Sechelt’s annual Canada Day Parade starts at 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 1 along Cowrie Street. That’s just the beginning of a day of downtown activities, with two music stages, beer gardens and food vendors. Lots of free activities and attractions will also be on at Hackett Park: The Coastal Cowgirls will perform horseback routines; Dixie Honey, Kaery Wind, and Nutty Big Pants will serve up some acrobatics and clowning; Sechelt firefighters will hold their annual games; and music acts will include Hordes of Ords, Steve Weave and friends, and The Billy Hillpicker Band, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Also on July 1, the Gibsons Public Art Gallery will be holding its annual Canada Day Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with tables full of used books on offer. All proceeds will go towards funding the community art gallery.
Pride events
Pride Month comes to a close this weekend with, among other celebrations, entertainment events at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. On Friday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m., there will be a 50th-anniversary screening of the film Stonewall Uprising, about the June 28, 1969 police raid on New York City’s Stonewall Inn. The wave of outraged community responses to the raid is regarded as the launch of the gay-rights movement. Admission is free.
Then on Saturday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 30 at 2 p.m., there will be staged readings of The Dissociates, a play by Dorothy Dittrich – “a story about a woman choosing to make a decision to let herself feel her story and live her life fully.” The actors are Ange Cruikshank, Janet Hodgkinson, Amy King, Wanda Nowicki, John Payne, Varya Rubin, Patrick Visser, and Sally Allison Williams. Tickets are $20, from www.share-there.com or at the door.
Slow Sundays
The fourth season of the Roberts Creek weekly summer event Slow Sundays in the Creek is back, starting June 30, at the gazebo behind the library, “the grooviest little corner on the Coast.” Things kick off at noon with music by the Loose Endings Ukulele Trio, followed by Grant Olsen and then Bigger Bits of String. Local artisans and vendors offer crafts and food, and there will also be games and kid-friendly activities.
Night music
On Friday the 28th, Mississippi Live, Robert Connely Farr and the Dirty Dirty do their deep-riff southern rock at Roberts Creek Legion, 8 p.m.
On Saturday, June 29, there’s a concert and dance with the double bill of Ryan McNally and the Messarounders plus Blue Moon Marquee at High Beam Dreams in Gibsons. There also will be a pre-show swing dance lesson taught by Lucy Falkner, of Rhythm City Productions, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 advance and $30 at the door, from Laedeli Gifts, MELOmania, Strait Music and www.share-there.com.
The Steve Hinton Band is back at Gibsons Legion with a long weekend dance party on Saturday, June 29. The foot-stompin’ fun starts at 8 p.m., $5 for members, $10 guests.
And on Sunday, June 30, singer Deanna Knight is hosting a concert at her Secret Beach Garden Stage, featuring an evening of songs and stories by Michael Friedman and Brett Hinders. Doors 7 p.m., show 7:30 p.m. Bring lawn chairs and blankets. Admission is a $20 donation, and an RSVP to 604-362-1280 is requested. It’s at 995 Grandview Rd., Gibsons.
Indigenous cinema
The National Film Board and Knowledge Network have teamed up to release a collection of 20 films that will be available on Knowledge’s streaming services. Forty more titles will be added to the project over the next three years, “giving Indigenous filmmakers greater visibility in British Columbia.” Among the first 20 titles are Hands of History, a 1994 production directed by Gibsons-based filmmaker Loretta Todd, which profiles four female artists – Doreen Jensen, Rena Point Bolton, Jane Ash Poitras and Joane Cardinal-Schubert. Follow the links to the film collection at www.knowledge.ca.
Oscar Lopez next weekend
Multi-Juno-award winner Oscar Lopez brings his trio for an evening of outstanding Latin music at the Rockwood Pavilion in Sechelt Saturday, July 6. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 from the Festival of the Written Arts office, MooreStock Outfitters, MELOmania, EarthFair Store and the Blackberry Shop. Partial proceeds will go to the Festival of the Written Arts.
Submissions
If you have an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, please let us know by 11 a.m. Tuesday at arts@coastreporter.net. Space is limited. Also check Coast Reporter’s Coast Community Calendar for more events.
