When Chautauqua came to Cereal

By Joan Janzen

An article printed in ‘Down Cereal’s Memory Trails’ describes the Chautauqua experience in Cereal, Alberta. Chautauqua came to western Canada from 1917-1935 with their headquarters in Calgary. The Fernie Museum records the travelling institution brought education, inspiration and entertainment to North America and was brought to Alberta in 1917.

A network of tent circuits travelled across Canada, bringing music, lectures, drama, magic, and puppet shows, which lasted from three to six days. At that time, it was the only opportunity for people to experience that type of entertainment and lectures.

Ruth and Gordon Waterhouse won first in the Chautauqua Parade. Photo: Down Cereal’s Memory Trails

The author of the above-mentioned article was Maude L. Dibble. She noted the Chautauqua was a three-day celebration for several years and was later extended to span an entire week.

“So much money had to be raised before it came, and the district was canvassed for this,” she wrote. “It never came to less than two dollars a signer, besides the cost of the tickets; sometimes the deficit came as high as ten dollars.”

It was a significant price for that era that provided top-class entertainment and information. On one occasion, the Manitoba-born Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson spoke in the Cereal Hall after prairie winds blew down the tent. The explorer had a vast collection of 1200 photos of his expeditions. There were also plays, trained birds and dogs, and an Australian violinist.

“We all attended, and some families from a distance either lived in a tent in town or stayed with relatives. For most of the children, it was their only chance to hear (and see) such things,” she wrote.