2021 photo GALLERY

Thank you to all our 2021 festival supporters, funders, production collaborators, artists, actors, dancers, musicians, technicians, and volunteers. We look forward to delivering another exciting and thought-provoking multi-disciplinary festival in 2022.

2022 UNITY ART EXHIBITION

Featured seven LGBTQ+ artists in the newly re-opened Seaside Centre. Multi-disciplinary, educational, unifying.

Featured ceramics, fibre-art, painting, life drawing collage, woodworking, and macro photography. Presented engaging content for all ages.

Hosted two student tours currently studying similar issues in class. Over 850 attendees over twelve days toured the exhibition.

Artists explored seven unique “unity” messages: What is unity, gender equity, life vs. death, and diversity acceptance? Environmental equity and appreciation,

Black Lives Matter, and “coming together” were also topics that made this exhibition experience different.

DAnces from home

This two hour family-friendly afternoon featured local First Nations, Métis, East Indian, Latin, Japanese, Hawaiian and Filipino dancers and music, all coming together in harmony, bright costumes and fun! Our multi-cultural community shared their stories, culture, and dance traditions to kick off UNITY.

Music Arising!

This year we partnered with St. Hilda’s Music Arising! series to celebrate our local emerging musical talents; singer-songwriters Ashley Hautala and Kaishan performed their latest songs. Gingersnaps and Shortbread teamed up for some fun folksy tunes on the strings.

Marcus Mosely Gospel Ensemble

Marcus and his musical /choral directors Bill Sample and Darlene Cooper presented two emotionally-charged and memorable performances at the Ravens Cry Theatre. This was their first live concert since Feb. 2019. Featuring Marcus Mosley and the ensemble chorus, Choral Director Darlene Cooper, the Bill Sample Trio (Bill Sample on piano, Buff Allen (drums) and Miles Fox (bass).

Voices: the play

Memories from the1920’s Metropolitan Opera and the Roaring Twenties came alive in this special multi-media theatrical event.

Voices is the latest drama by west-coast writer and director Louise Phillips about an exceptional Canadian woman. Canadian opera star Jeanne Gordon was a small-town girl who rose to international fame with New York’s Met Opera in the 1920’s. When her voice is silenced by mental illness, she finds renewed hope to be heard despite her enforced isolation. Set in a sanitorium in Macon Missouri, this tragic but true story starred Richard Austin, Gordon Austin Dodge, Wanda Nowicki (as Jeanne Gordon), Steve Schwabl, Rachel Ruecker and Delaney Gilmour.

Canoe Culture

an inspiring message of unity through images, artifacts and video. With images dating back to the 1700’s, the heritage exhibit presented a mini anthology of canoe culture from east to west, illustrating the unifying nature of the canoe from its aboriginal roots to today’s recreational paddler. Also featured a “Canoe Crossings” author’s talk with Sanford Osler, and a Humanities post secondary student tour.

Upon request, copies of the exhibits and video have been shared with the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.

“We are all in the same canoe and must paddle together to move forward.” 28th Lt. Gov. BC Steven Point

Workshops - SAF TALKS

In 2021 SAF hosted four UNITY themed community workshops: cedar heart weaving, quilting for beginners, dances from India and gospel music singing. We also once again hosted Paintillio in another fun community mural project at Trail Bay Mall.

We hosted two in a new series of informational talks; Local author Valerie Mason-John (I am Still Your Negro) and Sanford Osler (Canoe Crossings)

The festival also recognized that everyone was in bad need of a giggle, and so we installed a Silly Walks Crossing, just for fun.