INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 13)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Up Island

I think Victoria is one of the most beautiful cities in North America. It still retains its “Old British” charm! Tea at the Empress Hotel is a must, especially if you have any “British blood”! When we arrived on Vancouver Island we drove straight to Victoria. We were early enough to spend an hour or so sight-seeing. Victoria is a very expensive place to stay! So we decided to drive a short distance out of town to the Village of Sooke. There was a camp ground in Sooke that suited us and our needs. That night we had a fabulous meal at a Chinese Canadian restaurant. I don’t think that I have had a better meal! The next day we spent exploring Victoria and the Foot Rodd Hill Historic Park. Refreshed after a relaxing day, we packed up the van and started off towards “Up Island”. The trip takes you along the Malahat Highway. It is a spectacular trip and one well worth taking. There are several interesting towns along the way, but the one I was looking forward to was Chemainus. I had first visited this interesting town twenty years before and was anxious to see how it had changed. It has an interesting history. A few years before my first visit it had been a lumbering town with one main employer. The employer decided to shut the mill down and let all its employees go. Most towns facing this type of challenge would “fold up” and fade away. Not Chemainus! Some enterprising residents suggested that they hire several artists to paint murals on the sides of many of the buildings throughout the town. Each artist was instructed to paint an accurate painting of historical life in the area, but were to include one small inaccuracy in the scene. Once the murals were completed (with inaccuracies) the town offered a reward to visitors if they could identify all the inaccuracies. They offered a sizeable reward to the first person who could identify them all. Word spread about this unique contest and people “flocked” to the town. It has now become one of the most successful communities on the island. Artists, seniors and business people have chosen it as a great place to live! It's known as "The Little Town That Did"!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 12)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Crossing the Rockies

As I said, I had had a number of people tell me how monotonous crossing the Prairies were. I didn’t find it that way at all, and I don’t think Judi did either. I found beauty all around us,; the interesting little Prairie Towns, the fields of waving wheat and the long straight roads. The sun, especially at dust, was spectacular! However, after traveling so far on flat ground, reaching the foothills of the Rocky Mountains was a pleasant relief. I had traveled to Calgary many times by air, so coming into the area by automobile was a new experience. Calgary, itself, is an interesting city, full of life and excitement. Fortunately, we had two good friends who lived in Calgary and they had offered to let us stay with them while we were in the city. Our friends, Melody and Dick Farmer, are wonderful people and we always have a great time when we visit them. At this point in our trip, our stay in Calgary was going to be very short, one night! Our plan was to drive straight through to British Columbia. We had arranged several appointments so we were on a tight schedule, plus, we had to get back to greet the “Queen”! For anyone who has taken the time to “Cross the Rockies”, I am sure that you will agree with me that it is an amazing trip! Along the way we stopped at Yoho National Park. As Judi’s notes in her trip diary, “ground squirrels, mule deers, very spectacular mountains, green, clear rivers, and lush forests!” I think that sums up our Rockies experience! We arrived in Langley, B.C. in time for a meeting with the British Columbia Wildlife Federation (BCWF). From that meeting we went directly to the ferry that would take us to Vancouver Island!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 11 - Continued)

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Winnipeg and the Prairies (Part Two)

After a successful visit to the Assiniboine Zoo, we climbed back into our van for the long trek across the Prairies. Someone once told me that it was the most boring time that they had ever taken. To me, a city boy, it was one of the most exciting! The fact that you could see for miles ahead was awesome. Passing through the small prairie towns with their tall granaries towering in the distance were a sight to see. Judi and I took numerous photographs! Many have become inspirations for some of Judi’s paintings. Along the way we stopped in search of towns such as Swift Current to visit the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, Regina to visit the Plains Museum. Our over night stop over was at Riding Mountain National Park. Here we found peace and solitude! The remainder of the trip was uneventful and we entered Alberta with great expectations. We were about to stand a few yards from the QUEEN! 

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 11)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Winnipeg and the Prairies (Part One)

After our “Interesting” experience the night before, the next day had to be anticlimactic. To some it might seem like that, but to Judi and me, it was the start of our great adventure! As I mentioned in a previous article, one of the purposes of our cross Canada trip was to promote Canadian Wildlife artist, Michael Dumas. Michael, an internationally collected artist, in conjunction with Buckhorn Publishing, together, offered to create original paintings that could be made into fund-raising limited-edition prints. Our first stop in this regard was Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Zoo. This is a world class zoo with a fantastic reputation. And, like all facilities of its type, it’s always looking for unique ways to raise additional funds. After we had made our “Michael Dumas” presentation to the zoo’s management, we were invited to a private tour of the zoo! It was an amazing experience and certainly gave us a different perspective of zoos and zoo keepers! Over the years we have been invited to visit other similar facilities, but this first experience was certainly our most memorable.

(To be continued)