The Creek Big Band under the direction of Blaine Dunaway kicked off the Sechelt Arts Festival last Friday evening with the stylish sounds of nostalgic dance music that included a few trumpet and trombone solos. Dancers of all ages glided, foxtrotted and boogied around the floor at the Seniors' Centre in what is becoming a traditional opener for this fifth annual festival.
"The weekend was huge, with the reception, dance and music in the park," said festival co-ordinator Leslie Aveling, who also organized last year's effort.
The festival, that operates with the support of the District of Sechelt and funds from Heritage Canada and local financial institutions, fielded 15 free workshops in 2007, mostly for kids to enjoy learning to dance, sculpt or paint. This year's program has expanded to 45 workshops running each weekday until today (Friday).
"The waiting list for workshops was phenomenal," Aveling said.
All the workshops aimed at kids, such as Jean-Pierre Makosso's African dancing and drumming and Katherine Denham's creative dance workshops, were filled up quickly with eager customers. Only two of the sessions aimed at adults had to be cancelled. Festival performances at Hackett Park last Sunday attracted only a modest crowd. "I would like to have seen more people out," Aveling said.
A marimba group, the Knotty Dotters, opened, followed by a delightful classical quartet, Syrinx, on flute, bass, drums and keyboard. And the new theatre production, Wagon Tales, stole the show.
Who sits indoors at a theatre in the summertime? Some members of Driftwood Players, under the direction of Bob Hunt, decided to take time-honoured folk tales and popular stories out to the streets and parks. The short skits, undertaken with only a few costumes and props, work well in public and represent lively theatre at its best.
Other Sunday concert performers included a new teen group, the Olivia Kingsbury Quartet, that will be performing again on Aug. 16 at the Gumboot Restaurant.
Across the street from Hackett Park, a steady stream of visitors checked out the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre's special festival show, where about 25 Coast artists showed their work. By 3 p.m. that day, 78 people had strolled through the Arts Centre and 108 had visited the other visual arts display at the Seaside Centre. The festival has learned a few good tricks over the years. Some examples are the decision to move the concert stage to the downward side of the park so the audience can sit on the hill to watch and holding the workshops in the quiet, friendly park rather than in front of the municipal building as in past years. Having the Arts Centre open and involved in showing art, rather than cramming all the work into the Seaside Centre, also helped to bring more attention to that facility from first time visitors.
On the down side, the festival schedule was confusing, with dates listed in random order and without hours of opening for the visual arts displays. In fact, the painting exhibitions will continue this weekend, Aug. 8 to 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Seaside Centre and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Arts Centre. All work is by local artists and most works are for sale. For more information, see the website at www.secheltartsfestival.com.
