Mental health fundraiser honours children, music, and a very special teacher

Thirteen young acts from P.E.I. will be on stage Saturday night at the Florence Simmons Performance Hall at Holland College in Charlottetown, playing for an audience of people wearing red clown noses.

It's the first annual Red Nose Talent Show.

The show is a fundraiser for the Canadian Mental Health Association. All the performers are between seven and 18 years old.

"You feel like there's lots of events for adults around mental health but this is youth related," said show producer Kate Flanagan.

"We really want it to be a fun, uplifting event that raises awareness, erases stigma."

But it's not all fun. The performers are competing for $1,000 prize, with the winner decided by a panel of judges that includes Kinley Dowling and Meaghan Blanchard.

A memorial featuring youth and music

Flanagan launched the show in memory of Lisa Carragher, a teacher who died suddenly this year.

"She worked with my son for several years and what she did for him I actually can't put into words," she said.

"She has helped so many kids on P.E.I. and up north."

Both music and children were special to Carragher, said Flanagan, so she worked both of those things into this memorial for her.

The show features a broad range of acts: singers, gymnasts, step dancers, hip hop dancers. Red noses will be sold along with the show programs, and Flanagan hopes those will be worn during the show.

The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Who's pretty now? Caterpillars damage P.E.I. crops before turning into photogenic butterflies
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Clean up complete: 123 dead fish recovered