With an esteemed heritage dating back to the Knights of Pythias in 1923, and under the attentive stewardship of the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver since 1960, ours is now B.C.'s premier music festival, offering professional adjudication to some 10,000 students in high school bands and choirs, and in the private study of classical guitar, classical voice, music theatre, piano, strings, brass and woodwinds. Several years ago, an Ethnic Chinese instruments category was added making ours a truly multi-cultural event.