Last Saturday, Dougall Park put on a new shirt, as go the lyrics of Juno-winning children’s musician Norman Foote.
The lawns were dressed with a few hundred families who gathered for the revival of the Children’s Festival and Duck Pluck, which included a guest performance by Foote.
The festival has been ongoing for more than 17 years, but didn’t take place last year because of staffing changes. “We were happy we had enough time to plan it this year,” said Devon Kennedy, community partnerships manager for Sunshine Coast Community Services (SCCS), who helped organize the event.
The June 23 festival took place under sunny skies, with more than 750 participants and 30 volunteers in attendance. “We had volunteers as young as 10 working side by side with volunteers in their 70s,” Kennedy said.
The Gibsons and District Volunteer Fire Department installed a duck pond, overseen by 10-year-old volunteer Jacob Helfer. Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne and Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe shook hands before diving into the duck pond to choose the winners, who took prizes such as kayaks and a roof rack from Canadian Tire and $350 BC Ferry travel vouchers. Proceeds from the festival go to the SCCS Society.
Several artists, including Foote and Roberts Creek’s The Ransom Notes, performed on stage. Foote also ran a songwriting workshop. Stilt walkers Pan Willson and Cody Chancellor towered above the crowds.
Another festival highlight was the 18-year reunion of Bellies and Babies, a service run by SCCS that helps pregnant women and new mums adjust to their first year of parenting.
Kennedy said the festival, which collaborates with partners such as School District No. 46, Gibsons Public Library and the Nicholas Sonntag Marine Education Centre, is intended to inform the public about childcare and family services available on the Coast.
“Our main goals for the festival are to raise awareness about our services and make opportunities for connection,” Kennedy said. She said preliminary results from a survey following the festival suggest that most participants learned more about services and built new connections.
Sunshine Coast Credit Union and The Co-Operators sponsored the festival, and SCCS also received a $5,000 grant from the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation to run a festival series, which includes the upcoming Multicultural Festival on June 29 at the Seaside Centre in Sechelt.
