Clark County's 4-H Program Educator Discusses the Performing Arts Festival on March 7th

Friday, February 6th, 2026 -- 1:01 PM

Talented youth from across Clark County will take center stage creating lasting memories, building confidence and expressing themselves through the performing arts.

This event will take place at the Thorp Elementary School on Saturday, March 7th, 2026 at 10:00 AM. I spoke with Seth Harrmann, Clark County 4-H Program Educator, and he discussed the event in more detail.

Listen to the interview with Seth here!

Again, the event is being held on Saturday, March 7th at 10am. To participate, you must register by February 20th. To learn more about local 4-H programs or get involved, contact Seth Harrmann at [email protected] or 715-743-5121, or visit clark.extension.wisc.edu.

(AI assisted transcription by Otter.ai)

Seth: "Yeah, we're going to be having the Performance Arts Festival for Clark County 4-H and we've been doing this for years. I don't know when it dates back to, but we've probably been doing the Performance Arts Festival since 4H started."

"And for the Performance Arts Festival, we have youth from kindergarten through their third year of high school, so they would be 19 years old, or one year removed from high school and they have the option of working with their clubs to perform dramas or mini dramas."

"So, a drama could be up to five to maybe 15 minutes and a mini drama would be like five to 10 minutes and the clubs would have a director and sometimes the club director for their drama or their skit could be the leader or a specific person that knows a lot about dramas and skits."

"And then we have youth that perform musical pieces. So, whether they're singing, whether they have their musical instrument, like their trombone or guitar, or whatever they're playing, in the music realm."

"And why it's called performance art, is we also have novelty pieces and dances. So, for dance, we have people that are part of the dance team that want to do their little own choreography that's inspired from school and perform that."

"We have solos and duets and then, new last year, most people know about the 4H pledge, but did you know there's a 4H creed? I've been in 4H all of my life, from when my mom could put me in her baby backpack and she was teaching the dog project."

"I did not know there was a 4H creed out there. So, we had a volunteer discover this during Farm Technology Days back in 2022 and now we have implemented the 4H creed to be recited, kind of like the FFA Creed, at the performance arts festival as well."

"And then lastly, we have speaking in varied talents. There's youth that do storytelling pieces. My favorite is listening to Dynamic Duo. So, that's two people rehearsing two speeches and usually they're little battles, and they go through it, they go at it, at each other in a way where their Dynamic Duo pieces are usually very comical and funny and you have to have really good chemistry and a lot of practice when you do that."

"And then I mentioned varied talent. The Performance Arts Festival is really cool because we had, in the last couple of years, different magical acts and juggling acts."

"So, we really want the youth to show off their creative sides, where they may not be able to do that at the Clark County Fair or at a Discovery Day or any other events that I do."

Riley: "And now the performances, they will be evaluated by judges, which will help the kids with some skill building experience. Is that correct?"

Seth: "Yeah. And the judges will fill out the judging criteria. That criteria is formed and made by the Leaders Federation and the directors that help out with the performing arts festival."

"And then once the judges watch the performance and they fill out both of the sheets, they actually go back into a back room or in the judge's room and they talk to the performers and say what they did really well, what they need to improve on, and what they look forward to watching at next year's performance."

Riley: "Now there is a deadline for registration if kids what to get involved. Can you let us know when that is?"

Seth: "The deadline for Performance Arts Festival is February 20th, so it's coming up in less than 20 days. Make sure everybody gets their registrations in."

Riley: "And now if people would like to learn more about either the Performance Arts Festival or maybe they would just like to learn more about local 4H groups or programs in general. What is a good way for them to do that?"

Seth: "To learn more about 4H and specifically Clark County 4H you can call either Seth Harmon or Courtney Becker at the Clark County 4H extension office at 715-743-5121, or else you can visit our website as well."

"And all you have to do is type in Clark County 4h and make sure you type in Clark County, Wisconsin 4H and you should be able to get our information that way as well."

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.