In the spirit of the season a special concert is being held Friday by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra in support of the Regional Food Distribution Association.

Executive Director Ryleigh Dupuis says the show taking place at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium features  guest performers from the Maritime Bhangra Group, from Nova Scotia.

“Their whole mission is to give back. To give back to community, to build community and we thought what better way to do that than to support the RFDA with this concert.”

Bhangra is music and dance from South Asia often associated with Bollywood.

Additionally the conductor of the show is Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, a former resident conductor of the TBSO, who has since gone on to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony San Francisco and Symphony Nova Scotia.

The price of admission for the concert is a non-perishable food item or a cash donation for the RFDA.

Dupuis says the decision to support the RFDA was near instinctive, with food insecurity becoming very prevalent in the community as a result of inflation and other variables which have contributed to rising food costs and the reality of this time of the year with many gatherings revolving around food.

With a capacity of nearly 1,400 at the TBCA, Dupuis is optimistic there will be more than 1000 items donated.