KRFY hosting live variety show
Panhandle Community Radio (KRFY, 88.5 FM) is putting on a holiday variety show, and the public is invited to come watch and participate in the live broadcast Friday, Dec. 6 at Sandpoint Community Hall (204 S. First Ave. in Sandpoint).
Dubbed “The KRFY Holiday Spectacular,” the event is now in its second year, and the first in a new location at the historic building. The program is patterned after an old-fashioned variety show, common on radio airwaves throughout the 20th century, with music, drama and comedy intermixed, all performed live for broadcast and an in-person audience. Most of the acts are, of course, oriented toward celebrating the holidays and the winter season.
Admission to see the show in person is $10, and children 12 and under are free. Audience participation will be a component of the show. Live musical acts include Beth Pederson, Josh Hedlund and Justin Landis (aka Little Wolf), The Brendan Kelty Trio, Nichelle Gonzales, the Sandpoint High School Choir, and a very special guest appearance by Katelyn Shook. Local writers Emily Erickson, Jen Jackson Quintano and Ammi Midstokke will be sharing stories of holidays and winters past in North Idaho and letters to Santa, and some local thespians will perform a humorous presentation created especially for the radio.
“This is our Christmas present for everyone in this community, which keeps supporting this station year in and year out, for 13 years on the air now and counting,” said Jack Peterson of KRFY, who will act as master of ceremonies for the show. The nonprofit radio station has a non-commercial educational license to broadcast from the FCC, which requires the station to rely on listener support and grants for its continued operation. “It’s also a real throwback. We’re hoping this program becomes a tradition — this is our second year. It’s a way of showing off what makes community radio different than other forms of media, and worth listening to.”
Tickets to attend in person are available through the station, via their website KRFY.org or by calling 208-265-2992, and doors open at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. The program will last for two hours, from 7 to 9 p.m., and can be heard live on the airwaves at 88.5 FM locally or streaming live online worldwide through most online radio services or the aforementioned website.