The Watson Arts Centre is bringing back the Concert Series for 2025-26.
Dauphin and District Allied Arts Council Inc. board chair Cam Bennet said they have been talking about bringing the concert series back for quite a while at the entertainment committee level.
“And we felt that we really wanted to have at least one year where we had what people would recognize as a series before going back to buying as a ticket,” he said.
“And we do hear from out in the community. We do hear people saying, ‘we’d like you to bring it back.’ And so, we’ve got our lineup for next year.”
The series begins, Oct. 4, with the Highwaymen Tribute concert. The next show won’t be until Jan. 24, when The Abrams take to the stage. The third show will feature ABBA Revisited, Mar. 5, with the final show taking place, Apr. 18, featuring The Derina Harvey Band.
All four shows will be in the Johnston and Co. Auditorium.
Tickets for each show are $45 or you can purchase a total series package for $150. Tickets can be purchased at the Watson Arts Centre during regular business hours from Monday to Friday from noon to 5 p.m.
Tickets will also be available to purchase online soon.
Bennet said 25 tickets were sold at the recent Business Expo.
When the decision was made to bring the concert series back, there were no specific acts the board wanted to target. Bennet said the Highwaymen Tribute show actually reached out to him at the MCMA Awards.
“We had a little chat and he emailed me a week or so after and we said, yeah, let’s go for it,” he said.
Bennet had been wanting to bring in an ABBA related act for a long time and they were able to book ABBA Revisited through connections with the Manitoba Arts Network.
“I know there’s a lot of excitement for that one. But I can guarantee you all four concerts are just going to be outstanding,” he said.
“I haven’t seen The Abrams live. It was a video submission that I saw, but they’re just a fantastic country-rock band. And The Derina Harvey Band is going to be just something that people are going to be talking about for a long time. A Newfie kitchen-party kind of band and it’s just going be a great time.”
Bennet is looking forward to a successful series and is excited that people have already purchased tickets, which he says shows the commitment level of city residents.
“At some point, we’re probably going to go to businesses to see if they want to purchase a series pack as a support level kind-of-thing,” he said.
“But certainly businesses, individuals are welcome and encouraged to buy. It’s going to be a great show.”
