne
Heritage Resources & Tourism Committee (LHRTC) sponsors the annual
contest in conjunction with a photography store. This year’s commercial
sponsor, Winnipeg Photo Central, will print each photo and judge the
entries.
Contest photos must be as fresh as the season – taken in April,
anywhere in Manitoba. Normal full-bloom stage is about a week on either
side of April 15.
Photographers focus on open, full blooms. If you can find them, crocus
buds also can make a captivating photo, says John Dietz, event
organizer.
Prairie crocus can be
found at many scattered, unmarked patches in Manitoba. The fragile,
mauve-colored wildflower prefers sandy, sunny and undisturbed native
grassland.
Arden still has a few acres at the north end of the village where
thousands of crocus blooms can be found normally for a few days. They
also bloom close to the CPR tracks. Visiting photographers are welcome.
Arden is located 6 km north of the Yellowhead Highway, about 160 km
northwest of Winnipeg.
Prize
Structure
There are no fees for entering the photo contest, and there are no
admission fees for the Crocus Festival.
Details can be obtained from the municipal website www.ardenmb.ca,
where previous winners are displayed.
The contest is open for all residents of Manitoba, except professional
photographers. Sponsors put up cash for 16 prizes in four categories,
with separate competitions for youth and adults.
A second judging event takes place at the Crocus Festival headquarters,
the Arden Community Centre.
Festival visitors participate by voting for one youth and one adult
crocus photo. The most popular photo of the day receives the People’s
Choice Award, sponsored by the Manitoba Cooperator newspaper. People’s
Choice winners are published by the farm newspaper and awarded $50
each.
The hall can accommodate approximately 160 photos in 8×10-inch
format.
Background Information
The four classes include portraits of a single crocus flower, portraits
of crocus clusters (3 to 20 flowers), portraits of crocus in its
natural prairie habitat, and creative crocus portraits that don’t fit
the other classes. Individual contestants are limited to two
prizes in the judged competition.
All photos submitted are eligible for the gallery display at the Crocus
festival. Digital entries will be printed and included in the gallery,
at the discretion of contest officials. The hall can accommodate
approximately 160 photos.
Digital entries can be submitted to: crocusphotocontest@gmail.com.
Prints can be mailed to: Crocus Photo Contest, P O Box 141, Arden MB
R0J 0B0. Prints can be left in person at the RM of Lansdowne office in
Arden and at Photo Central in Winnipeg.
The four classes
include portraits of a single crocus flower, portraits of crocus
clusters (3 or more flowers), portraits of crocus in its natural
prairie habitat, and creative crocus portraits that don’t fit the other
classes.
Digital entries can be submitted to: crocusphotocontest@gmail.com
As an option, prints can be left at the RM of Glenella-Lansdowne office
in Arden or at Photo Central in Winnipeg. They can be mailed to: Crocus
Photo Contest, P O Box 141, Arden MB R0J 0B0.
The crocus photo contest is a ‘natural’ for Arden, says Dietz. “People
love to photograph the Prairie Crocus. This contest gives them a chance
to display and share their photos. We expect to see some stunning
photography, and a lot of good-natured discussion in the new crocus
photo gallery.”
The Arden Crocus Festival began in 2001. It is held on the first
Saturday in May. The Crocus Photo Contest began in 2009.
The Arden Crocus Festival began in 2001. It is held on the first
Saturday in May. The Crocus Photo Contest began in 2009.
Crocus festival visitors can take in a pancake breakfast and other
family-oriented activities. It ends with a self-serve supper and local
entertainment. Photo contest winners are announced after supper.
Arden, known as the Crocus Capital of Manitoba, has about 75
households. It is 16 km east of Neepawa and is centered in the farming
region between Saskatchewan, North Dakota and the Red River. Arden is
home to the World’s Largest Crocus monument.
For more information
Rod Shuttleworth, LHRTC co-chair 204-368-2229
John Dietz, organizer 204-368-2274
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